From Frozen Lakes To Flourishing Gardens: The Hack You Need

This year was a wash for me in terms of ice fishing. I didn't get out once, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be thinking about taking a trip to my local bait shop. I saw a hack on a Minnesota gardening page that shared a picture of two bags of minnows, and one piece of advice. Have you figured it out yet?

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The hack was to connect with your local bait shop to see what they are doing with their dead minnows in the bait tanks. If they just toss them away, ask for them. The hack I saw said:

Image Credit: clay banks via unsplash

"As a part time worker at a bait shop this is always a great perk, free dead minnows. This is an average day of dead loss that is getting recycled into my garden as fertilizer. If you have a bait shop in your area I suggest contacting them for their dead minnows as most places just throw them out. In the summer I add them to my compost or I won’t take them until I can add them into my garden."

What a brilliant hack! I'd never thought about that, I've taken carp and buried those before, but I've never thought much about minnows from a bait shop to help fertilize your garden.

I would like to suggest one change to this hack, since this winter was ROUGH on many outdoor-based businesses here in MN maybe offer to pay for the fish, that way you know you are still supporting a local business and who knows you might get a tip on a hot spot out on the lake later this year.