Saturday the 19th May 2012

GROW TOGETHER WITH ONE SEED CHICAGO IN THE YEAR OF THE HERBS

Posted in City of Chicago, Herbs, NeighborSpace, One Seed Chicago, Plants, Rooftop garden No comments


Contact: Ramon Gonzalez
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Mobile: 312.970.9642
Email: ramon@oneseedchicago.com

“GROW TOGETHER” WITH ONE SEED CHICAGO IN THE YEAR OF THE HERBS.

NeighborSpace’s One Seed Chicago project lets Chicago gardeners vote on their favorite seed then distributes the winning seed for free to encourage urban farming, healthy eating habits, and sitting down for meals with family and friends.

CHICAGO-Gardeners across Chicago started the New Year by voting for their favorite herb seed for One Seed Chicago and the winning seed will be mailed to them for free. This year’s candidates are basil, chamomile, and cilantro. As in previous years, One Seed Chicago will teach Chicagoans who to grow the winning seed in their garden. Local chefs and foodies are encouraged to submit original recipes for the community featuring any of this year’s candidates to demonstrate how easy it is to go from garden to plate.

“For the fifth year One Seed Chicago is uniting Chicago gardeners,” said Ben Helphand, NeighborSpace Executive Director. “By planting a common seed, backyards, windowsills, community gardens and balconies across the City will be linked together in a season-long celebration of urban gardening and local eating.”
The three candidates were selected at the annual GreenNet Potluck. Community gardeners from across the city took part in a One Seed Chicago primary election which narrowed the race to the three herb candidates. In addtion, this year One Seed Chicago is expanding voting even further, offering schools, offices, garden clubs and wherever gardeners gather the opportunity to host a polling station.

“This being an election year, we thought we’d celebrate our democracy by growing new voters along with seeds,” explains Helphand. “Gardeners who want to host a polling station can download a ballot, poster and Teacher’s activity guides from the One Seed Chicago website.”

Voting
Voting began on Sunday, January 1, 2012 and continues until April 1, 2012. The winning seed will be unveiled at GreenNet’s annual Green and Growing Fair at the Garfield Park Conservatory. To vote simply log onto www.OneSeedChicago.com.

Origins of One Seed Chicago
One Seed Chicago is a project of NeighborSpace, Chicago’s land trust for community gardens. Entering its fourth year One Seed Chicago aims to introduce more Chicagoans to the joys and benefits of gardening. Previous winners: Sunflower 2008. Blue Lake Pole bean 2009. Beebalm 2010. Swiss chard 2011. Since 2008 One Seed Chicago has distributed over one million seeds to Chicago residents.

About NeighborSpace
NeighborSpace is a nonprofit urban land trust dedicated to preserving and sustaining community managed open spaces in Chicago. Their growing network of gardens provide thousands of people the opportunity to grow fruits, vegetables and flowers; to restore habitats; and create unique gathering places in their own neighborhoods. NeighborSpace’s partners in the community can rest assured that the land will remain dedicated to conservation and their efforts will never be displaced. For more information, please visit www.neighbor-space.org.

If you would like more information about One Seed Chicago or to schedule an interview with Ben Helphand, please call Ramon Gonzalez at 312.970.9642 or Email Ramon at ramon@oneseedchicago.com. You can find more graphics for web use at http://info.oneseedchicago.com

Demirel Rooftop Garden: Red Hook, Brooklyn

Posted in Container Garden, Food garden, Herbs, NY, Real People with Rooftop Gardens, Rooftop garden, Vegetables No comments

Real People with Rooftop Gardens Series

There is not a day that goes go by, that we do not invite our readers to send us their story. Some folks do. All we ask for is a short story and pictures of the project. Well, the Demirel Family Garden delivered. We call this one, “Let’s talk organized and methodical rooftop container gardeners!” We love what this family has done with their outdoor space in Brooklyn, NY. It is so very inspiring.

Story and Photos by: JoJo Demirel

Just under 2 years ago my husband and I moved into a house with lots of outdoor space in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn.

I always wanted a garden so the first order of business was to put up a greenhouse on one of the terraces. We had great success with the first year’s crop of tomatoes, peppers and herbs. We knew we wanted to stay organic so we used organic soil, compost, fertilizer and seed.

This year we have expanded our growing area to all 3 terraces and the rooftop! We have added lettuce varieties, carrots, swiss chard, cucumbers for pickling, zucchini, eggplant and new varieties of herbs in addition to our tomato and pepper plants.

We have been able to keep up with the production by canning, freezing and otherwise preserving the yield as well as giving out baskets of veggies and herbs to friends and family. Ultimately, our goal is to develop a catering company and supplement it with produce from our garden as well as to connect with foragers who have contracts with local restaurants and food trucks.

The moral of our story is that it is totally possible to have your own rooftop food garden and we hope our story inspires other people to do the same.

~The Demirel Family

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