Hello everybody! Let me introduce myself My name is Brooke and im from a suburb of Chicago. I am married (2 1/2 yrs) and I do not have any children yet I'm only 26! I am a photographer for a commercial company in Chicago and my Husband Rick is in advertising. We met In college and have been happy ever since! We recently purchased a home outside of Chicago and since the weather finally has gotten nice I want to start my own garden in the back yard. I want to try to grow some vegetables however im not sure with the crazy midwest weather if it is even possible. If anyone has some good advice as to what I should plant in my garden I would greatly appreciate it. I planned on my garden being 10ft x 12ft. Is this a good size for a garden? I feel almost complety lost in my hope for a beautiful garden. Hope to hear back and get to know some of you really soon! Brooke
Hey Brooke and a warm welcome to GardenStew from a fellow 26 year old! 27 this July You have definitely come to the right place for advice on starting your garden. Folks here are amongst the friendliest and helpful you will find anywhere. We have a lot of fun in the process as well, due to our sometimes 'twisted' sense of humour (believe me hang around enough and you'll understand ) While I have your attention why not add your birthday to our calendar and also don't forget to check out our great member blogs. Great to have you here. I'm sure others will be along to welcome you shortly
Welcome Brooke! Glad to have you aboard. Join the fun, we're only slightly crazy here Of course you can grow things there, anything can be grown anywhere with enough persistance Watch out for Eileen, she's full of wonderful information, and the gnomes will surley help you as well. I'm in Colorado and we have weird weather here too, but not like where you're at
Hello! I live in Arizona now, but we used to live in Wisconsin, just across the border from Illinois. We grew all sorts of vegetables so it's just a matter of what you like. At this time of year, I would buy tomatoes and peppers already started but most others should do well from seeds. We even grew peanuts one year. Your average frost date will be around the end of September so choose things with less than 120 days to maturity. Corn does well there but with a small garden it takes up much space. You could plant corn and grow pole beans or pumpkins with it. Melons grow well with a shorter season. It's probably too late for cool weather things like peas, lettuce or spinach. Things like brussel sprouts and carrots survive the frost and can actually be harvested after snow falls. Try what you think you like and see what happens. Dooley
Welcome to GardenStew Brooke!!! Here's a website that should get you started with your garden. :-D http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basics/techniques/ I think it covers almost everything but if not then just give me a shout and I'll see what else I can come up with for you.
Many welcomes, Brooke - always nice to add another gardener to the pile. My only thought in addition to what was already said was to keep in mind the size of the plants when you put them in, seeing as you have a limited area. Squash or zucchini tend to sprawl, for instance, while green-beans can be easily made 'vertical' on poles. Good luck!
Welcome to our world Brooke .We have so much fun here .I live for Garden Stew .I'm really new here too. I do love it .I know nothing about Chicago weather .Sorry
how sweet! Wow thanks everyone for the great responses... and so fast!! Everyone seems so nice here and I cant wait to learn more about gardning! Well I am busy with work so I hope to chat more soon! Have a wonderful weekend! I know I will my Husband is taking me downtown Chicago tonight but i dont knwo what we are doing its a surprise! -brooke
WELCOME Hi Brooke, i am John from Cranbrook Ontario . There are lots of great people here and a ton of helpful information. Good luck John
Hi Brooke, I'm from the western Chicago suburbs and have been vegetable gardening for five years. You can grow anything except for tropicals and very long season vegetables, although there are ways to get around that problem. I would be happy to help you in any way. LoreD
Hello and welcome from Michigan. Our weather is similar and most things are growable here. Most of our acre is dedicated to flowers (my passion) so our vegetable garden is small. My husband usually grows tomatoes, green peppers, onions and lots of garlic. We tried sweet corn but it takes up too much space for what we get from it. And on our case a farmer down the road sells it quite cheap. He has also grown peas and swiss chard. He usually puts in some type of vine crop - this year squash - that just spreads itself through everything. Try things - if they don't work, try something else the next time. Lots of trial and error will pay off in the future. Polly
Hello Brooke! I don't have vegetables anymore, and have turned our whole property into shrubs and flowers and ornamental trees, but we used to have all garden and not much flowers. A garden 10x12 is a nice size for tomatoes, green peppers, a row of beans perhaps and small things like that. You might need more room for squash and cucumbers and vine plants. If you are hand weeding you can put things quite close together and still have success. We had our vegetables planted in rows so our roto tiller could get down in between. We also had rows of corn which took a lot of room. So, I guess it really depends on what you are planting. I am from Michigan and used to plant as late as Memorial weekend and still got lots of produce. Good luck!
