Chicago Gardeners

Re-Thinking Soup in Chicago Needs Volunteers

2009-12-07T14:38:00.003-06:00

Do you live in the Chicagoland area and looking to volunteer with some cool projects? Re-Thinking Soup and the Community Farm (both on the UIC campus) need volunteers. You can see more pictures of the community farm here.

About Re-Thinking Soup:

Every Tuesday from 12:00-1:00pm, the Hull-House Museum hosts a modern day soup kitchen that is a public and communal event where we gather together and eat delicious, healthy, soup and have fresh, organic conversation about many of the urgent social, cultural, economic and environmental food issues that we should be addressing.

Jane Addams was the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize and worked on many issues in her life to create the conditions of peace to flourish. We meet in the historic Residents' Dining Hall, where Upton Sinclair, Ida B. Wells, W.E.B. Du Bois, Gertrude Stein and other important social reformers met to share meals and ideas, debate one another, and conspire to change the world. Activists, farmers, doctors, economists, artists, and guest chefs join us each week to present their knowledge, ideas and projects and foster a space where we can move toward solutions.

The mission for the farm reflects our belief that monocultures are undesirable and dangerous for the environment and that promoting a pluralistic society is essential for a healthy democracy. The Heirloom Farm at the Hull-House Museum affirms the link between a healthy, diverse bio-culture that is sustained by varieties of heirloom fruits and vegetables, and a vibrant and diverse culture in society, promoted by artisans, farmers, ethnic restaurants and markets and by the people who support these spaces.

YES WE CAN!

For information about volunteer opportunities for Re-Thinking Soup or the Community Farm and Garden project, please contact Kelly Saulsberry at ksuzanne@uic.edu or 312.355.4683

Gardeners on the Roof

2009-07-18T13:24:00.005-05:00

Last weekend was the dedication ceremony of the Organic Rooftop Farm at Uncommon Ground on Devon. Four Chicago Gardeners were there to document the event.

Chicago Garden

Mayor Daley Didn't Answer My Question

Garden Girl

An Uncommon Rooftop Farm

Growing in Chicago

The Nation's First Rooftop Organic Farm, in Edgewater

My Skinny Garden

First Certified Organic Rooftop Farm

Press Passes: Independent Garden Center Show

2009-07-08T09:06:00.002-05:00

The Independent Garden Center Show will be in Chicago at Navy Pier August 18-20. We've been in contact with the show and if you are a garden blogger in the area and would like to cover the show send us an Email with your contact info to get registered for a press pass.

Include the following info,

Name

Company name

Address

City/state/zip

Phone

Web address

in an Email to ChicagoGardeners@Gmail.com and we'll pass it on for you. This information will only be used to get you press credentials to the show.

6-20-9 Chicago Garden Blogger Synchronicity

2009-06-20T15:12:00.003-05:00

Something funny that should be documented occurred on garden blogs across Chicagoland. It was a moment of garden blogger synchronicity

This week there was a moment of Chicago gardener synchronicity that occurred across a few Chicago garden bloggers that should be documented.

Mr Brown Thumb started the week inside the Garfield Park Conservatory and The Garden of Live Flowers ended the week with a post that started inside the same location. Maybe the rainy weather made them think of drier climates.

Chicago Garden looked up and was mesmerized by Northern Catalpa tree blooms and Garden Girl looked up and saw the same flowers and possibilities.

Chicago Gardener's Journal harvested garlic scapes and so did My Skinny Garden, maybe they're planning a dinner garden party to surprise us with.

About Chicago Gardeners

2009-06-13T23:53:00.004-05:00

In the winter and spring of 2009 an organizing committee consisting of five Chicagoland garden bloggers was formed and organized an event called Chicago Spring Fling. It was a gathering of garden bloggers from across the country. The archive for the event can be found here. For several of us this was the first time we had met in person. After the event we decided we wanted to keep in touch with each other and meet more of our Chicagoland garden bloggers.

The Chicago Gardeners blog, right now, serves as a collection of RSS feeds & links to make finding others like us a little bit easier. If you have a garden blog in the Chicagoland area and you want your feed added to the feed pool, simply add the Chicago Gardeners link to your blogroll or blog list and your feed will be added. The RSS pool is not limited just to garden bloggers, garden clubs, Foodies and other groups who publish a feed are welcomed as long as gardening is a large portion of your content. There is also a Flickr pool if you share photos on Flickr. We've set up a Google Group for discussing gardening, blogging issues or pass on information.

Note: For some reason the followers through Blogger accounts don't show up on the Google Friend Connect badge. If you've added Chicago Gardeners to your blog list or sidebar and your feed wasn't added leave a comment below or send an Email and you'll be added. Click the title of a particular blog post to read the comments.

Chicago Spring Fling, That's A Wrap!

2009-06-08T22:52:00.025-05:00

What was Chicago Spring Fling? Who attended Chicago Spring Fling? Who sponsored Chicago Spring Fling? Who was on the organizing committee for Chicago Spring Fling? Below you'll find posts by garden bloggers from across the country who attended Chicago Spring Fling in 2009. You can also find photos on the garden bloggers flickr pool.

