Sugar Beet Coop's Edible Garden Tour

by Cheryl Muñoz

I have been talking about local food all summer...really local food.  This Spring, I ripped out my front lawn (with the help of a few friends and a few beers) and replaced it with a garden.  An edible garden.  This simple act makes a big statement.  I value food over grass.  I value function over form... I guess.  But it seems that Louis Sullivan was right on when he declared, 

It is the pervading law of all things organic and inorganic,
Of all things physical and metaphysical,
Of all things human and all things super-human,
Of all true manifestations of the head,
Of the heart, of the soul,
That the life is recognizable in its expression,
That form ever follows function. This is the law.

I wasn't really thinking big thoughts (or architectural theory) when I was planning this garden.  I was simply trying to get all the plants in before June. But, the form (vegetable garden) was supremely inspired by the function (to eat locally) and it is beautiful.  Very beautiful.   So beautiful is this thing that I created that I feel part of something revolutionary.  I wanted to know others who were doing this work in my community so I began reaching out to urban edible gardeners to learn more about this movement.  The Sugar Beet Edible Garden Tour presents an opportunity for you to meet them and get inspired by the movement, too.  They are eco-warriors, community activists, morning harvesters and midnight waterers.  They grow vegetables, herbs and fruit in their yards, in boxes, in buckets and on their roofs.  They are urban agricultists and chicken keepers.  They are your neighbors and you need to know them.  

Join us Saturday, August 11th from 11-3 for the Sugar Beet Edible Garden Tour  Tickets are just $5, the tour is self-guided and family-friendly
 www.sugarbeetcoop.com

Here is a list of our gardeners for this year!  Hope to see you there.

1. Oak Park Temple
1235 North Harlem Avenue

Oak Park Temple members  founded a volunteer group at the congregation called Green Chaverim about five years ago. Since then, the temple has become “greener.” For instance, In May, Oak Park Temple established a thriving garden, with volunteers tending to it on a rotating schedule and a portion of the bounty being donated to the Oak Park Food Pantry. Members of the group weed, water and pick what is ripe each week. This fall, during the Jewish harvest holiday of Sukkot, the Green Chaverim will cook a Shabbat Friday night dinner for members of the congregation using food harvested from the garden. Water bottle filling station and snacks on-site.

2. Zhang Garden
940 N Oak Park Ave, Oak Park

Liying Zhang Kadlec is so proud of her father’s garden.  Shifu is visiting from his home in China to spend time with Liying, her husband and his little grandson.  He quickly made friends with other Chinese in the area who gave him seeds and plants from their gardens so that he could create one for his daughter and her young family. Their garden is very simple and inspiring…patches of lettuces (Shifu tasted lettuce for the first time in the USA and LOVES it so he grows tons of it!), too many squash and cucumber plants to count, tomatoes, peppers and all sorts of Asian veggies like Chinese Green Onions, Chinese Okra, Amaranth, Chinese Long Beans, Edamame and Korean Cucumbers.  Water bottle filling station and snacks on-site.

3. Brown Vanderveer Garden
824 Woodbine

Ginger Brown Vanderveer lights up when asked about her garden. It’s like they are old pals.  She has been working her edible garden beds for over 20 years and plants food in every possible nook & cranny. She’s got veggies in the front and back yards and… and on the roof. Yes, ON THE ROOF!  She can teach us about companion planting, organic practices and has engineered her smile-inducing rooftop sweet potato garden.
You have to meet her and see her creation (and her smile). Water bottle filling station and snacks on-site.

4. Jocks Stelzer Victory Garden
814 N. Humphrey

Jenny, Mike and their 2 young daughters garden together and share their bounty with their neighbors. They compost, practice intensive gardening and companion planting, use rain barrels and raised beds. Jenny is Co-Director of The Sugar Beet Co-op so you can ask her all about our work!  Sugar Beet t-shirts, water bottle filling and snacks will be on-site.

5. Hollinden & Cassell Gardens and Chicken Coop
640 N. Harvey

Do you think you don’t have time for growing veggies? Well, The Hollindens have twin babies, a toddler, chickens AND an amazing edible garden.  Whew!  Tom and Kristen invite you to meet their chickens, see their beautiful hand-hewn coop (complete with roof-top herb garden) and productive edible garden.  Their next-door neighbors, John and Joyce Cassell will also welcome vistiros to see their mature edible garden with fruit trees and raised beds. These neighbors take “companion planting” to an inspiring level! Water bottle filling station and snacks on-site.

