Gardening workshop Sun. 4/27 at Walker library

 Interesting in learning more about gardening? This workshop might be for you. It's happening this Sunday 4/27 from 2-3:30 p.m. 

Click here for more info, map, and available spots remaining. 

coming soon to 99th St.

An exciting new garden center is coming to 99th St. this spring. City Grange will be opening in the former Thamms Auto space just east of Longwood Dr.

Their offerings will be a welcome change from the usual. Their first store opened on the north side.  It grew out of the Peterson Garden Project. 

I'm looking forward to this new addition to the neighborhood.

weeding Wednesdays

I think this is a great idea. It should also happen on a weekend morning. Just my $0.02...

BAPA WEEDING WEDNESDAYS. Public spaces throughout the neighborhood have been targeted for some attention this summer on BAPA Weeding Wednesdays. Teams start at 8:30 a.m. and work for about 2 hours. Bring gloves and water. Tools are supplied. 

For upcoming locations and to volunteer, email Mary Jo Viero.

if your sidewalk is overgrown like this....

...please trim your shrubs. Thank you from all the pedestrians who need to walk here.

organic seed swap on 2/23

The 1st Annual South Side Organic Gardeners Seed Exchange will be held Sat., Feb 23, 4-6 p.m. at The Blossom Boys, 9911 S. Walden Pkwy. The event will feature Jodi Prout, the Program Director for Sustainability & Environment for the City of Blue Island, and provide an opportunity for local gardeners to swap their saved seeds with others from the area. For more information, contact: Abe Lentner.

gardening volunteers needed

Volunteers are needed to help spruce up the grounds of the 99th St. Metra station (99th @ Walden/Wood) on Saturday May, 15, 10:00am. Volunteers will need to bring their own tools and gloves.

Come out and help keep our neighborhood beautiful.

Flower & Garden Show 3/7-3/15

The show is back at Navy Pier this year - yeah! Another sign that spring is coming....

how to build a hot frame for your garden

I'm curious about this workshop, happening next Saturday 1/24. Maybe I'll go check it out.

saving roses from rabbits

A week ago, when I was doing some dormant rose pruning, I discovered a problem. The clean, broad diagonal cuts on the branch ends circled in yellow were made by the teeth of voracious rabbits.


Time to scrounge through supplies leftover from previous projects and run to the hardware store for one more item.


I made these from that coil of heavy gauge wire above...


... to hold the cage of rabbit fencing to the ground.


Mission accomplished...


...just before the ground froze too hard to push in the stakes.


Silvie checks out the rabbit fencing as I get ready to measure for the next cage.

weeds

Here's a post from another blog that really cracked me up.

a new blog in the neighborhood

Check out Gemma's Garden.

green choices - garden mulch

When you're buying mulch for your garden this year, consider a choice you can make to save Louisiana’s cypress forests, which help to protect Louisiana against flood damage. Don’t buy cypress mulch. Our locally produced cocoa shell mulch (from Chicago’s Blommer Chocolate factory) is a more sustainable alternative and is available at many local garden centers.

Project Budburst

You can help with scientific observation of plant/tree budding, flowering and leafing out. Starting now, you can note observations of budding and flowering plants in locations you see everyday. Here's the guide for the project. If you do not have regular access to plants that are on this list, you may submit observations of other species. Check out other pages on the site for more details.