Garden Girl:

Spring Fling Friday

Spring Fling Saturday

Spring Fling Saturday-Rick Bayless Garden

Spring Fling Saturday-Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool

Spring Fling Saturday-A busy Day

Spring Fling Sunday-Winding Down

MrBrownThumb:

Chicago Spring Fling in Words

Chicago Spring Fling in Pictures

Rick Bayless' Urban Edible Garden

My Skinny Garden:

Ginkgo Organic Community Garden

5 Things I Loved About the Rick Bayless Garden

On the Shores of Lake Chicago:

Spring Fling, Days 2 & 3

Spring Fling, Day 1

Garden Faerie's Musings:

Chicago Spring Fling

Flatbush Gardener:

Native Plant Garden, Chicago Botanic Garden

Edible Plant Garden, Chicago Botanic Garden

Model Train Garden, Chicago Botanic Garden

Rick Bayless Garden

Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool

Chicago Spring Fling 2009

Ramble on Rose:
Spring Fling '09 Wrap Up
Muse Day Final Fling Thoughts

Art of Gardening:
Garden Bloggers Spring Fling

Garden Blogging Influencing

Digging:
Caldwell Lily Pool, an oasis in Chicago
Visit to Garfield Park Conservatory
Intimate Gardens of Spring Fling
Art Institute Garden in Chicago
On Cloud Nine in Lurie Garden
The People Behind The Blogs
Chicago Botanic Garden wows Spring Flingers

Dig Grow Compost Blog:
Loving It-Chicago Botanic Garden
Rick Bayless Garden
Thank You Chicago Garden Bloggers

Fairegarden:

People of Spring Fling Chicago

Experiencing Chicago

faire Lurie garden Someday

Prairie Rose's Garden:

Spring Fling Finale

Garden Muse Day: Chicago

May Dreams Gardens:

Unpacking some misc Ideas Brought Home

Reforming one of my ways Again

Chicago Beans

Step back and see Gardens

The Garden of live Flowers:

Spring Fling Chicago photos

Chicago Spring Fling: The rest of the story

Time to get Cereus

Sharing Nature's Garden:

Chicago ala Mexicana

Lurie lures us In

Fling has Flung

Each Little World:

Chicago Spring Fling Sampler

Spring Fling Recap-Images and Impressions

Outside Clyde:

Garfield Park Conservatory

More Fling

Around Millennium Park

Chicago Botanic Garden

Eye on Chicago

Growing a Garden in Davis:

Spring Fling Chicago

Garden Punks:

Chicago Spring Fling 2009

Chicago Botanic Garden:

Spring Fling

Our Litte Acre:

Spring Fling Garden Party Giveaway

The Lurie Garden in Millennium Park - Chicago

Spring Fling Chicago 2009

There's a Sweet Home & Garden in Chicago

Who Is Rick Bayless Anyway?

Ohhh...the Lily Pool

Chicago's Lincoln Park Conservatory

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Garden Rant:
Return of the natives—and a Prairie School landmark—in Chicago
Next year in Buffalo

Mr.McGregor's Daughter:
A Grand Day Out At the Chicago Botanic Garden
But Wait, There's More.

Searching for the Unique Angle
-

Chicago Spring Fling

2009-05-26T17:44:00.001-05:00

UPDATE: You can see an archive of Chicago Spring Fling here.

On May 29th through May 31st Chicago, IL and Chicagoland garden bloggers will host the second annual garden blogger meetup. The first event took place last year in Austin, Texas. It's fitting that the City in a Garden continues the tradition. Chicago's 12,000 acres of public parks and waterfront space helped it secure a position in the Top 10 of America's 50 Greenest Cities as ranked by Popular Science.

On the agenda will be tours of crown jewels of the Chicago Park District, visits to a private garden, the Chicago Botanic Garden, a Friday dinner/reception, Saturday pizza party, group lunches, sightseeing, discussions and more. Unless noted, these events are free.

Events:

Friday, May 29th.

Saturday, May 30th.

Sunday, May 31st.

Pages:

Registered Participants & Invited Guests: See which garden bloggers from across the country are attending Chicago Spring Fling.

Chicago Spring Fling on Twitter: We'll be using Twitter to communicate with participants during the three day event.

Transportation: Transportation details are provided on events pages.

Visit the transportation page to discuss issues related to transportation either to Chicago or in and around the city.

Sponsors:Visit our sponsors page for information on the people helping make Chicago Spring Fling possible. Please contact us if you'd like to become a sponsor.

Of interest:

The Wikipedia entry on Chicago.

The website for the Chicago Transit Authority.

The website for EasyAccessChicago.

If you're attending we'd appreciate it if you'd blog/tweet/bookmark this event to help up spread the word. If you aren't attending go ahead and help up promote our garden blogger convention because you're cool like that.

Chicago Spring Fling Sponsors

2009-01-28T23:45:00.017-06:00

Chicago Botanic Garden: A living museum, the Chicago Botanic Garden is built on nine islands that house a collection of more than 2.3 million plants in 23 specialty gardens, three native habitats, six miles of shoreline, and 81 acres of waterways. The mission of the Garden is topromote the enjoyment, understanding and conservation of plants and the natural world.

The mission of the Garden’s plant conservation efforts is to conserve global biodiversity through the study of, and dissemination of information about, rare native plants and communities.

Troy-Bilt: In 1937, Troy-Bilt introduced the first American-made rototiller. Troy-Bilt has expanded on its legendary expertise and durable product line to create a complete selection of the industry’s finest lawn and garden tools. Troy-Bilt’s award-winning product line includes top-quality tractors, mowers, tillers, cultivators, trimmers and a variety of outdoor power tools. Troy-Bilt machines are built to last and engineered to take on the toughest challenges to make jobs simpler and safer. For more information, visit http://www.troybilt.com/.