6. Reust Garden
607 Belleforte Ave.

Mike Reust is owner of Urban Sprout Garden Design, an Oak Park company that offers an edible alternative to traditional landscaping.  Urban Sprout specializes in designing, installing and maintaining edible gardens as a separate garden space, or intermixed within an existing perennial garden.  Mike invites us into his beautiful home garden to learn more about using organic methods to grow and care for plants. He is a graduate of the Professional Gardener Certificate program through Joseph Regenstein Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden and has  completed a Permaculture Design Certificate course (2011) which emphasizes sustainable landscapes he is also a member of the Midwest Ecological Landscape Association. Water bottle filling station and snacks on-site.

7. Green Home Experts
811 South Blvd. 

Green Home Experts is a one-stop shop for everything you need to create a healthy home. From green lifestyle goods to sustainable building materials and eco-gardening, they offer green alternatives to just about anything you use in and around your home.  Visit their Eco-Garden Center! Water bottle filling station and snacks on-site.

8. Greenline Wheels
105 South Marion Street

Steps from the Green Line, this is THE place to rent a bike or learn more about bike safety and maintenance.  They are offering 50% of the proceeds from rentals for the tour.  Thank you, Greenline Wheels! Water bottle filling station and snacks on-site as well as bike safety info and bike pumps to use.

9. West Cook YMCA
255 South Marion Street 

The Garden of Eatin’ was created by Bill Siek and an enthusiastic team of youth campers at the YMCA’s summer programming.  Together, they planted raised beds with vegetables and herbs.  The young gardeners researched each vegetable and made educational signage that highlights each vegetable’s country of origin and nutritional value.  Bill is an expert gardener and designs ornamental edible gardens for clients in the area.
He will be on-hand for questions and advice. Water bottle filling station and snacks on-site.

10. Madison Street Root Riot Community Garden
838 N. Madison

Root Riot is an organization dedicated to creating opportunities for people to learn and discover the joys of growing their own food.  They are a continually expanding network of community gardens and education resources that raise the “food consciousness” of local communities. The Madison Garden is one of their locations in our area and there will be gardeners on-site to give advice and inspire us to create more community gardens. Water bottle filling station and snacks on-site.

11. Niewoehner Garden
605 Clarence Ave.

Jill Niewoehner’s garden is simply amazing.  It feels a little bit like walking into Charlie’s Chocolate Factory…everything is beautiful AND edible!  Berries, greens, peppers, tomatoes, squash, fig trees, apple trees and more.  She also cultivates mushrooms in her garden!  Her casual approach to gardening and her extensive knowledge make this a “must-see stop” on the tour. Water bottle filling station and snacks on-site.

12. Samuels’ Garden
613 S. Lombard

Julie Samuels has been gardening organically since 1976. She is a community garden organizer and activist for local food and green energy.  Her garden has an amazing array of plants and she is excited to teach visitors about composting systems, vermiculture and other organic gardening practices.  She describes her garden as, “…..a  really affordable and organic, if messy, garden- where we even eat the weeds!”  Julie has so much to teach us all about organic gardening and community building.

13. Squash Blossom Community Garden
905 South Lombard Avenue

The Squash Blossoms organized in 2009 after meeting at Menu for the Future, a six-session course exploring the connection
between food and sustainability. They were inspired to eat locally so they found land behind The Buzz Cafe and got to work. They share the garden and decide what to plant as a group. One evening a week, they meet to prepare beds, build fences, weed, plant, and harvest.  After their work is done, they gather around a table filled with the day’s harvest, appetizers from home, and a bottle or two of wine. It’s at this time that they share what they’ve learned about gardening. And it’s at this time that they have become involved in one another’s lives,  giving real meaning to the term “community gardening.” Water bottle filling station on-site and The Buzz Cafe will be open for lunch, drinks and snacks.

We hope that you are inspired to start an edible garden, create a community garden or lend a helping hand to a new gardener in your community.  The Sugar Beet Coop would like to continue the conversation and has created “The Sugar Beet Coop Garden Group” on facebook.  Look it up and join us to continue learning, get involved in edible gardening and share resources.

DOWNLOAD THE GARDEN TOUR MAP HERE.