Last week I posted pictures from my garden in Chicago of the native wildflowers and insects that are enjoying them. Besides wildflowers I've grown a bit of food. Some of it is perennial, like the berries and rhubarb, others I grew from seed, like the tomatoes, yellow squash, cucumbers, and pole green beans.
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| vine tomatoes |
The patience of the gardener is rewarded by watching the garden grow, the insects pollinate them, the fruits and vegetables ripen, and finally the taste of the freshest food you've ever had.
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| pole green bean flowers |
The green beans haven't grown in yet, but they are my favorite because they are the reason I garden. Before I was born my great uncle, Bill, owned a farm by the Wisconsin border. My family would go up north most weekends to help with the farm. Although it was sold by the time I was 7 I retained a few good memories - one was of going to the fields and picking green beans, breaking them, and eating them raw right in the field. Mmmmm!
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| my first jalapeno's |
While my garden isn't the only city garden in Chicago, the biggest or the most productive, it's my garden and after waiting over 20 years I'm excited about anything that grows in it!
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| yellow squash |
I hope you enjoy the pictures of my garden and if you aren't growing your own food already, maybe you'll start!
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| volunteer gourds |
Alexandra Gnoske is a Nature Lover, Writer, and Environmental Expert in Chicago.
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