We had a wonderful time at the Growing Forward Insight Sessions, but we know many people couldn’t make it. So, we’ve put the survey we used at the sessions online, so you can still give us your input!

Fill it out the survey here.

I had the privilege to listen to dozens of community gardeners from all over Chicago give their feedback and insight at the Growing Forward Insight Sessions two weeks ago at the Green & Growing Fair. Quite a few gardeners lamented the lack of an online networking sites for Chicago’s gardeners. Others wanted more online resources about how to garden. Although there is not (yet) a networking site just for Chicago, and every single Chicago-specific resource is not in one place, I thought I would share what is out there. Here are some of my recommendations, as well as re-posts of lists by others.

General Gardening These sites cover all aspects of gardening, may miss community garden-specific issues.

Mr Brown Thumb is a local Chicago garden blogger. His blog, along with posts on Treehugger, Chicagonow, and more, are always highly informative and interesting. And, of course, his topics are almost always Chicago-specific.
He has also put together two lists of his favorite websites. These are:

• 10 Online Gardening Communities You Should Join
• 10 Great Gardening Websites You Must Read.

While I can’t pretend to have a more comprehensive understanding of the internet gardening world than Mr. Brown Thumb, I have a couple recommendations of my own.

Yourgardenshow.com is like Facebook, but just for gardeners. You can make a profile for you garden, connect with other gardens in your area, or across the country, browse their extensive directory of plants, and more. They also have periodic giveaways and other promotions.

Myfolia.com. I was told about myfolia.com by a gardener at Peterson Garden Project who had been using it to track their Grow 2 Give program. My Folia is a social media website designed to help gardeners plan and track their garden layout and output. It’s tools are fun and useful for any level of gardener.

Community Gardening These sites are specifically for community gardeners. They might cover issues that the above sites miss.

GreenNet Chicago. You’re already at a site with lots of resources! Our Greenpages is the most comprehensive list of gardening resources in Chicago. We also have How-tos, lists of resources, events, a list of community garden websites, and a map of as many community gardens as we know about. Explore our site, and if you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact us.

American Community Gardening Association. ACGA has loads of resources that can be extremely useful for the management of a community garden. You can also become a member, which provides benefits such as reduced conference fees and newsletters.

Gardening Matters (Twin Cities, Minnesota). GreenNet’s Minnesotan counterpart also has a great resource page with topic-specific guides and tips. One of the better libraries of community-gardening specific resources out there, with everything from how-to guides to academic papers.

Urban Habitat Chicago will be receiving 2000 attractive bushes as a donation. They will use some on our sites, but are also giving them away to their partner schools and community spaces in need. You can come get yours on the afternoon of May 12th – or after – from Northside College Prep High School (5500 N Kedzie) by signing up here.
These shrubs are balled and burlapped, not in containers, and the size is unknown. Please appropriately prepare your car and yourselves to move and haul away these plants to your school or community garden. You may need two people to move each of these!

Would you like bushes for hedge walls or around the base of a building? To fill or define spaces? These are medium-sized evergreen inkberry bushes, that can handle sun or shade.

Additional Info below.
Inkberry plant Ilex glabra. Here’s some info:

Evergreen shrub (maybe less so in Chicago but it is hardy to Zone 5)
Great plant for winter interest
Versatile: Full sun or full shade
Prefers moist soil
Relatively salt tolerant
Good for borders, foundation planting, mass plantings
4-8′ tall and wide (compact cultivars can be 3-5′ tall and wide)

Good websites for more info:
http://hcs.osu.edu/hcs/tmi/plantlist/il_labra.html
http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/i/ilegla/ilegla1.html
http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=344
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/plant-finder/plant-details/kc/a233/ilex-glabra-shamrock.aspx (‘Shamrock’ cultivar)
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ILGL&mapType=nativity&photoID=ilgl_002_avp.tif (for Native Status map)

Thank you, everyone, who came out to an Insight Session at Saturday’s Green & Growing Fair. We are so grateful for your opinions, engagement, and thoughtfulness. We had over 60 gardeners come lend their voice to this process over the day. We learned so much, and we hope you had as much fun as we did!