Members of LEC's staff/volunteers met with Old Town Day of the Dead Committee Member Justin Ek on Sunday, Oct. 13th to harvest the marigolds we have been growing for the Day of the Dead Celebration before the first frost of the season.  Marigolds are native to warmer climates and will not survive freezing temperatures.

These marigolds were planted in June in partnership with the Old Town Day of the Dead Committee.  Mankato's celebration is scheduled for Saturday, October 26th, but with the temperatures going below freezing earlier this week, it was necessary to harvest the marigolds last Sunday.  In order to preserve the blooms for the 2 weeks until the celebration, the cut flowers are being stored in silica gel.  This dehydrates the blooms, preserving them for future use.  Justin shared that he plans to use the marigolds to make garlands for use in decorating Day of the Dead Altars.

This was the first year of the partnership between LEC and the Old Town Day of the Dead Committee, and we will take the lessons we learned, such as attempting to grow marigolds in southern Minnesota until late October, and use them to inform our plans for future year's growing seasons.  Next year, we will look for greenhouse space to grow the flowers so that they are protected from the cold temps until it is time for them to be utilized as part of the Day of the Dead Celebration.