Gearing Up for Gardening

Since Friday, Chicago has been hitting some record level warmth levels, and I’m semi here for it. I love being able to get out and enjoy the weather, but the cynic in me feels like there will be snow in June, July, and August. The horror. Anyway, this Saturday, we took the youngest three out and about with us, where we attended the Advocates for Urban Agriculture Livestock Expo. It was an expo held at the Chicago High School of Agricultural Sciences, and included information about raising bees, chickens, ducks, rabbits, quail, and goats. To say that I was in my element is an understatement, and I only have chickens. Well, I did have chickens, but I’ll share that story with you later. 

When I started the Union Avenue Community Garden last year, I had a vision of bringing the community together, and I still have that vision. It’s just taking a bit of a turn. We dealt with a LOT of theft last year. From dirt (which is still being stolen) to tomatoes, collards, watermelon and other stuff, there are times that I become a bit disgruntled with the lack of respect that some folks have for other folks property. I can not WAIT until we get this fence up. Hopefully, that will deter the thieves a bit more. 

ANYWAY, we attended this expo to learn a bit more about livestock that we are considering getting – mainly ducks – and to see if it’s a job that we want to take on. Ducks require more water than chickens, because they swim in it. Which means we’d have to get a kiddie pool. Which means we’d have a lot more cleaning to do during the summer. I’m still thinking. But ducks and duck eggs are SO GOOD! 

We learned about two different kinds of ducks, but the only breed I remember are the Khaki Campbell’s. For obvious reasons. These breeds aren’t flight birds, and we don’t have to worry about needing to clip their wings in order to prevent them from flying away. I consider that a win. 

This is the store that we got our chicks from, and we love them! The littles look forward to visiting Lidia, who is the resident chicken expert. We’re trying to figure out if we’re going to add honeybees to our garden too. Can you imagine, fresh honey? That would be so amazing!

We’re also needing to clean out all of the beds of the garden, to prepare them for transfer of the seedlings. We need to figure out what we’re planting again, and what we’re going to add. I just know that we can NOT plant as much zucchini as we did last year. People started running when they saw us coming. It was hilarious. 

What are you planting this season? Share with us in the comments!