My bootprints

White-tailed deer, wild turkey, and groundhog tracks. Looks like there was a party in my garden.

A field this water-logged means I have to wait for it to dry before doing any work. Walking on or cultivating soggy soil will compact it turning it to concrete when it dries and less “air” will get to the plants roots. Instead I worked a bit in the greenhouse, waiting for my brother to shift his tomato plants outdoors to harden off so I’d have more room to place my flats filled with basil seeds. On a whim I bought more seeds: sweet basil, large-leaf Toscano, lemon, and cinnamon basil. Somewhere I have heirloom basil seeds saved which I’ll direct-seed. They were given to me by a family friend who’s been growing them in her Chicago backyard from seeds brought back from the Mostar region of Bosnia. It’s highly aromatic basil is used to prepare holy water in the Orthodox Christian church and I usually use the plants as decorations in the flower beds or along the garden borders. I haven’t read the studies on it, but I notice that the basil plants help keep down pests and the basil flowers are filled with bees – which pollinate the vegetables.

We’re planning on the fields drying out by the end of the week so we can start planting seedlings, beans, cucumbers, and melons. Planning, yes. . . depending on how the fields drain and how much predicted rain falls to slow the process down.

Petunias

Ivy Geraniums

Rainy days mean I can run errands off the farm without feeling guilty (or anxious) about not tending the garden. After a 15-minute drive to the Benton Harbor farm supply store I discovered several of my farming friends had the same idea. In the parking lot I ran into my sister-in-law’s cousin who told me he was already planning summer snowmobile race events on his pond and we chatted about how we hoped this summer wouldn’t be as bad as the last. Inside I ran into another friend with a 9-5 job but farms after hours. He was on his “lunch break” and had his arms full of spark plugs and oil for his lawnmower. As I passed the baby chicks, ducks, and geese bins another customer was buying baby runner ducks. As I looked at the poster describing the different breeds, debating if I wanted runners or those cute White Pekins. . . or if I should buy those little geese that tilted their baby heads to look at me. . . I turned around and realized I knew the runner duck-buyer from the Benton Harbor Fruit Market’s package shop where she worked and I buy all my market containers and waxed vegetable boxes. It seems a rainy day had everyone running out to get some shopping done.

By this time I was starting to realize the farm store didn’t carry anything on my shopping list: fungicide to prevent late blight on my tomatoes and potatoes, fruit tree spray, onion sets, or salt blocks without copper for the sheep. It seems farm stores cater to those with lawnmowers, All Terrain Vehicles, or horses. . . or backyard poultry.

So back in the car I drove down to Baroda to buy more onion sets from the feed mill. I was out of radish seeds and they were out of French Breakfast in bulk so I bought a few of their smaller packages. For my bulk purchase I bought a pound of Sparkler radishes, which are similar to the French Breakfast with a white tip but round. I also bought a few pounds of onion sets – and debated buying a thirty pound bag but thought about trying to harvest all those scallions.

By now the sky started clearing up but I was loving the freedom of not working in the garden and headed to Hills Road in Buchanan and passed all the wineries that, midweek, still had Illinois license plates pulling into their driveways. I was heading for Teifke (pronounced “tife key”) Farms to bother my friend David Teifke in his greenhouses. David was two years ahead of me in high school and we end up gossiping about everyone we knew as well as talked about our favorite flowers – mine are always those with deep rich colors like the Merlot geranium or the petunias picture above. The Teifke’s have been farming hundreds of acres for a few generations and David cares for nine greenhouses full of flats of annuals that the family starts to sell in early May in the farm shop. That means countless hours of work that start in January, planting tiny seeds, transplanting, making sure the furnaces don’t go out in the middle of the night, fighting voles for pepper and tomato seedlings. . . but the result is stunning.

Teifke’s Plants, 12371 Hills Rd., Buchanan MI 49107

Peterson Garden - May 2, 2010

Craving a little bit of green space? The Yarden’s Lamanda Joy is thinking about you. She’s reviving a traditional vegetable garden on the site of an original 1942-1945 Chicago victory garden at the grassy corner of Peterson and Campbell.

The original victory gardens were a result of pooling resources and boosting moral during the world wars. Resources were reserved for the war effort and supporting the war effort meant armies needed to be fed. Foods like sugar, butter, eggs, and coffee were rationed for citzens by the government. At the time labor and gasoline were in short supply and both are needed to grow food on farms and to transport produce to customers. It’s estimated up to 20 million Americans planted vegetables in back yards and empty lots in the name of patriotism.

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The Peterson Garden is scheduled to break ground on May 24 (following a fundraiser on May 20). That’s less than a month to get gardeners, volunteers, and supplies for their 140 24-square-foot plots off the ground. Literally. Breaking with tradition these new plots will be raised beds and LaManda’s encouraging gardeners to grow some of the vegetable varieties that were grown in the original Victory Garden. It’s estimated 60% of those seeds are available today.

