For the past 10 years I’ve been part of a resurgence of gardening in suburban society, well before it was cool to be “organic” or “back to nature”. Even as a small child in the urban city of Long Beach, California, I had a garden in the back yard along the brick fence.
I spent 5 years in Northern Kentucky building a large backyard garden. Then in 2007, we picked up our stuff and moved to Wheaton. A western suburb of Chicago, IL.
The previous owners had no garden of any kind, so in 2007 I stole part of the front yard (there is no backyard) and installed 3 3×8 foot raised beds. I also built a movable cold frame that slips over the top of one of the raised beds (sold in 2009). In 2008 I focused on expanding to other areas of the yard and seed starting. In 2009 I built and planted a grape trellis down the side of the house near the custom built two bin compost system (both removed in 2010) as well as finishing the custom built barn style shed. I also added a worm compost system in the garage (unused after 2011). In 2010 I took a beekeeping class and started a one hive bee yard. In 2011 I expanded the bee yard to three hives and moved them to a local organic farm. In 2011 we ripped up our front and back yard in preparation for redoing everything in 2012.
Year in Review
Year One – 2007 (flickr gallery)
