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In The United States, there is a history of using public land for community gardens. The first of these were encouraged by the Wilson administration. As part of the war effort during WWI and again later WWII, food insecurity was a national issue. Woodrow Wilson encouraged families on the Homefront to supplement household nutrition because staple foods were rationed. He claimed that, "Food will win the war." Households across the country took heed and were able to produce an estimated third of all vegetables consumed in the WWI era. Many of these gardens were returned to lawn or were converted to flower gardens as the sense of unified effort waned. In 2009, Michelle Obama re-established a sort of Victory Garden at the White House. The new Kitchen Garden was part of her Let's Move campaign for a healthy lifestyle.
In cities, community gardens contribute to the green space that connects city dwellers to nature. In the 24 counties in Northern Illinois there are over 900 community gardens. Hundreds of these community gardens are mapped in Cook County. In the 145,686 acres area of the City of Chicago, only 12,249 acres are dedicated to City Parks. Despite the low ratio of city to green space, nine out of ten Chicagoans do live within a half mile of a city park. Green spaces are precious. Community gardens are mostly separate from city parks, but help to contribute to green spaces in our neighborhoods. For those of us lucky enough to be active community gardeners, we are able to connect with nature through our garden. Collectively city parks and community gardens clean the air, offer habitat for creatures, shade the scorching summer pavement, and offer both exercise and relaxation.
Our history of community gardening has brought us through difficult times as a community with a sense of unity. The most beautiful aspect of a community garden is the sense of community that grows. Vacant lots and empty space can become a blight on the neighborhood, be dangerous, and diminish the positive outlook of the nearby residents. Converting these spaces into community gardens affords the space, and neighborhood, the opportunity to reshape their environment. In our case, a large empty space was, for decades, not much to look at. While our grills, pool, and sun deck breath life into the Imperial Towers community, the space our garden now occupies was just a vacant space. With inspiration and a community of support the space has come to life.
Video Awards: a call for participation
Deadline: July 15th
The Chicago Excellence in Gardening Awards are holding a “60-Second Garden Video Challenge.” We are excited to announce we will be vying for this award. You can check out past submissions on their YouTube channel. There are many award categories; school, urban farm, residential, vegetable, ornamental, community garden. We will, of course, be participating in the community garden category.
We are very proud of our garden, each and every one of our community gardeners has really made their space their own. Our garden is lush, colorful, and lively. We'd love for you to show us what it is you love most.
The vision for our video is a collection of short snippets of something each individual would like to see highlighted in our video. No submission is too short. Zoom in on your Blue Ribbon worthy tomato, favorite flower, pan over your plot of lush greens, record a close up of a snapping green bean, capture your children doing the watering or pulling up a radish. Photos are also encouraged. Diversity in submissions will be our strength.
Our team will be compiling all submissions in to a cohesive 60 second video beginning in mid-July for the August 1st deadline. Additionally, we are open to a 60 second voiceover introducing our garden, poetry, or original music (or a recommendation of something publicly available) to include in our video.
Please submit your blooming garden videos, photos, or audio recommendations to imperialtowerscommunitygarden@gmail.com. We are very hopeful for community participation to push us over the top in this competition.
Deadline July 15th
This is a quick, and lackluster, example video of what our vision is for our community submission using just the media currently on the website:
Gardener Spotlight
This section will be ongoing through the 2021 growing season. Each gardener has been asked to respond to our questionnaire in hopes of getting to know one another a bit better. Gardeners will be randomly selected from the pool of responses.
Derek Sandberg
Plot #8
Sox or Cubs?:
Cubs. My parents used to be asked if they were related to former Cubs All-Star Ryne Sandberg, but growing up in Wisconsin, I'm also a fan of the Brewers. I know the Cubs and Brewers are rivals, but I'm not a big enough baseball fan to worry about it.
Do you prefer the smell of rain, fresh cut grass, or fall leaves?:
Rain. Not only is a great smell, but it's called petrichor, which is a great word.
What has been your most successful foray in gardening?:
We planted a raspberry bush in 2019. It didn't produce a ton of berries, but they were delicious!
What do you wish you had space to grow?:
We tried growing a little watermelon in 2019, but it didn't work out. Would love to try a full-sized melon, but then we wouldn't have space for much else.
Shannon Bowers & Patrick Grimaldi
Plot #17
Tell us about your family:
Shannon's family comes from a rural village in Ohio where the primary industry is farming.
She is one of five children and has four nephews and one niece.
Patrick grew up in a rural, exurb, of Akron, Ohio. He has fond memories tending to the family garden growing up. Shannon and Patrick met while attending the University of Dayton -- they have been dating for 10.5 years.
What do you enjoy most about Lake Michigan?:
One of Shannon and Patrick's requirements for residency involves a large body of water. They like the openness and beauty of water and living with a view of the water helps to keep the city feel
less claustrophobic; plus, it offers a cool breeze on hot summer's day.
Do you prefer the smell of rain, fresh cut grass, or fall leaves?:
A walk in early fall, when the air is neither hot nor cool, is an experience Shannon and Patrick look forward to each year. As a bonus, it reminds them of Halloween - a favorite holiday season.
Did you garden as a child?:
Shannon had a garden for a few years, but had a preference for trees, above any other plant.
Patrick grew a garden in his parent's backyard every year.
What inspired you to join the community garden?:
We've been looking for an opportunity to garden since moving to Chicago,
8 years ago, but had trouble finding a way to do so without a yard.
What has been your most successful foray in gardening?:
We are most proud of our indoor plants.