Proven Winners: Proven Winners is the leading brand of high quality flowering plants in North America, sold under the Proven Winners name. We're grateful for their support and ask that you visit their website and shop Proven Winners.

Botanical Interests: is a family owned seed company that offers high quality garden seeds. Their goal is to inspire and educate gardeners. The seed packaging merges art, gardening and science. With over 500 varieties, they have many popular favorites as well as heirloom, organic and gourmet seed varieties.

Sunset magazine is the premier guide to life in the 13 western states, covering the newest and best ideas in Western gardening and landscaping, home design and decorating, food and entertaining, and travel. The magazine has five zoned editions to give readers regional Garden and Travel ideas, and is read by nearly 5 million people each month.

Sunset.com is the 24/7 how-to arm of the magazine. Its Garden section includes guides to edible gardening, backyard projects, going organic, saving water, garden design, climate maps, how-to videos, and more. Garden writers Jim McCausland and Sharon Cohoon update Fresh Dirt daily with their latest scouting finds, garden events, tips, and ideas. We hope to see you there!

YouGrowGirl:was launched by Gayla Trail in early 2000 and has grown into a thriving online community that speaks to a new kind of gardener, seeking to redefine the modern world relationship to plants. This contemporary, laid-back approach to gardening places equal importance on environmentalism, style, affordability, art, and humour.

Chicago Honey Co-op: In the winter of 2004,three passionate urban beekeepers conceived and created Chicago Honey Co-op. Their purpose was simple, to provide job training opportunities for the under-employed while operating a small business model that is dedicated to sustainable agricultural practices and aims for the highest product of quality standards.

Renee's Garden: Renee's Garden is a personal selection of time-tested heirlooms, superior open-pollinated seed varieties and the best international hybrids all chosen for great flavor, easy culture and exceptional garden performance. This company is Renee's way of sharing the joy of gardening as a productive and satisfying activity that connects us to each other and the earth. Renee's Garden seeds are available online and at fine nurseries and garden centers.

Ethel Gloves: are fashionable gardening gloves made to fit women's hands, offering full function and protection. When the Ethel Gloves team was creating the current line of gloves, we focused on creating quality gloves with style, inherent functionality, and integrity. The result? Gloves that are:

* Fashion-forward and stylish

* Made to fit women's hands for maximum comfort

* Durable and tough, yet refined

* Designed to protect with an elasticized extended cuff and reinforced fingertips

* Full of function and have greater dexterity with rubberized grip

* Machine washable

Ethel Gloves are currently available in five styles: Signature, Expression, Gala, Rendezvous and Jubilee. All styles are available in sizes small, medium and large.

The Garden Guys, with your host Jim Zoppo, Layanee DeMerchant, and Sam Jeffries, air Sunday mornings from 6:00AM-10:00AM and stream live from the website at http://www.garden-guys.com/. Please check website for current radio information They are 'Down to Earth, Up to Date, and On the Air' to answer all of your gardening questions with an emphasis on organic methods and tools. Call in during the show with your questions at Toll Free 1-888-GGEWISE (1-888-443-9473). So sit back, relax, and be ready for some entertaining and educational fun with the Garden Guys.

Garden Shoes Online: Is a family-owned online retailer specializing in garden shoes and other gardening accessories. Featuring Muck Garden Shoes and LawnGrips, we offer brand names shoes, clogs and boots at bargain prices. We stand behind our products and services and we go above and beyond to ensure that our customers are always satisfied.

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, Plant a Row for the Hungry and Feeding America have joined forces in an effort to provide fresh produce to the hungry this summer by asking Americans to take the GroGood pledge: Grow a garden for the greater good. To launch the GroGood pledge campaign, ScottsMiracle-Gro will donate 1 million pounds of produce and call on Americans to help double that donation by pledging to grow and donate an additional 1 million pounds of fresh produce to help feed those at risk for hunger.

Fulfilling the pledge is as easy as planting an edible garden – adding a pot, plot or row for those in need – and donating the extra harvest to a participating soup kitchen, food or hunger relief agency. To get started, consumers can visit www.GroGood.com to take the pledge, obtain tips and techniques on how to grow an edible garden, and how to find information on local food agencies that accept fresh produce donations.

Waking up in Eden by Lucinda Fleeson: An unexpected offer to work at a celebrated and mysterious botanical garden on the island of Kauai restores a woman’s passion for life and reveals an exotic, endangered, paradise. Available June 16, 2009.

The Penguin Press was founded in 2003 by Ann Godoff and launched its debut list in the Winter of 2004. Dedicated to publishing literary nonfiction and select fiction, its distinguished roster of authors include, among others, John Berendt, Ron Chernow, Steve Coll, Ruth Reichl, James M. McPherson, Alan Greenspan, Michael Pollan, Thomas Pynchon, Thomas E. Ricks, Frank Rich, Mark Helprin, David Nasaw, Zadie Smith, Gordon Wood, Maira Kalman, Jerome Groopman, James B. Stewart, Samantha Power, Daniel Yergin, Bryan Burrough, Naill Ferguson, Michael Kimmelman, Roger Lowenstein, Claire Tomalin, and Eric Schlosser. In its first six years, The Penguin Press has published numerous New York Times and national bestsellers, earning an array of prestigious prizes and citations that include the Pulitzer Prize, the James Beard Award, the Orange Prize, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Man Asian Prize, the Mark Lynton History Prize, the Arthur Ross Book Award, the Sidney Hillman Foundation Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

We're open to sponsors (large or small) who would like to place their brand, products or information on their services in the gardening, blogging or photography field directly in the hands of the people who help shape public perception on the internet. Sponsors will receive banner advertisement on this blog, a special post here with links to their blogs and certain CSF committee members have agreed to create a post about them on their blogs.

