Forest Park Community Garden

Forest Park Community Garden is profiled in a very nice article in  this week’s issue of the Forest Park Review.  Click here to read the story.

Dead tired

OK – can I just say that building raised beds is WAY easier than filling them with dirt? At some point I really thought I was going to faint. This was made worse by Nick’s seemingly limitless energy when it came to hauling dirt. At some point we were all just sitting at the picnic table watching him and feeling like losers.

We did finish all 10 beds but there’s still dirt to haul. We planted a few flowers at the entrance of the garden then we all hobbled home.

It was a busy, rewarding day.

Thank you to all the volunteers, McAdam Landscaping, Good Earth Greenhouse and Larry at the Park District of Forest Park.

Finished Beds

It took us about two hours to build all ten raised beds which I think is pretty darn impressive. We had a handful of volunteers and we even rented two plots to a guy who lives in the area.

Community Garden before breaking ground

Today we finally broke ground at Forest Park Community Garden. We arrived around 1:00 to find the dirt and all the cedar wood we needed to make ten 4×8x12 raised beds.

As you may remember, we started lots of seeds a couple of months ago for a plant sale to raise money for the Forest Park Community Garden.  We also had volunteers who grew plants from seed for us which was very helpful since we had limited indoor seed starting space.

Well, I’m happy to report that the sale was a huge success.  Last weekend we set up outside of Green Home Experts on Oak Park Avenue and we sold nearly $200 worth of plants.  Thank you all who stopped by to show your support, despite the cold, cloudy day.

This Saturday we took the remaining plants to What’s Blooming on Harrison Street  where we had a ton of traffic and sold lots of plants.  In fact, we sold ALL the plants!  Not only that, we had a hugely successful kids planting party.  So successful that we quickly ran out of pots then sent Nick on a wild goose chase for more pots.  Kids were not happy with us! 

The picture shown is this adorable kid who was decorating her plant label after she finished planting her seeds.  We all noticed that she also loved pouring water from the measuring cup into the pot, so I’m betting this kid is gonna be quite the cook one day.

Thank you all for your support.  We have now raised enough money to start building some of the raised beds.  We will be in contact with you for help with that project, so get those hammers ready!

Stay tuned for our next post where I’ll be telling you about one very special plant sale customer who came along just before closing like a knight in shining armor save the day.

We will be selling hand raised and chemical free seddlings today at the Green Home Experts store in Oak Park (823 S. Oak Park Ave) from 10AM to 4PM.  We’ve got several varaities of tomatoes, peppers, herbs, greens, and flowers.  Come check it out, and while you’re there check out the awesome eco-friendly products at Green Home Experts.

Our fundraising weekend with Clover’s Garden Center in Berwyn is coming up soon- April 24, 25, and 26.  All you have to do is visit Clover’s Garden Center at 7065 W. Cermak Road in Berwin, stock up on all your garden essentials, and present this flyer to the cashier.  Clover’s will then donate 10% of all pre-tax sales made with the flyer during the three days.  Click here to download and print the flyer.  Remember, you MUST present this flyer at the time of your purchase in order for the purchase to count.  Thanks for your support!

The Forest Park Community Garden was mentioned quite extensively in a column by Stephanie Kuehnert in this weeks’ Forest Park Review.  You can read the column here . We’re always looking for ways to get the word out, and this sort of thing definitely helps that effort along.

If you read about us in today’s column and are checking out the website to see what we’ll all about- Welcome!  If you’re looking for more info about the garden or would like to get involved, just email us at fpcommunitygarden@gmail.com.  We look forward to hearing from you! 

Click here to read the article that appeared in the Review last July.

Thanks so much to those of you who were able to make it to this past Sunday’s Planting Party.  It was beautiful weather so we gathered on the patio and spent a couple hours planting nearly 400 herb, flower, and veggie seeds.  Hopefully these seeds will turn into vigourous plants that people will be happy to buy from us during our two plant sales to come in May (May 9th outside the Green Home Experts store on Oak Park Avenue just north of I-290 and May 16 at the What’s Blooming on Harrison festival on Harrison street between Austin and Ridgeland also in Oak Park).  We’re growing some old favorites–Marigolds, Basil, “Beefstake” Tomatos, “California Wonder” Bell peppers–and some harder to find varieties–”Peruvian Purple” Chili Peppers and Cuban Oregano–so we’re hoping that we’ll have something that will appeal to every type of gardener.  Keep us in mind as you make your plant purchases this season.

Here are some pictures from the Planting Party fun! Thanks again to all those who helped out. I should also acknowledge a few others who weren’t able to make it to the Planting Party but who will be donating some of their own plant seedlings or other gardening goodies–thanks!

Don’t look now but we’ve got our first planned fundraising event set up, finally! 

On June 13th, 2009 we’ll have a booth set up at the Oak Park Farmer’s Market for a Bake Sale.

If you bake, get those recipes ready.  And if you don’t, put the date on your calendar and stop by to say hi.