How does your garden grow?

Posted June 22, 2012 - 9:13am by Jenise Celestin

How does your garden grow?

Have I mentioned yet? Our garden is growing!

So you might remember that back in April I bought a plot with the Peterson Garden Project. I ended up getting placed at Stars Garden near Lincoln & Jersey (across from Panera) and on June 1 my family and I planted various seeds and seedlings. Here are some of the veggies we're growing: tomatoes (various cherry and heirloom varieties), squash, zucchini, watermelon, beans (One variety we have is called "Lazy Housewife" - Ha! Thanks Maribeth for sharing your seeds), carrots and banana peppers.

If you have yet to see one of these gardens, make a point to walk by one of them this summer. They are inspirational micro-communities, often using land that was vacant, strewn with trash and an eyesore to the neighborhood. I think it's pretty symbolic watching the vegetables blossom, as in many ways it's also a rebirth for the entire community and an investment in what is important to families - helping each other, learning together, and growing healthy foods to take from the garden to the dinner table. Another aspect of this organization that I appreciate is the online resource community. Peterson Garden Project has an active Facebook page where gardeners continuously share tips, tricks and photos. Master gardeners are also available to answer questions and help strategize solutions for common growing issues. Plus, when you're at the garden watering (which is "crazy-often" with all this intense heat we've had) everyone's friendly and willing to help in any way they can.

A number of my colleagues have plots in the various Peterson Garden Project gardens, but did you know that local businesses and restaurants are also jumping on the bandwagon? A few that I've heard about are Cafe 28, Fountainhead, Half Acre Beer Company and City Provisions. So cool that these businesses are literally "planting roots" in their neighborhood.

So who else is growing vegetables, either in a community garden or at home? How's it going?

I've captured our growing story thus far in pictures below - please share your stories too!

Day 1: Molly and Robby filling our plot with dirt