The ads you see on this blog are for sponsors of Chicago Spring Fling. Help us thank our sponsors by visiting their websites.

Registered Participants & Invited Guests

2009-03-20T12:04:00.014-05:00

Spring Flingers - below is a comprehensive list of registered participants and invited guests. Remember, you need to complete the registration form to be officially registered.

Please take the time to visit the blogs listed here to introduce yourself.

Update: 5/31/09 I've updated a few URLs and cleaned up the list to those who attended at least two days, to help anyone who may need to remember who you met.

CSF Events Saturday, May 30th

2009-04-08T15:32:00.018-05:00

Saturday, May 30th
9 a.m.
Tour of Rick Bayless's private urban/edible garden. This tour is only open to garden bloggers and special guests of Chicago Spring Fling. There is a reasonable cost associated with this tour of $12 per person. This is a private garden and the location of this event will not be made public. This will be the first event of the day and we will need to arrive there by 10.a.m. This event is limited to 45 people. We'll meet outside Club Quarters and leave as a group.

For those not attending the Bayless garden tour who have registered for Saturday's charter bus, we'll arrange for the bus to circle back and pick you up at Club Quarters at 10:30 a.m.

Saturday, May 30th 11:45 a.m.
Chicago Spring Fling attendees who didn't attend the urban/edible garden tour can meet us for a group lunch at Andies in Andersonville. The cost for lunch is 18.25 and includes tax and tip. Please have exact change. From here we'll board our bus for a short ride to Carolyn Gail's garden. She's graciously invited us into her garden for conversation and light refreshments. Carolyn will be raffling off her painting Jasper in May valued at $350 to an attendee on this day at her home.

Saturday, May 30th 2:15 p.m.

Ben Helphand, Executive Director of NeighborSpace, will give us a tour of the Ginko Organic Gardens. The Ginko Organic Gardens were started to help ease hunger among residents of the Uptown neighborhood. He'll talk to us about community gardening in Chicago.

Saturday, May 30th 3:30 p.m.
The gardens at the Lincoln Park Conservatory. We'll enjoy a leisurely stroll through the formal gardens outside of the conservatory or the rambling beds of Grandmother's Garden across the street, to continue our conversations from lunch within earshot of the roaring lions next door at Lincoln Park Zoo, the fluttering butterflies at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, and the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool Gardens. For those wishing to see the butterfly room, admission to the Notebaert museum is $9.00 for adults, $7.00 for seniors age 60+ and students. The Conservatory, outdoor gardens, and zoo are all free.

Saturday, May 30th 7 p.m.-?
Saturday's reservation at Giordano's - the quintessential Chicago pizzeria experience, (located at 223 W. JACKSON BLVD., an easy walk from Club Quarters,) - is set for 7:00 p.m. The menu includes an assortment of thin-crust and Chicago-style stuffed pizzas, salad, and soft drinks. It's all-you-can-eat and drink, and the *total per person including tip and tax will be $17.00 (exact change please)* We'll have discussions on garden blogging & door prizes for garden bloggers. Please fill out the form below to reserve your space & help us provide a count to the restaurant. Saturday's pizza party registration will close Saturday May 9th at midnight EST.

Transportion
We've reserved a 52-passenger ADA charter bus for Saturday. The bus will board at Club Quarters Hotel at 9:30 a.m. with stops at each of our destinations, then back to Club Quarters at about 5:00 p.m. For those not attending the Bayless garden tour, we'll arrange for the bus to circle back and pick you up at Club Quarters at 10:30 a.m.

Seats on the bus are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. We've reserved the largest bus available, and with the number of participants registered for Spring Fling it's possible we could reach or exceed capacity.

The cost per person is $26.00. In order to expedite this process you may reserve your seat by paying for it via PayPal here, with no additional registration forms to complete. Payments are being accepted today through April 30th.

If the bus is filled to capacity, the cost could drop to as low as $20.00 per person. If that occurs we'll refund overpayments in cash at Spring Fling. Because we can't predict how many people will reserve a seat, we felt this would be the most efficient way to manage reserving and pricing seats. We hope you'll join us on the bus Saturday. Please let us know if you have any questions.

See Events Page for Sunday, May 31st.

See Chicago Spring Fling map.

Events

2009-02-13T18:44:00.041-06:00

Friday
Chicago Botanic Garden: This 385-acre Botanic Garden features 23 display gardens and three native habitats, uniquely situated on nine islands surrounded by lakes.

