An Uncommon Rooftop

Last Saturday Mr.Brown Thumb, Gina, and I were privileged to be invited to the dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the first certified organic rooftop farm in the country, located right here in Chicago at Uncommon Ground Restaurant in the Edgewater neighborhood.

It was an exciting and historic event, complete with speeches, local politicians, a security detail, and lots of press. Mayor Daley (in the blue shirt and baseball cap) cutting the ribbon.


In addition to all the veggies being grown, this section of the rooftop includes four beehives (the four rectangular boxes.) Besides pollinating the veggies, the bees produce honey used by the restaurant.

Natalie Pfister, the rooftop farm manager speaking during the ceremony.

The peas are just about finished producing.

In addition to the raised beds, Earth Boxes abound, planted with all manner of veggies including these tomatoes,


and peppers.

Back down at street level, flowers, veggies, fruits, and ornamentals are planted in every border and bed.

Here, Mayor Daley is talking to Michael and Helen Cameron, owners of Uncommon Ground.

Nasturtiums, herbs, sunflowers, and currants are planted in this bed.


Alfresco dining - sectioned off from the parking lot with more veggies planted in Earth Boxes.


For more detailed coverage of this historic event including videos, visit Mr.Brown Thumb @ Chicago Garden, Gina @ My Skinny Garden, and Beth Botts at Growing in Chicago.

July 2009 Bloom Day

Had so much fun with the last slide show, I decided to do it again for Bloom Day.

As always, thank you Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting this once-a-month delight!

A Visit to Mom's

Road Trip

Tomorrow morning my oldest and youngest daughters, my grandson, and I will be off to visit Mom and her Garden Buddy in SW Wisconsin.

buttercups blooming in the 'wilderness' between our yard and the neighbor behind us.

I'm looking forward to seeing them, and seeing what's new in their garden.

orange daylilies are blooming back there too.

This spring they were very busy overhauling their large vegetable garden,

Johnny jumped up and volunteered in the shade garden.

including adding some raised beds and a new fence.

Astilbes are blooming.

While I'm gone George will keep the Lawn Man company, and I'll be trusting him to keep the containers watered for me. (Lawn Man, not George - I don't want George 'watering' anything.)

The red mini-rose's last bloom of the season.

The rescued cyclamen just started blooming.

Centaurea montana, a pass-along last fall, not quite as striking in mostly shade, but it's blooming.

Oh, and in the meantime, can anyone help me identify this hungry little bug? Less than 1/4" long, they're everywhere in the garden right now, chewing little holes in just about everything.

I hope you have a safe and happy 4th of July!

Yes We Can. . .

. . .grow vegetables in less than 8 hours of sun per day. This isn't the first time I've had a veggie bed in less than full sun.

Cukes are happy.

Tomatoes are blossoming (sorry about the blurry photo.)

It might not be quite as productive as veggies grown in 6-8 hours or more of direct sun.
But I have no complaints.

. . . No baby squash yet, but the vines are growing and blooming beautifully.

The peas are still growing, blooming, and producing in spite of the heat. With the arrival of 90-degree temps, some vines are beginning to dry out. I remove them, leaving those that are still producing. Peas are interplanted with squash, pole beans, and cucumbers on the trellis in my small garden.


Garlic scapes have been removed. (Aren't they cute?) I've never grown garlic before, and learned about removing the scapes from Gina. They are delicious! Last week I sauteed some with fresh asparagus. Yum!


My small veggie bed gets about five hours of late morning through afternoon sun, and everything is growing and producing well. I'm growing lots of lettuces and other greens, peas, several varieties of tomatoes and peppers, garlic, beets, pole and bush beans, and squash.

On the other side of the house, which gets only morning sun, I threw in a few extra peppers, and they're producing as well.

My first veggie garden was already growing when I moved into my first house over 30 years ago. It too was in part sun, morning sun at that, and was very productive. The following year I dug a new veggie plot on the southwest side of that house. It got afternoon sun, about five hours, same as here. I had no complaints about the productiveness of that garden. So late last summer and early fall as I was looking for a place to grow veggies, I was confident our semi-sunny side yard would be perfect.

Supposedly tomatoes grown in less than eight hours of direct sun per day aren't as tasty as those grown in the prescribed amount of sun. I've never had any complaints about my tomatoes - they've always been productive and delicious.

So for those who long to grow a few veggies but who, like me, don't have anywhere in their yard that gets the recommended 6-8 hours or more of direct sun, don't be afraid to experiment. Please know that even in zone 5, 4-5 hours of afternoon sun, or even late morning and early afternoon sun is enough to grow a respectable, productive vegetable garden.