Gardening with Chicagoist - Seedlings and First Harvest
By Anthony Todd in Food on Jul 7, 2010 4:00PM
Last time we checked in with our Victory garden, it was nothing but a bare patch of recently-planted soil. We were quite worried that, due to our spat of early-June monsoons, the garden would be washed out and our plants would drown. Despite our trepidation, almost everything turned out just perfectly. This weekend, we harvested our first crop of French breakfast radishes and transplanted some tomatoes and jalapeno peppers, per the suggestions of some readers. The only failure was our carrots, which didn't seem to sprout at all.
The Peterson Garden Project has moved forward like nothing we could have imagined. Every plot is filled to bursting with gorgeous plants, more plots have been added, a stage has been built and a documentary is being filmed. The organizer, La Manda Joy, informed us that the garden is now officially Chicago's largest edible community garden, and it keeps getting bigger every day. Plots have been dedicated to restaurants, food pantries and demonstrations of traditional and heirloom crops. In future weeks, we'll talk to the organizers, to chefs, advocates and others about the politics, history and importance of community gardening. But for now? Just enjoy the produce and the pictures. Oh, and consider volunteering.