Start Times: Leave Ogilvie Station at 8:35 a.m. arrive at Glencoe Station 9:16 a.m. A later start time for those who may have missed the first train: leave Ogilvie Station at 10:35 a.m. arrive at Glencoe Station 11:16 a.m. We'll be using public transportation to the Chicago Botanic Garden. Typically suburban train lines leaving the city during morning rush hour are fairly empty. If we get to the train station early we hope to all ride together on one train car or two.Trains going back into the city when we'll be on our way back typically have lots of room as well.We'll be picked up at the train station by Chicago Botanic Garden trolleys who will shuttle us to the entrance of the Garden. We anticipate this will be a low-stress, comfortable, economical trip. A round-trip ticket on Metra costs $8.70.

The Chicago Botanic Garden has published a webpage just for Chicago Spring Fling to help you make the best use of your time.

Lunch:
The Chicago Botanic Garden has a wonderful Cafe.

End Time:

There will be one special return trip leaving the Visitor Center everyone should be on board by 2:10. This Trolley will meet the train leaving Glencoe at 2:42 p.m., arriving Ogilvie at 3:35 for the Lurie Garden at Millennium Park at 4 p.m.

Friday, May 29th 4 p.m.
Millennium Park: The Lurie Garden
"Designed by Gustafson Guthrie Nichol Ltd, Piet Oudolf and Robert Israel, this 2.5-acre garden pays homage to the City's motto, "Urbs in Horto" (City in a Garden), which refers to Chicago's transformation from its flat and marshy origins to a bold and powerful city. Highlights of the garden include the dramatically lit, 15-foot-high "shoulder" hedge. This physical representation of Sandburg's famous description of the "City of Big Shoulders" encloses the garden on two sides and protects the delicate perennial garden. A graceful hardwood footbridge over shallow water divides the garden diagonally between "light" and "dark" plates."

The Lurie is just a quick 12 minute walk- straight down the street from Club Quarters. After the Lurie you can spend as much time as you like exploring Millennium Park and the surrounding area or head to the hotel to freshen up to get ready for the reception . See CSF Map.

Friday, May 29th 6:30 p.m.-?
Group gathering and reception. Door prizes and raffles for garden bloggers. Our reception will be held at Elephant & Castle, adjacent to Club Quarters Hotel, with cocktails at 6:30 p.m., and dinner at 7:00. The reception is open to all registered participants and special guests of Spring Fling. We'll enjoy a private party room with a British-style dinner to include salad, dinner rolls, garlic mashed potatoes, veggies, London Broil, Chicken & mushrooms, desserts, and cold and hot beverages. We'll have a private, cash bar in our party room. Besides enjoying a great meal, we have some wonderful surprises in store, including gifts for all garden bloggers in attendance thanks to the generosity of our sponsors. The cost per person is $31.20, and you may reserve your spot by paying for your meal via this PayPal link.

See Events Page for Saturday, May 30th

See Events Page for Sunday, May 31st

See CSF Map

CSF Reminders for CBG Tour On Friday

2009-05-26T17:41:00.001-05:00

For those heading to the Chicago Botanic Garden Friday morning, we plan to assist both the early and later groups in getting to Ogilvie station for the train. To provide ample time for the 6-block walk and time for everyone to purchase their train tickets, we'll leave from outside the front entrance of Club Quarters at 8 a.m. for the early group, and 10 a.m. for the later group. You're welcome to walk or take a cab to Ogilvie on your own, however if you prefer to walk with the group, please be on time, as we plan to leave promptly. We're allowing enough time for the walk, ticket purchases, and boarding the train.

Ideally we'll all have our tickets in hand when we board, but if not ticket purchases can also be made on the train.

Ogilvie is at 500 W. Madison, the northwest corner of Madison and Canal (first street west of the river) in the Citigroup building. The ticketing area is on the second floor, to the left of the escalators, and the train boarding areas are on the
second floor as well. We'll be taking the Union Pacific North Line to Waukegan, and getting off at Glencoe for the trolleys to the Botanic Garden. The train numbers are 319 (8:35 am) and 321 (10:35 am).

As a reminder, feel free to visit our event blog's Google map, which includes marked SF locations of interest.

This will likely be our last email update. . . it's hard to believe Spring Fling is finally upon us. We're looking forward to meeting everyone on Friday!

----------------------------------------------------------

CSF Registration Countdown

2009-05-20T10:46:00.001-05:00

There are still a few more days left to register for Friday's reception, Saturday's bus, and Sunday's breakfast. These events require advance payment. Saturday's lunch and pizza dinner require registration, and we'll collect payments (exact change please,) during those events. We'll need to provide final counts to the restaurants shortly, and need to finalize all registrations by the end of this week.

All garden bloggers in attendance at the reception will receive a selection of gifts from Spring Fling Sponsors, including books, seeds, and even a chance to win a Troy-Bilt rototiller. For more details about sponsor gifts being provided at the reception, please visit the swag page of the event blog. Not pictured on the swag page, an additional gift for garden bloggers attending the reception will be a pair of Ethel gloves. And on Saturday during our visit to Carolyn Gail's home, she will have annuals from Proven Winners to give away to all garden bloggers visiting her garden. (No registration is required for the visit to Carolyn's garden.)

As you know we did have some problems with the links we initially emailed for Friday's reception and Sunday's breakfast. We apologize for any frustration or inconvenience this may have caused. If you haven't registered for these events yet, we hope you will this week so you can be a part of all the fun!

For more information about the reception, please visit the Friday page of the SF event blog.

Or to register for Friday's reception, simply use this PayPal link. http://tinyurl.com/chifling-friday

For more information and to register for Saturday's charter bus, please visit the bus survey page here.