The Peterson and Campbell location gets plenty of daylight, though a bit of afternoon shade may hit the west side of the garden by afternoon. Plans are in the works for access to water, shared tools, vacation helpers, and other logistical issues. A few folks working on the project are Master Gardeners so there’ll be plenty of information for newbies. There’s a learning curve on trying to grow vegetables on a 6′x4′ raised bed (think vertically!) and only those with plots will have access to the space as the garden is surrounded by a high chain-link fence and gardeners will be sharing a padlock combination.

A Peterson Garden space requires a committment to growing organically and visits (at least!) 2-3 days a week. Families or restaurants without the time to tend their garden can sign up for Farm 4 You, another option for those who want access to the produce and a chance to learn about seed diversity, urban gardening, and Chicago history.

Follow the Peterson Garden on Facebook (Peterson Garden Project) and Twitter.

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There are other Chicago community garden spaces available and a good resource Neighborspace.

A bit of Chicago history from a flyer I found while thrift store shopping: “In 1973, Chicago’s Department of Human Services sponsored the nation’s first city-operated neighborhood farm program, providing city-owned land for Chicago residents to grow vegetables in their own neighborhoods. This very popular Chicago program expanded rapidly each ensuing year from 21 sites in 1973, to over 1,900 sites in 1980.”

I’ve also been following food systems planner Lynn Peemoeller’s blog  about urban agriculture (Berlin, Lisbon, etc). It’s said that waiting for a kitchen garden space (potager) in Paris may take three years. Also, while visiting relatives in the former Yugoslavia I learned it was common for those who’d moved to urban centers to keep their family homes in the villages as “vikendice” (there’s the English word “weekend” in there) which are similar to the Russian dacha. The rural land was used to grow fresh vegetables and fruit that they didn’t have space in their urban apartments. The fruit was, I swear, mainly used to make brandy. And jam. Talk about moral boosters!

Oak leaves and cherry blossoms - rarely seen open at the same time: April 18, 2010.

Signs of life came early this spring. Despite another extreme winter I managed to get into the fields a little earlier this year than last, where the ground was still frozen into early April. This past winter had such an early and sustained snowfall that the ground never really froze underneath and I managed to harvest garlic shoots for and Empty Bottle Farmers Market and the last winter indoor market at Logan Square.

My first deadline of the year is always to plant potatoes on Good Friday. Usually I have a few extra weeks as I follow the Julian calendar to observe the holy days but every four years (this year) Easter falls on the same day. I made a run to the local feed mill/seed store and stocked up on Austrian Crescent Fingerlings, ran the tiller through a few rows, and planted them on March 26. Now on April 22 I’m seeing the first dark shoots come out of the sandy soil . . . along with the first few weeds of the season. Last summer’s tomato blight also attacked my late potato crop so I’ll be running to the feed mill soon to look for something to treat the disease, which can linger for a while in the soil.

After I planted the Good Friday potatoes I threw in a double row of sugar peas, spinach, Swiss chard, mustard greens, and kale. Being frugal with space I threw in radish seeds into each row since they’re a 21-28 day crop and will be out of the way by the time the other plants start to take off. The peas are now an inch tall and I ran some recycled old sheep fencing along the row as a trellis.

Trying to meet my second-planting deadline a friend came by with a tractor and larger tiller to break up larger portions of my field:

The larger tiller did break ground deeper than my smaller rototiller but left large chunks of weeds/grass and awkward mounds of soil. Not to complain with the extra help. . . just saying it’s hard to deal with later when I’m weeding. I started my smaller tiller crumbled up the larger soil bits and leveled the soil for about five rows before the engine sputtered, sputtered, and died. My mechanic brother came to take a look and announced the engine was blown. A quick internet search found a replacement – in southern Indiana – for $240 (minus shipping costs). Not wanting to deal with another setback and a setting sun, I went back into the field and planted a few rows of parsley, transplanted lavender and Swiss chard, threw in more potato sets, and seeded the rest of the finely prepared soil with beets (more radishes) and onion sets for scallions.

So on today, Earth Day, I’ll be harvesting for market tomorrow at the University of Chicago’s Earth Fest. In addition to the green garlic and sorrel I’ve been harvesting (and selling through Green Grocer Chicago) now I’ve got some early mint and baby fennel.

It’s been a long winter and the warming weather and sunshine is bringing back spring’s hope of early crops. Last autumn I left frost blankets on anything that might spring up at the first sign of thaw: kale, Swiss chard, collards, mint, sorrel, and a test patch of celery. Waiting to see if this low-cost, low-maintenance season extender will yield crops for markets I’ve got scheduled for the next month.

My winter was full of sporadic markets throughout the city including those organized by Faith in Place at various churches, the indoor Logan Square Farmers Market in the Congress Theater on Milwaukee Avenue, and the new Empty Bottle Farmers Market. I ran out of cold weather veggies in December and have been trying to sell hand-spun wool yarn (most sheared from my own sheep) but the state of the economy has showed itself in dismal sales. You can imagine I can’t wait until I have food to sell!

