For gardeners, February is an exciting month: it’s seed-starting time! That’s why we’ve made Sunday, February 24, a day dedicated entirely to seeds. The morning kicks off with classes led by our friends from Seed Savers Exchange (they’re coming in from Decorah, Iowa). Shannon Carmody takes you step by step through a “Seed-Saving Primer” from … Continue reading Got seed? Need seed? Swap it!
As farmers’ markets wind down, many of us want to preserve the bounty of this year for the next. Why not save save seeds from your last tomatoes so you can grow them yourself next year? 1) Make sure to save the seeds from an open-pollinated or heirloom tomato. These seeds will reliably reproduce the … Continue reading Simple Seed Saving Method for Tomatoes
Blayne Greiner, Instructor for the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Windy City Harvest urban agriculture program, gives us some tips from his recent class on seed starting. A lot of information was covered in this 3-hour workshop, so if this video still leaves you with questions, consider taking these courses. Visit chicagobotanic.org/windycityharvest/courses to sign up for the … Continue reading Seed Starting Tips from Windy City Harvest
The Garden’s production staff and volunteers are busy making sure the spring annuals and vegetables are ready to be planted in the display gardens in the next couple weeks. Tim Pollak in the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Production Greenhouses shows us what they’re up to and how we can grow cool season vegetables at home to … Continue reading Starting Seeds Indoors to Get Ready for Spring
Emily Yates, seed bank coordinator, talks about the work she does to save native prairie seeds for the future. We took a tour of the lab and learned that the vital seed bank currently shares lab space with many other conservation projects. Then we saw the new seed bank lab still under construction in the … Continue reading A Seed Bank Grows into a new space at the Garden
