With urban farming on the rise, people are beginning to realize the value and delight of growing their own food. Sara Gasbarra, owner of Verdura, is definitely one of those people and her recent hobby-turned-career has been a huge success. Sara has put her green thumb to work on many gardens within the city, most recently the Hilton rooftop garden where chefs will incorporate the fruit (or should we say vegetables) of her plants into their meals.

Sara’s gardening tip for Chicago Gateway Green blog readers this week: consider planting vegetables from seeds rather than seedlings. Seedlings of any type of vegetable are hard to transfer from a nursery; sometimes it’s just as easy to plant seeds yourself - provided you do it properly. Some easy beginner vegetables to grow include beans, beets, garlic, and tomatoes.

She also advises all urban gardeners, beginner or pro, to read the book The Essential Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter and Willow Rosenthal.

Check back on Monday for our interview with Sara where she tells us more about some of the gardens that she has contributed to in her pursuit of becoming a renowned gardener.

Verdura garden atop the Hilton Chicago

According to a recent article by TreeHugger, a Baltimore study found that neighborhoods with larger amounts of tree canopy had lower crime rates. The reason, you ask? Researcher, Geoffrey Donovan, speculated: 

Regardless of whether or not trees really do protect us from crime, one thing’s for sure: they definitely make our neighborhoods healthier and more beautiful!

Welcome to Chicago Gateway Green's Monday business spotlight!  Every Monday we will be profiling a local business that is making a difference in Chicago with a green angle.  This week we put the spotlight on Sydney Weydemeyer from Truck Farm Chicago.  

Truck Farm Chicago is a simple concept with a big impact. It’s a mini-farm planted in the back of a biodiesel-fueled pickup truck. This Garden-on-Wheels is a traveling educational project connecting kids to food and health.  Their mission is to show how good, healthy food can be grown anywhere there’s sun, space and creativity.  In addition, they strive to inspire youngsters to explore where food comes from and learn how our decisions affects our bodies and everything around us.  All to empower young people to be active, grow food locally, cook, and eat healthily.

Name: Sydney Weydemeyer

Title: Farmer Sydney

Office Location: EVERYWHERE! Their reach is to underserviced neighborhoods.  So they end up mainly on the south and west neighborhoods.  They partner a lot with Chicago Public Schools and the Park District as well as farmers markets and green festivals.

Favorite thing Chicago?: Chicago has opportunities to try and do everything and anything. And the food!

What is Truck Farm Chicago's green angle?: Truck Farm Chicago not only teaches kids about the process of growing plants but also the holistic nutrition that eating clean and natural foods give your body.

  

When you think about starting a new garden you may think about the type of plant you would like to grow, what kind of attention you can provide to the plant, how much sunlight it may need, the ideal type of soil, and so on.  But would you consider incorporating compost into your garden?

Sydney Weydemeyer of Truck Farm Chicago is a rookie gardener who had the idea to utilize some leftover food scraps to provide for some rich, nutritional compost in her new garden. Here’s what she learned from her experience:

“When we were starting our garden this year we had trouble finding compost … a school in Oak Park had compost that was started from leftover school lunches, so naturally we were really excited. So we started the garden with the compost and as the plants started growing we noticed they were not doing well! After we tried all that we could think of, we brought in an expert (my dad) and he pointed out that our ‘compost’ wasn’t quite compost - it was still in the mulch stage. We thankfully were able to do a swap of mulch for compost with the Kilborn Park Organic Greenhouse and our garden is now doing great! … Good soil really IS a key part of growing your garden!”

Compost can be a great resource for crucial nutrients in a garden. It can act as a soil conditioner, fertilizer, and even a natural pesticide. As Sydney mentioned, it is important to pay special attention to the compost and ensure that it has matured enough to provide your plant with everything it may need.

Check back on Monday for our interview with Sydney, where we explore the business behind Truck Farm Chicago.

This Truck Farm eggplant is thriving in the fresh compost.