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Here are some photos taken at various winter farmers market, proof that farmers have specialized products that can bring sales through the winter.

River Valley Ranch mushrooms (Matt and Robin)

Earth First Farms apples and cider

Plapp Family Organics eggs

Fraternite Notre Dame cakes and pastries

Now into the new year and the snow a few feet thick I don’t really want to start thinking about the garden without a little bit of rest. The seed catalogs that come in the mail. . .  daily. . . aren’t helping. I’m already trying to decide how many varieties of peppers and eggplants I can squeeze into the less-than-two-acre market garden.

Videnovich Farms sheep in snow

While my brother, George, does the outdoor winter chores on the farm I try to finish spinning up the wool that I sheared, by hand, back in April. A freezer full of flowers and leaved gathered in late summer provide some dye but I sometimes sneak in bright acid dyes to relieve my boredom I get from the yellows the plants give me. Other (warmer) regions of the world give you indigo’s blues or cochineal’s pinks and reds. Plants in the Midwest give you yellow and khaki and brown. My time is now spent catching up on last summer’s DVRd TV shows and movies and spinning, spinning, spinning on one of two spinning wheels. Two wheels because, you know, I get bored.

My winter season extension is, of course, hand-spun wool and the knitwear I make from it. I’ve been selling them for years at craft fairs and farmers’ markets, usually two separate entities. One craft fair I regularly sell at is the monthly Handmade Market Chicago at the Empty Bottle. Last month the Bottle’s production manager, Pete Falknor, and bar manager, Bruce Lamont, organized an indoor winter farmers’ market in the bar despite their busy end-of-the year nightclub schedule. The inaugural market ran on December 19 with nearly 15 vendors and a few hundred laid-back customers who enjoyed drinks while shopping. Here’s the write-up from the Chicago Sun-Times.

The next Bottle market is Saturday, January 16 and is scheduled to run from noon-5pm. Those hours are very forgiving to the late-night crowd who may not be able to make it to Lincoln Park by 1pm for the Green City Market. Many of the Bottle’s December farm vendors are returning, including Earth First Farms (apples, pies, and award-winning cider), Hasselman Family Farm (eggs, pork, and beef), Tomato Mountain Farm (soups, sauces, preserves) and AquaRanch (Tilapia, herbs, and vinaigrettes). Local roasters Grinderman Coffee will be back with fair-trade coffee beans. New vendors include Provenance Wine and Cheese (locally-sourced cheese), Celestial Kitchens (savory pies, scones, maybe soups),  Crumb (breads), and Besto Pesto. Rounding out the list are Nice Cream, One Sister, and Dinner’s Ready.

green tomatoes on the vine.

Am I a tomato snob? I see tomatoes in the stores all year and have been known to buy Romas or “vine-ripened” in the winter out of desperation. I always complain when I taste the store-bought version. Last week I tried my first summer field-ripened tomato of the season: a Sun Gold (from Tomato Mountain). It makes me wonder why I buy them in the stores off season.

I’ve been selling other veggies at Chicago markets (Logan Square and Andersonville) since early Jun. This explains why I’m not blogging for the Local Beet as much. There are still customers at that time who come asking for tomatoes. It’s nearly August and I still don’t have any ripe tomatoes. I often wonder if it’s worth the effort to force the season with plastic hoop-houses when I have so many other seasonal field-grown veggies to deal with. Yes, “field-grown.” I’m a tomato snob that loves to taste the summer sun in her tomatoes, not a forced imitation. I think it has something to do with a combination of full sun and warm soil that gives the tomatoes their flavor.

This year I doubled my tomato production. I finally pounded in tomato stakes last week every 4 to 6 feet in the rows and wrapped the plants with baling twine to the posts. I use the Florida Weave, a high-density planting system that lets me use less space for more plants. Since the plants are off the ground they’re easier to pick and less prone to disease. I hope.

It took a few days to finish trellising because I worked it around my harvesting/weeding/planting schedule. The process leaves me covered in tomato plant “dust.” As I looked down at my sun-bleached arm hairs they were a beautiful light green. It made an interesting trail of green in the shower when I washed up later. No Hulk references, please!

tomato rows, trellis system hidden by leaves. peppers and eggplants on the left.

On this last day of August I’m still waiting for my own field-grown, vine-ripened tomatoes. The cold spring has pushed back my harvest date, which could be another three weeks. I’m waiting to see how my 28+ varieties turn out. Yeah, I went a little overboard with the seed catalogues this spring. I’m hoping my enthusiasm is worth it.

Free-range cats in a basket

At least they’re not underfoot. 

I’ve been busy in the garden and had little time for blogging. Or, for that matter, to give enough attention to the barn cats. Well, they managed to get me to take a break from harvesting (and weeding) to grab my camera.