Or to register and pay for a seat on Saturday's bus, simply use this PayPal link. http://tinyurl.com/chifling-bus

For information and to register for lunch at Andies Saturday, please visit this page on the events blog.

For information and to register for Saturday's pizza dinner, please visit the Saturday events page.

For more information, and to register for Sunday's breakfast, please visit the Sunday page of the SF event blog.

Or to register and pay for Sunday's breakfast, simply use this PayPal link. http://tinyurl.com/chifling-sunday

Please note, the PayPal registration/payment links are also available on the event blog on the events pages.

One final note - we've added a new event to Saturday's schedule. We'll be visiting the Gingko Organic Garden after our visit to Carolyn Gail's and before Lincoln Park. This event is free, and no registration is required. We plan to leave Lincoln Park around 5:15, and the bus will drop us off at Club Quarters where you can rest, relax, visit, or catch up on blogging before heading to Giordano's for our pizza dinner. For more information about the Gingko Garden, please visit Saturday's events page.

If you have any questions please let us know. We're looking forward to seeing everyone here in Chicago in about a week-and-a-half.

Sincerely,

Your Spring Fling Committee

CSF Swag

2009-04-15T13:27:00.002-05:00

Update: 5/19/09

Two books arrived today. The Garden of Invention and Waking up in Eden to be given out to garden bloggers at the dinner on Friday May 29th.

Update 5/18/09

Today we received a number of seeds and mouse pads to give out at the Friday dinner/reception to garden bloggers from Botanical Interests. Scroll down to view more items and visit the sponsor page to see a list of sponsors of Chicago Spring Fling.

Possibly the largest item we'll have available to give away to a garden blogger attending Chicago Spring Fling will be the Super Bronco ™ CRT tiller from Troy-Bilt ® .

Here are a few items that garden bloggers attending Chicago Spring Fling may take home with them. For a full list of sponsors of Chicago Spring Fling visit the sponsor page. These are only some of the items we'll have on hand and available to garden bloggers.

A book, shirt and buttons courtesy of Gayla at YouGrowGirl

Issues of Sunset courtesy of Sunset Mag

Two cook books and seed packet courtesy of Renee's Garden

A few gift certificates courtesy of Garden Shoes Online

Garden journals from Troy-Bilt ®

Please visit and support the sponsors by clicking on the banner ads on this blog. The banners are not generated by any advertising programs. The ads are for companies and people who understand that garden bloggers have a value and who wanted to be part of Chicago Spring Fling. If the current economic crisis we are in has affected the amount of disposable income you have available write an email thanking them for their generosity. A few of our sponsors even have blogs were you can easily leave a message thanking them for their support.

If you would like to become a sponsor of Chicago Spring Fling there is still time before the event at the end of May.

Transportation

2009-02-13T23:49:00.008-06:00

Some interest has been expressed in having an area where we can discuss issues related to transportation. If you're driving or renting a car or looking to carpool feel free to use the comments section below to discuss these issues with your fellow garden bloggers. Make sure to sign in first to the group so you can comment. If you need help we've provided a tutorial on joining and commenting.

If you will be participating in Spring Fling and getting around via public transportation, instead of paying the cost of a single ride every time you board a bus or train consider buying a CTA transit card from the kiosks at the airports, online or at any train station in the downtown area.

Friday, May 29th

Transportation for Friday's CBG trip will be via public transit - a commuter line traveling against rush hour and generally sparsely occupied. If we arrive at the station a bit early we should be able to ride together on one or two train cars. We anticipate this to be a low-stress, comfortable, economical trip, and the CBG trolleys will be waiting for us at the train station to shuttle us to the CBG entrance.

Saturday, May 30th

We've reserved a 52-passenger ADA charter bus for Saturday. The bus will board at Club Quarters Hotel at 9:30 a.m. with stops at each of our destinations, then back to Club Quarters at about 5:00 p.m. For those not attending the Bayless garden tour, we'll arrange for the bus to circle back and pick you up at Club Quarters at 10:30 a.m.

Seats on the bus are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. We've reserved the largest bus available, and with the number of participants registered for Spring Fling it's possible we could reach or exceed capacity.

The cost per person is $26.00. In order to expedite this process you may reserve your seat by paying for it via PayPal here, with no additional registration forms to complete. *UPDATE 5/12/09* We've extended registration for the bus. Participants still wishing to ride the charter bus on Saturday may use the PayPal link above to reserve their seats.

If the bus is filled to capacity, the cost could drop to as low as $20.00 per person. If that occurs we'll refund overpayments in cash at Spring Fling. Because we can't predict how many people will reserve a seat, we felt this would be the most efficient way to manage reserving and pricing seats. We hope you'll join us on the bus Saturday.

Sunday, May 31st

Transportation to the Garfield Park Conservatory will be via public transit. The conservatory is easily reached via one quick train ride from the hotel.

CSF Bus Survey

2009-02-12T17:50:00.011-06:00

Thanks to all who voted in the bus survey. Nineteen people voted for a charter bus - approximately one-third of registered participants. We've analyzed the survey results and weighed them with our public transportation options.

*Update 4/13/09* We've reserved a 52-passenger ADA charter bus for Saturday. The bus will board at Club Quarters Hotel at 9:30 a.m. with stops at each of our destinations, then back to Club Quarters at about 5:00 p.m. For those not attending the Bayless garden tour, we'll arrange for the bus to circle back and pick you up at Club Quarters at 10:30 a.m.

