I'm going to try something new here and share some local gardening links. I'm not sure if I'm going to make this a weekly or monthly feature. What I want to do here is share some links from fellow Chicago gardeners. The links may be to blog posts or they may be to pictures, video, text that the person is using to document or express their desire to to get their hands in the earth.
I have to be honest here and admit that I accepted the review copy of this book simply because I thought the book cover was nice. When I received the book I realized it was not what I was expecting. It is a profile of 26 women involved in sustainable food movement. "Is this really necessary?" I thought to myself. "Why do we need a book specifically about women involved in food?" To prove to myself that the premise of the book was pointless I decided to make a mental list of women I knew involved in either producing or educating people on the subject. I couldn't name one. I switched to men and immediately came up with two names.
This past weekend I attended the Dearborn Garden Walk in the Gold Coast neighborhood with what seemed like a million other people. The week leading up to the garden walk I joked on social networking sites that I was finally going to see rich people's gardens. I was excited about the chance to see some gardens of the Gold Coast neighborhood without the fear of being arrested for trespassing. Fortunately, for me I was invited and given a free pass to attend. Unfortunately, it was hot and I was not in much of a picture-taking mood, so I took few photos. Most of the gardens were on the small side and the crowds wanting to experience them quickly made them seem even smaller. While I don't have many photos to show for walking around for three hours in what seemed like 100 degree weather, I did walk away with a couple of garden lesson I'd like to share.
A family member of mine recently moved into a new house and wants to start an ornamental garden. I agreed to help because I figured it would make a good garden project for this blog to document the creation of a garden. Also, this gives me an opportunity to see if I can create a less haphazard garden than my own. Mainly, a garden where plants are planted with attention to height and color combination. This is the inaugural post of this new garden project and starting a new garden means starting with cultivating the garden soil.
Gallery sneak peek (12 images):
View the gallery...
The most common question I'm fielding on the internet has to do with
blossom-end rot of tomatoes (BER for short). Diagnosing this tomato problem for gardeners is easy enough, but after diagnosing it for people they want to know
why it is seems to only be affecting their Roma tomato plants.
Want to make your home or garden more sustainable? Installing a rain barrel is a great way of conserving water in your garden Similarly, composting allows you to create a great soil amendment out some things you'd normally would throw away. Perhaps you haven't installed either because of the price. Or maybe the DIY gardener approach to rain barrels and compost bins don't appeal to you. What if you could get a rebate on your purchase of either a rain barrel or a compost bin? The City of Chicago is moving away from hosting rain barrel and compost bin sales this year. What the City is doing instead is offering $30 rebates on rain barrels and compost bin purchases at any
Chicago garden center this year.
If you didn't start a garden this spring and wish you had grown some flowers, herbs or vegetables you still have time. Summer is a good time to start your second season plantings. You can sow seeds directly in the ground now for many leafy greens, root crops and even some flowering annuals.Planting seeds now will extend your garden's harvest into the fall and winter months.
After the jump some recommendations on plants you can easily and cheaply start from seeds.
Pruning tomato suckers is easy and something you should do to help your plant focus on producing fruit and for general health of your plants. Suckers grow in the crotch of a plant, in this case tomatoes, created by the main stem and branch. These eventually grow to the same size as the main stem, using up valuable nutrients and water.
The 2010 STIHL Tour des Trees, a cross-country cycling tour and fundraisinng event for tree research and education, will leave from Chicago's Millennium Park on July 18. The 2009 Tour des Trees raised $441,000 in donation and sponsorships. Mike Nowak, host of WCPT's
The Mike Nowak Show, will be the MC for the on-site festivities and will be broadcasting from the park from 8 to 10 a.m. Get advice and tips on caring for your tree from
The Davey Tree Expert Company and
The Care of Trees. Chuck Leavell, keyboardist for a Rock 'n Roll band you may have heard of called the Rolling Stones will be in attendance.
Chuck Leavell will play a song, yet to be determined, as the bike riders head out of Millennium Park.
