Spring Has Sprung….Local Community Gardens, Herb Sales & More….
This week we are focusing on the larger local food picture. Through our Greenhouse Project and the blog, we have connected with loads of locals who embody the urban farm spirit. It seems that Berwyn, Forest Park and Oak Park each have unique offerings to help fledgling urban gardeners get a leg up on the local movement. Both Berwyn and Forest Park are launching amped up Community Garden programs this year and Oak Park is already known for its Farmer’s Market. Also, what has become an annual annual tradition for our home garden, the Oak Park Conservatory’s Annual Herb & Plant sale. In this entry we get in depth with our local gardening brigade and bring you the highlights of the upcoming season and details on opportunities to participate in volunteer initiatives, claiming your own plot, classes, sales and more. Oh, and we are still working at breakneck speed to open our doors to you soon.
As a Berwyn business focused on such things, we were thrilled to here about the expanded community garden initiative headed by local businessman Jose Ramirez in conjunction with The Berwyn Park District. Their goal is simple, to create, support and promote community gardening within the City of Berwyn, IL. The partnership between the Park District and the Community Gardens Project is designed to help develop and maintain plots of land that will be made available to Berwyn residents. The residents will be able to rent out these plots seasonally for their gardening needs. Contact information and forms to acquire a plot are available via the organizations Facebook page which can be found here. The gardens are located at Serenity Park (26th and Wesley) and are about 1/2 rented for the season, so if you are interested act now!
We have also been fortunate enough to have met by Debbie Kong, a supporter of our greenhouse initiative, who is heading the St. John’s Community Garden in conjunction with the school, parish leadership and ideally the larger Forest Park Community. Debbie is wholly qualified to lead this initiative as she will complete the Master Gardener program at U of I Extension this May. She has also been traveling and training teachers and healthcare workers how to set up gardens, build, manage and sustain them and of course evangelizing the many benefits of urban gardening. She is passionate about her work and quite inspirational. (more…)
