My favorite days in the garden are the ones when I get to garden with other gardeners!
This installation was so much fun and even more rewarding. The Arlington Heights Garden Club reached out to me to consult on the kitchen garden for Northwest Compass Inc’s new community garden. I was so honored to be a part of this new garden!
Northwest Compass: Lending the Mightiest Hand Up to Those in Need
Northwest Compass is an incredible local organization that provides emergency services, education, and empowerment to vulnerable people or those in crisis. NW Compass recently received a grant to create a series of gardens at their facility in hopes that some of our more vulnerable neighbors develop the skills they need to grow their own food and find peace through gardens.
The New Northwest Compass Garden Comes Together!
I jumped at the chance to be able to give back to my community by helping design and plant the kitchen garden. I met with the planning team and made a few suggestions to make the kitchen garden fit into the overall project seamlessly while bringing beauty that is so often missing from vegetable gardening. The community garden also includes a native garden, cut flower garden, demonstration area for classes, and a shade garden, so the kitchen garden was just one small part of this ambitious installation!
A few weeks after we met to plan the gardens, a team of volunteers from Baird and Warner placed the raised beds and filled them, and then we gathered another set of volunteers to plant the entire garden bed full of beautiful pepper plants, squash, tomatoes, and tons of lettuce seeds for the fall. We also planted six containers full of herbs and placed them throughout the gardens (herbs are perfect for containers because of their size – try swapping out your flowers for herbs next year!)
Mission Accomplished
Our goal was to show that vegetables and herbs can be planted anywhere – in big raised beds, or containers on a patio! My hope is that those who use Northwest Compass’ garden will bring kitchen gardening to their next home.
I believe that everyone – regardless of income level or socioeconomic status – should have the tools they need to grow their own vegetables and herbs so they can live a healthier life both physically and mentally. And consulting on Northwest Compass’ new kitchen garden was the perfect dream that came to life.
