2003 Stories

RSS

Community plots give gardener room to grow

It all started with sod. That led, as it so often does, to a small home garden. Lured in by the simpler tasks surrounding his new Gurnee home, he found himself progressively involved in propagation, not to mention soil amendments and surplus distribution.

Full Story published 9/29/2003

Weighing in

We've got to hand it to you. You came through with a whopping 60,343 pounds of fresh produce during this summer's Plant a Row for the Hungry campaign.

Full Story published 9/29/2003

Nursery lends helping hand to Plant a Row campaign

Getting back to gardening's roots means exploring a time when people worked the land they lived on and helped their neighbors through tough times.

Full Story published 8/31/2003

Daughter puts her plant training to good use

Julie Schwartz didn't have much interest in working her family's vegetable garden. Just ask her mother. "Can we ever get her to help in the garden? Nooooo," Susan Schwartz teases.

Full Story published 8/24/2003

Gardener grows into role helping the hungry

What's the point of retiring if you can't do what you enjoy, Mel Zuehlke reasons. Working a full-time job never left him enough time to give gardening his undivided attention - and he really wanted to nurture a garden.

Full Story published 8/3/2003

Island of plenty

Few people have the luxury, or space, to maintain a small fruit orchard in their back yards these days. An apple tree here and there is more like it. Still, it would probably surprise most folks to learn that nectarines, apricots and, yes, even pecans can thrive in the Chicago area.

Full Story published 7/27/2003

Here's the lineup of speakers

See the list of participants in Plant a Row for the Hungry day, Aug. 3, at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe.

Full Story published 7/27/2003

Congregation's efforts reap harvest of plenty

It's rather unusual these days to see a 1948 Ford tractor plowing a field in the heart of Mount Prospect. If you take a stroll past the South Church Community Baptist site in Mount Prospect, though, you'll see the result of just such a machine's labor: a large flourishing vegetable garden.

Full Story published 7/20/2003

Now here's a class students really dig

Honors English classes rarely include gardening as a course assignment. Planting peas and squash, after all, doesn't usually further college-level analysis of literature and poetry unless, of course, students also review pieces on the environment.

Full Story published 7/13/2003

4-H project yields benefits for youths, pantries

You'd expect farm dwellers to take to 4-H groups like ducks to water. Jennifer Starai, though, doesn't live on a farm. In fact, she's never lived on a farm. "I live in North Aurora in a subdivision," she jokes. "I guess it used to be a farm."

Full Story published 7/6/2003

Here's a primer for participants

Getting started with a plan to Plant a Row for the Hungry is easy. You don't need 40 acres of farmland to participate. A patio tomato in a container garden will suffice.

Full Story published 6/29/2003

Giving and learning

Little and big hands controlled the stream of water. The younger hands, belonging to the 5-year-old boy serving as the day's helper, were fixing to hold the garden hose in a single spot in hopes of making an Olympic-sized pool.

Full Story published 6/29/2003