Category Archives: creating & caring for a garden

Rhubarb for early spring eating

Posted on 7 May 2015 by Debra

Rhubarb is always one of the first things up in any edible garden. It’s a hearty, cold weather perennial plant. Only the stalks, called petioles, are edible. The leaves are toxic because of a concentration of oxalic acid (which also … Continue reading →

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What’s up

Posted on 6 May 2015 by Debra

Edible gardens too have perennials, plants that have a life span of more than two years. They go dormant each fall and return in the spring. The perennials are always the first up. Here’s some of what’s appearing in my … Continue reading →

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“It’s May, it’s May, the lusty month of May . . .”

Posted on 3 May 2015 by Debra

Lyrics from Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot, of course. But apropos edible gardens too. All the tiny seeds planted and watered these past weeks are beginning to poke out of the soil and grow. The fruit trees are in blossom. Bees are … Continue reading →

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When to plant

Posted on 3 April 2015 by Debra

Years of experience and plantings have taught me to plant seeds and seedlings by soil temperature, not by the calendar. Planting while the ground is still too cold causes the seed to sit dormant until it warms up enough to … Continue reading →

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Spring at last!

Posted on 1 April 2015 by Debra

Now that the only snow appears in little pockets on northern exposures, it’s safe to say spring has finally arrived on Chicago’s Southside. The crocus are blooming and many little greenish nibs are protruding through dried leaves. And those leaves are … Continue reading →

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Learning organic gardening

Posted on 14 March 2014 by Debra

As some of you know, I started my professional life as a librarian so it gives me pleasure to see public libraries serving the needs of our changing, churning society. The New York Times covers why libraries have not gone … Continue reading →

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And we give thanks

Posted on 29 November 2013 by Debra

On Thanksgiving, my dear friend Sam Guard shared this grace written by his father Sam Sr. My friend’s father was an agricultural writer and radio host here in Chicago.

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Summer 2013

Posted on 20 September 2013 by Debra
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Gardening with third graders

Posted on 16 June 2013 by Debra

I recently had the great pleasure of gardening with three third grade classes at Carnegie Elementary School on Chicago’s Southside. The students have a plot at the 62nd Street Community Garden at 62nd and Dorchester.

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Ride in the car

Posted on 5 June 2013 by Debra

Strawberries in high demand this year. And already flowering and producing small green berries.

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