What is your favorite thing to cook or cocktail to mix?:
Gin and Tonic with fresh rosemary or Focaccia with herbs.
MiSang Han
Plot #32
What is your favorite restaurant in Chicago?: I like Midori Japanese Restaurant and Andy's Thai Kitchen, There are many great Italian restaurants. Though it's not a restaurant, a relatively new discovery is Andy's Deli and Mikolajczyk Sausage Shop on North Milwaukee.
Did you garden as a child?: I grew up in South Korea. My mother was an avid gardener and our yard was full of flowers she cultivated. There are two flowers that remind me most of my homeland. One is cosmos, and the purple, lavender and white blooms often grow along country roadsides. What is your favorite flower?: The other flower is the balloon flower -- platycodon. It is a hardy perennial that blooms mid-through late summer and has lovely balloon shaped globes that open into a five-petal star that is simply stunning. The color is most often blue/purple but there are also white and pink balloon flowers. The roots of the balloon flower are edible -- known as "toraji" in Korean. We are excited that we found a dwarf variety of balloon flower and have two plants growing in our plot. The "balloons" are just starting to form. What are you most excited to grow in your plot this year?: We have enjoyed a lot of lettuce and a Korean vegetable called "sut kat" -- an edible chrysanthemum. The sut kat did very well, and we are going to plant more seeds. I love the community garden. It is a quiet, beautiful place to visit with fellow gardeners and make new friends.
Upcoming Events
YOGA IN THE GARDEN
Friday, July 16
8:30am
Yoga for Gardeners is an opportunity to center your mind and body. Join in for an all ages yoga session led by one of our own gardeners. Whitney (plot 23) has volunteered her expertise to make this event possible. We will spread ourselves out around the garden for safety and serenity. Bring your own mats & water. Max participants: 20
Please RSVP to you can join.
Weeding Wednesday
Every Wednesday
7:00 PM
Feel that sense of community the garden offers as others work on their plots and mingle. Spend a bit of time every Wednesday working on your garden. Introduce yourself to any community members who you have not yet met. Share pride in your garden and the joy of our collective gardening success with the growing number of friendly faces. We will see you every Wednesday at 7pm.
Fresh from the Garden Recipes -
Garden Grain Salad
Inspired by great Mediterranean classics like Tabbouleh and the arugula still growing from 2019. Exclude shrimp and/or feta for a vegetarian or vegan meal. Replace shrimp with chicken or tempeh. Add in grilled squash, basil, dill, and other greens for a twist!
Ingredients:
1 dozen shrimp
1 cup farro
2 cup water
2 cup chopped arugula
1 cup chopped tomato
1 cup chopped cucumber
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup feta cheese
1/3 cup chopped red onion
2 lemons
3 cloves minced garlic
1 TBSP dried oregano (or half if fresh)
1 TBSP olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
salt, pepper, cayenne pepper to taste
Directions:
Bring farro and water, with a pinch of salt, to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer until water is absorbed.
While farro cooks, chop arugula, tomato, cucumber, parsley, red onion, garlic, and toss.
Squeeze 1 1/2 lemons (zest one lemon before juicing and set aside) onto the veggie and herb mixture. Add half of the oregano, 1 tsp olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Next season the shrimp. Toss raw pealed shrimp with lemon zest, salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, oregano, and remaining 2 tsp of olive oil.
When farro is tender and water is absorbed, spread it in a thin layer on a plate to cool. Refrigerate if you're in a hurry.
Cook the shrimp over medium heat. About 3 minutes per side, depending on the size.
Mix the farro with the veggie and her mixture.
Top portioned salad with feta, shrimp, and serve with slices of remaining 1/2 lemon.
Serves 2-3
Growing our Commission
The Garden Commission would love to welcome a few new members. Tasked with signing up new members, distributing supplies, maintaining tools, coordinating the Deck Crew, planning for the future, publishing a newsletter, website upkeep, budgeting, planning events, communicating with the gardening community and liaising with the board; the Garden Commission works dutifully nine months of the year. If you are interested in shaping the community garden and ensuring its success, please submit your responses to the following questions before August 1st.
1. How long have you lived at Imperial Towers?:
2. Why did you decide to join the community garden?:
3. Why are you interested in working on the Garden Commission?:
4. What skills do you think you have to offer?: (attentive, tech savvy, green thumb, budgeting, organizational skills, writing, event planning, etc.)
5. Can you be dedicated to attending monthly meetings and keeping up with your inbox?:
Many hands makes light work. Let us know you are interested at: imperialtowerscommunitygarden@gmail.com by August 1st.
Ask Rose
Dear Rose,
I planted lots of lettuces, greens, and other cold weather seeds and seedlings when the garden opened. I've made so many salads and enjoyed my lettuce, but it doesn't seem to be thriving quite as much anymore. I think some of is going to seed. Should I just keep harvesting lettuce until it stops growing?
Please help!
Lotsa Lettuce
p.s. how to I protect my ripening tomatoes from the greedy squirrel?
Lotsa Lettuce,
It may be time to say goodbye to the first planting of your luscious greens. The good news here is that you can transplant some happy little bean, eggplant, pepper, melon, squash, or flower seedlings to soak up the heat. Just because your cold weather iceberg or tennis ball lettuce is getting scorched or bolting doesn't mean that other varieties won't be happy either. Loose leaf varieties, spring mixes or Romaine will tolerate heat better.
As far as your tomatoes go, you may try a defensive system fashioned with a tomato cage wrapped with some light netting.
Cheers to successful growing,
Rose
Find more helpful hints for opening your garden on our Resources page.
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