The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step! Here’s some advice for new food gardeners with the Peterson Garden Project and beyond. Welcome to a lifelong adventure…

There’s an old saying “No matter how things change, they stay the same.” This is particularly true for gardening… no matter how much we’re influenced by TV, internet and social media people still learn to garden from other gardeners… Surprisingly, this holds true for the under 40 crowd as well who report that 82% of [...]

Even though the calendar says spring, the weather says winter. Struggling through the loooonnnngggg “spring” in Chicago’s Zone 5 can be a chore. Especially when I really, REALLY want to be out there digging and planting. It would all be much easier if Peter would just give in and get me the greenhouse I’ve been [...]

Usually I contain my seed lust until after the first of the year. January 15 is typically the date when all the holiday shenanegins are totally over (hopefully the decorations are taken down) and the looong Zone 5 winter starts to get to me. Seed catalogs, of course, are the best solace when you want [...]

Last weekend I was teaching a fall planting class for some of the gardeners at The Peterson Garden Project. And although enthusiastic and excited about fall planting, there was a lot of talk (and sadness) about “mistakes” and “if-onlys” from their summer gardens. I had to smile and say that gardens are NEVER perfect. Every [...]

How’s this for irony? For the past twelve years I’ve worked in the live event and trade show industry. Last week for my week off… I ended up going to a trade show. What may be even more ironic is that we’re knee deep in harvest at The Yarden and The Peterson Garden Project and [...]

The Peterson Garden Project (and my self appointed Block Captain duties) have made me think really hard about how to get all the stuff I know about edible gardening out of my head and “down on paper” for the many novice gardeners growing with us this season.