Amateur goes from Des Plaines church garden to TV

A Sunday school teacher from Christ Church in Des Plaines found herself to be something of a celebrity this month when she appeared alongside the Fabulous Beekman Boys at Williams-Sonoma in Chicago.

Allison Goodman of Norridge was introduced as one of the official Beekman heirloom gardener deputies, who will contribute to the reality television show's interactive website on gardening.

The “Fabulous Beekman Boys” airs at 9 p.m. Tuesdays on Planet Green, one of the Discovery networks. It follows former New Yorkers Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Brent Ridge, who have ditched city life to take over the Beekman farm in upstate New York.

Their attempts at becoming farmers and growing a sustainable brand of organic products — Beekman 1802 — is drawing interest in backyard gardening from across the country.

Goodman was chosen from more than 1,000 applicants. As one of their expert gardeners, she will post regular blogs on gardening in Zone 5, or across the midsection of the country, and respond to questions from gardeners who post their concerns.

What separated her from the pack? Her passion about gardening and sustainable living.

“I was in college when I saw the film ‘An Inconvenient Truth,'” Goodman says of the Oscar-winning documentary about global warming that features Vice President Al Gore. “It changed my life.”

She resolved to do what she could to save the planet, and started by resurrecting the container garden in her backyard her mother had abandoned years ago. That spread to promoting gardening with children at her church, Christ Church in Des Plaines.

Last year, she and members of the church's education department used children's swimming pools as their makeshift container gardens. But their yield of vegetables led to so much harvest, they were able to distribute them to congregation members and to the Self Help Closet & Food Pantry of Des Plaines.

“Their purpose was to bring a love of gardening and fresh produce to the children,” says church member Holly Schmidt. “Curriculum for summer Sunday school was built to coincide with the garden, and it turned out to be a big success.”

Goodman says she is driven to one day have a farm of her own, and for now she has permission to farm two acres in Harvard.

In fact, last week, she planted 1,400 seeds in pots in her basement to get started on her summer vegetable plants.

During her appearance at Williams-Sonoma, she and the Beekman Boys promoted their concept of creating the world's largest community garden.

Working in partnership with Williams-Sonoma, their goal is to get 10,000 gardeners to grow 10 of the same heirloom vegetables grown at Beekman Farm.

“The opportunity to work with them has been huge for me,” says Goodman, whose day job is as a circulation clerk at Ridgewood High School in Norridge. “I am passionate about sustainability and teaching people where their food is grown.

“More and more,” she says, “I feel this is my life's work, to share my love of gardening with kids and adults.”

For details on gardening and Goodman's blog, visit www.beekman1802.com.