Winter Gardening in My Favorite City

Earlier this week, some friends and I were talking about how to continue our weekly gardening play dates into winter. Throughout spring and summer we have been relishing the benefits of planting, tending and harvesting without looking past fall. Now that Labor Day approaches and autumn lurks around the corner, how do we relinquish this simple pleasure we share with our children outdoors?

Brows crinkled and faces twisted with despair as we recall those days spent indoors during the winter months. What to do? What to do?! How do we find a city garden that needs our superior weeding expertise all year round? Hmmmm. Living in Chicago, we are blessed to have The Notebaert Nature Museum and The Garfield Park Conservatory close by so that we continue learning, but is there a way to find a greenhouse in the city that needs us?

Prayers answered! Check out this Sunday's Chicago Tribune article about Green Net Chicago, an organization designed to help you find a community garden. The article even gives you pointers about starting a community garden using Neighbor Spaces, a 12 year old not-for-profit organization about creating and maintaining community managed spaces in Chicago. How inspiring! Part of what draws me to a green lifestyle is the commitment it makes to our local community as well as the planet.

Chicago will always have a special place in my heart. Ever since I graduated college sixteen years ago, I have been proud to call the Windy City my home. Even when I traveled extensively with my job, my roots were firmly planted in this sparkling city on the lake. Last night we drove in from the western suburbs and I got the same dynamic charge from the city skyline that I did all those years ago. But it means more to me now.

Now I share this city with my children. This summer we helped create a farm in the zoo that sparked a year round curiosity and a desire to share what we have learned. By making a commitment to the less visible outdoor spaces in Chicago, I believe we can make the entire city more beautiful, more productive and more accessible to families just like ours.

An original 5 Minutes for Going Green post. Jen shares her journey going green and raising a family as The EcoChic Organizer.