Seats on the bus are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. We've reserved the largest bus available, and with the number of participants registered for Spring Fling it's possible we could reach or exceed capacity.

The cost per person is $26.00. In order to expedite this process you may reserve your seat by paying for it via PayPal here, with no additional registration forms to complete. Payments are being accepted today through April 30th.

If the bus is filled to capacity, the cost could drop to as low as $20.00 per person. If that occurs we'll refund overpayments in cash at Spring Fling. Because we can't predict how many people will reserve a seat, we felt this would be the most efficient way to manage reserving and pricing seats. We hope you'll join us on the bus Saturday.

Friday's and Sunday's events will include public transportation. Please visit each day's events pages for details. On Sunday, anyone preferring not to use the El's (elevated train) Green line (leaving every ten minutes from Adams & Wabash) to the Conservatory stop on Sunday, may consider a cab. A six-mile trip is a reasonably-priced cab fare, and even more economical if cabs are shared.

CSF Events Sunday, May 31st

2009-04-08T15:50:00.014-05:00

Sunday, May 31st

Breakfast: We'll be gathering for breakfast at the conveniently-located Elephant & Castle restaurant adjacent to Club Quarters. Coffee and juice will be served beginning at 7:00 a.m. for early risers, and breakfast will be served at 8:00 a.m. To maximize our enjoyment, we'll have a private party room. Details on the menu are provided in a group email to SF participants on May 8th. The cost for breakfast is $26.05, and you may reserve your spot by paying for it via this PayPal link. Please reserve as soon as possible, but no later than Saturday, May 23rd, so we may provide a count to E&C.

10 a.m.

The Garfield Park Conservatory has been home to rare tropical plants for 100 years, opening to the public in April, 1908. We'll be exploring this Chicago gem, saying goodbye to new & old friends who leave on this day, and talking about issues related to garden blogging.

A short walk east from Club Quarters we'll board the El (elevated train) at Adams and Wabash for a 20-minute ride on the Green Line to our stop at the Conservatory's doorstep. The Green Line runs every ten minutes on Sunday. For those who might prefer a taxi, the six-mile ride from Club Quarters would be a reasonably-priced fare, and even more economical if cab rides are shared.

Directly behind the Conservatory lies Garfield Park, designed by noted landscape architect Jens Jensen, and the Garfield Park Lagoon. The last day of 2009 Chicago Spring Fling, we're planning a laid-back day enjoying the scents, sights and sounds of one more crown jewel of the Chicago Park District.

See Events Page for Friday, May 29th

See Events Page for Saturday, May 30th

See Chicago Spring Fling map

Breakfast at Spring Fling

2009-04-24T13:01:00.017-05:00

Breakfast at Spring Fling Friday and Saturday will be on your own, and we encourage you to include other participants in your breakfast plans. Doing this will provide additional opportunities for getting to know new friends and catching up with old friends in smaller groups.

Sunday we'll be gathering for breakfast at Elephant & Castle. Coffee and juice will be served beginning at 7:00 a.m. for early risers, and breakfast will be served at 8:00. For more details on Sunday's breakfast, including how to reserve your seat, please visit Sunday's events page.

There are lots of restaurants serving breakfast near Club Quarters Hotel. Here's a sampling:

Elephant & Castle is adjacent to Club Quarters. Although their breakfast menu isn't available online, they serve British-style breakfasts 7 days a week beginning each morning at 6:30 a.m.

Corner Bakery Cafe is just about 600 feet door to door from Club Quarters, at 120 South LaSalle.

Potbelly serves breakfast M-F starting at 6:30 a.m. There's more than one location very close to Club Quarters. Potbelly offers breakfast sandwiches and other breakfasty stuff like muffins, bagels, yogurt, and oatmeal. The link for Potbelly will take you to the store locator - enter Club Quarters zip code (60603) to see where they are.

Ristorante We down the street from Club Quarters at 172 West Adams is Tuscan-inspired, serving breakfast M-F starting at 6:30, and on the weekends starting at 7:00 a.m. You can see their breakfast menu here. Don't be scared off by their elegant website - casual attire is perfectly acceptable, including shorts if that's what you're wearing.

There are several McDonald's nearby. The menu requires no explanation. :) Wabash & Adams, 119 North Wabash, and 230 South State are close to Club Quarters. There are more locations downtown - click on the link and insert Club Quarters zip code (60603) for additional locations.

Starbucks is steps from Club Quarters at the corner of Adams and LaSalle.

There are many more breakfast restaurants near Club Quarters. These are are few spots, and we encourage you to check out more options either online or after you arrive. Chicago natives and past visitors, please feel free to add more suggestions in the comments below. Get adventurous for breakfast, meet and mingle with with your fellow participants, and be sure to allow plenty of time to get back to Club Quarters so we can board our trains Friday morning, charter bus Saturday, and El train on Sunday.

If you're staying at Club Quarters, coffee makers are in guest rooms, and coffee is also available in the lobby until 6:00 p.m. You can pick up free, chilled bottled water on every floor of the hotel.

Chicago Weather, and What to Pack

2009-04-24T00:19:00.017-05:00

Since many of you may not have visited Chicago at the end of May, we thought it would be helpful to provide some information on what kinds of clothes to pack for our weather. To help with planning, you can go here for a 10-day forecast. If you check back before packing you can be well-prepared.

