2012 Workdays Scheduled!

We have scheduled workdays in advance this year so you can plan ahead 

to attend. Join us on the first Sunday of each month, May through
November (except for September when the workday will be the second
Sunday) from 10-12 am, to help set up a soaker hose system and a rain
barrel, weed and help with various other garden tasks. 

Those dates are: 

-  Sunday, May 6
-  Sunday, June 3
-  Sunday, July 1
-  Sunday, August 5
-  Sunday, September 9
-  Sunday, October 7
-  Sunday, November 4 

We look forward to seeing you in the garden soon! 

Out with the Old, In with the New!

Last Sunday - a gorgeous, warm, spring morning – several gardeners cleared leaves and tidied the supplies to prepare the Garden for the 2012 growing season. The unusually warm spring weather has spurred an early crop of weeds. We filled several large bags with leaves and freshly pulled weeds to add to the compost pile. 

 

Donated plants help the Garden grow! This bleeding heart was donated a couple years ago through the Great Perennial Divide event coordinated by Greencorps. It is thriving in this shady corner of the garden. 

 

The forsythia was donated to the Garden by Greencorps in November 2011 and transplanted by a devoted volunteer. It survived the winter and is now in bloom! 

 

2655 Thomas

2655 Thomas, a group on Flickr.
 Checkout the Flickr photostream to see how the garden grows and changes each season.

First Day of Spring in the Garden!

For the past week the weather has been more like June than March in Chicago. I'm loving it. But,  feels strange to see the flowers blooming so early.

Last fall a handful of volunteers planted some daffodils in the perennial bed. Here is the reward!:

Here is a long view of the perennial bed. All the bulbs planted in the garden were donated by Greencorps, the City of Chicago, and volunteers. The Snowdrops bloomed in late February/early March. The fleeting Narcissus are already fading. The pink spots are a few stray tulips. 

Let's fill the garden with bulbs and bring color and cheer to Thomas Street every spring!

boardwalk

On Sunday, we dismantled the repurposed dresser drawers that had been used for growing mint and lemon balm for the last four years or so because they were splitting apart and spilling (valuable!) soil on the ground. We moved the soil over to the new raised bed along the west fence and transformed the drawers into a boardwalk.

rice bags ---> planters

I have a stash of empty rice bags around the apartment waiting to be reused for something. Let's see how they work for growing herbs! We planted mint in the burlap basmati rice bag and Thai basil in the jasmine rice bag.

Basil Box

The Basil Box has been planted! This year we are growing Thai Basil, Lemon Basil, and Sweet Basil with calendula and borage sprinkled in for color (and their striking edible flowers!) In front of the basil is lemon balm (in the reused orange cooler) and spearmint -- both of these herbs will freshen up our summer drinks!

Perennial Bed (West Fence)

Sedum and Lamium maculatum   
It has been a long cold spring! The Garden is finally becoming lush and colorful as the perennials take turns blooming.  

Columbine

Summer Harvest

Belatedly, I am sharing pictures of the carrots and rainbow chard harvested in mid-August. These veggies were grown from the donated seeds distributed by Greencorps in spring of 2010.

ZINNIAS

I'm thrilled by the zinnias this year -- I am happy to see bees and butterflies hanging out in this corner of the garden.

And they make wonderful flower arrangements:

Before and After

We've been so busy gardening that we have not had much time to write. I am excited to share some before and after shots of the garden so everyone can see how dramatically things have changed in just a few months!

Here is the Basil Box in April:

And in early August:

Veggie Beds in April:

And August: