This week our urban gardening tip comes from Ryan Beck, head gardener of the Jane Addams Hull House farm located on UIC's loop campus. This is the fourth season for the garden and he says that he has biodiversity to thank!

Biodiversity emulates natural gardens and helps maintain the balance of life within the garden. Native prairie plants and a buzzing bee hive create a unique ecosystem that allows the plants to grow and thrive. Companion planting also helps create biodiversity. In this way, Ryan is able to grow larger crops since the plants can feed off of each others nutrients.

Garlic plants at the Hull-House farm

His tip to us was to trim the new growth on your plants. This helps produce more fruit by tricking the plant into thinking it’s dying so in turn, it wants to produce as much fruit as it can.

Make sure to check back on Monday for our interview with UrbanEater!