Casual and comfortable (not grubby) will be fine. Jeans, skirts, or even nice shorts are perfectly appropriate. For the restaurants we've chosen, a light cardigan or jacket can be added for a little more polish, and to keep you from getting chilled in the air conditioning.

Average high temperatures in late May are in the low 70's, with average lows in the low 50's. It's not unusual though, to have high temperatures in the upper-50's to low 60's, especially if there's rain, or even low-to-mid 80's sometimes.

A compact umbrella might be a good thing to have handy in case of light rain. Fortunately most of our events will include indoor components in case of thunderstorms, (not unusual this time of year.) Sun screen and/or a hat might be advisable too.

Light layers are suggested, including a light sweater and/or jacket . Morning temperatures are usually several degrees cooler than afternoon highs, and it will be cooler again in the evenings. In the shadows of tall buildings downtown, it can often feel much cooler than being in a more open area in full sun. And they don't call Chicago 'The Windy City' for nothing! The lake and the tall buildings tend to increase wind velocity.

Comfortable footwear is advisable since we'll be doing some walking.

We hope this information will help you prepare for your trip. If you have more questions about the weather or what to wear, please feel free to post them here.

Saturday Group Lunch

2009-04-24T10:01:00.008-05:00

Our lunch reservation is set for Andies Restaurant in Chicago's north side Andersonville neighborhood. Andies is a long-time local favorite - a gem of Eastern-Mediterranean flavor serving healthful and delicious Lebanese, Greek, and vegetarian selections.

Highly recommended, Andies is a favorite of Carolyn Gail's. We'll enjoy Andies' outstanding buffet of marvelous dishes including gluten-free selections. The cost per person for lunch at Andies, including tip and tax is $18.25. Please reserve your seat using the registration form below. Payments (exact change please,) will be collected before Saturday's lunch.

We hope as many guests as possible will join us for Saturday's group lunch.

For those who might prefer an even more budget-friendly option, there are small sandwich shop and fast food spots very nearby.

CSF Chicago Botanic Garden Tour

2009-03-24T19:41:00.009-05:00

Update 4/24/09

Registration for the Chicago Botanic Garden tour is now closed. If you indicated you are driving you will be emailed a parking pass for the day. If you are taking the Metra with the group passes for the trolley bus will be provided. There wasn't enough of an interest in the speaker so the offer had to be withdrawn.

Update 4/1/09
The majority of the people who have opted for the speaker below seem to be going on the early train. Today we received word that the speaker would likely from the plant evaluation garden & consist of a tour of the two evaluation gardens. If you've already opted out of the speaker but this information has caused you to reconsider, leave a comment below and your preference can be changed.

Email sent to participants of Chicago Spring Fling.

2009-04-13T22:38:00.002-05:00

Moments ago a mass email was sent out to participants of Chicago Spring Fling from the Chicago Gardeners email account. The subject of the email reads: "Charter Bus/Chicago Spring Fling Update." Please check your spam folders & read the email carefully and complete the reservations for the Chicago Botanic Garden tour & the group dinner on Saturday night. If you were one of the attendees that wanted a bus please pay for your seat on the bus by following the link provided. Seats on the bus are offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Thanks.

Registration Form For Chicago Spring Fling

2009-02-14T00:04:00.003-06:00

*UPDATE 4/13/09* Registration for Chicago Spring Fling is now closed. Thanks to everyone who has signed up and made plans to be in Chicago May 29th-31st. We can't wait to meet all of you wonderful garden bloggers from across the country.

If you're attending Chicago Spring Fling & would like to participate in the Chicago Botanic Garden tour on Friday, May 29th please fill out this form. The Chicago Botanic Garden has planned to sent a trolley to pick up attendees from the train station. Please fill out the form to reserve your spot on the trolley or to sign up for the parking pass. If you do not sign up for the trolley or parking pass may you may be in for a long walk or have to pay the $20.00 parking fee.

On the night of Saturday, May 3oth we will be having Chicago-style pizza. Please fill out the reservation form for dinner on that night so we can provide the restaurant with a count of attendees.

If you have any comments or questions feel free to leave them on the appropriate page. See you in the spring.

*UPDATE 4/8/09* Registration for garden bloggers wishing to attend Chicago Spring Fling will close on 4/12/09 at 11:59 P.M. CST. If you were planning to attend Chicago Spring Fling make sure to to fill out the form below before that time. We can't wait to meet you all. See you in the spring!

*UPDATE 3/28/09* Today, emails were sent out to the first 45 registered garden bloggers for Chicago Spring Fling. Please read it and complete the action described in the email by the stated date. If you don't see it in your inbox please check your spam folder.

CSF Saturday Night Survey

2009-03-23T17:55:00.002-05:00

This survey is now closed, thanks for voting! The overwhelming majority of attendees want to have a group dinner on this day. We've added the details for the group dinner on the page for the schedule of events for Saturday, May 30th 2009. Please look over the events and make your reservations for the dinner on this night by filling out the form.

See you in the spring!

CSF Registration to Close Midnight April 12th

2009-04-08T18:44:00.000-05:00

With less than two months to go before Spring Fling comes to Chicago, it's almost time to close registration.

For those planning to attend Spring Fling who haven't yet signed up, please complete your registration form no later than midnight on Sunday, April 12th so we can finalize details. Thanks for your cooperation.

We're looking forward to meeting everyone in May!