2613 GARDEN

General view August 17, 2008

General view from the other side. August 17, 2008

October 08, 2008. Portrait by the artist (Emily).

October 20, 2008. This bokchoi is already but a (tasty) memory.

October 25, 2008. Recent progress.

October 25, 2008. A coldframe of scavenged materials under construction. Coldframes will cover the plants, reduce temperature extremes, retain solar energy in winter, and allow us to extend the growing season.

November 2, 2008. The new coldframes will be pitched to the south to allow greater solar uptake for plants. Materials donated by UHC members and Green Cross Build.

November 2, 2008. Revised coldframe designs under construction.

November 7, 2008. Donated materials gathered for the construction of thermal mass wall footings - concrete chunks from sidewalks and foundations.

November 8, 2008. Gravel-sized concrete fill for a footing.

November 8, 2008. Placing sidewalk chunks on a leveling bed of sand to provide a area to lay thermal mass materials.

November 8, 2008. Tamping the top of the footing. Larger concrete chunks will be placed on top in a reinforced wire gabion.

…to look something along these lines.

May 2, 2009. Bok choy (foreground); mustard and others in the angled coldframe (background).

May 2, 2009. Spring results are good! Coldframes were modified during the late winter, which helped crops such as spinach, kale, radishes, swiss chard, bok choy, and others thrive.

July 12, 2009. Our garden is reaching for the sky! Summer crops include Jerusalem artichoke, spinach, kale, collards, cabbage, kohlrabi, lambs quarter, amaranth, tomatoes, and others.

December 10, 2009. New hoop structures (foreground) and reconfigured cold frames will extend the growing season for cool weather crops such as kale, chard, broccoli, spinach, and corn mache by moderating temperature swings in their controlled mini-environments while admitting low-angled winter sunlight.

YES in my backyard!

Urban agriculture on a scale we can all relate to - the typical backyard.
This project will demonstrate steps the average homeowner can take to transform their immediate surroundings from a sterile monoculture of grass lawn into a thriving ecosystem that balances sustenance, security, and beauty.

Four rows, approx. 4 × 40 feet each, turn a typical Chicago backyard into a highly productive garden. Space between rows is just enough to maintain crops to allow for the maximum area for planting. May 4, 2009 (see photos from just two months later!)

Composting: building healthy soil

Nothing is wasted here.
Rather than place unwanted plant material in bags for pickup in the alley and waste precious nutrients AND resources to truck them far away to a landfill, they are used onsite.

Grass is removed in strips, broken into chunks, set aside in mounds, and placed in the bottom of holes to decay and add organic nutrients for crops with the trench composting method. Weeds and lawn clippings get added to the compost.
Branches and twigs trimmed from along the once wild-and-woolly fence line are even used in composting to to help aid with drainage of the soil and provide a good place for crop roots to spread out and get sufficient aeration.

Methods for the preparation of soil include:
1. trench composting (see below)
2. sheet composting
3. compost piles

We do use some commercial organic fertilizers and additional nutrients to boost the productivity of the soil. While there’s not a one-product-fits-all solution, the general goal is to replenish what is missing, and make sure there’s no adverse effect to the bigger environment.

Food and more

Crop selection balances plants crops for food with beautiful and fragrant plants to attract beneficial species - pollinators such as bees and wasps.

Crops include:

Summer
basil, Thai
basil, Genovese
dill
Jerusalem artichoke
radish
tomato

Fall
bok choy
lettuce

Schedule

Site preparation and planting took place over 5 weeks.
Planting and harvesting of fall crops was ongoing through August and September.
Planting of winter crops ongoing through October and November.

Left: Basic structure for coldframes - raised planter bed formed by 2×12 wood reclaimed from an old church and 2×4 framing. Right: North faces will use high thermal mass materials such as a gabion wall to moderate temperature swings and retain heat.

Coldframes, 1st generation

Coldframes are structures which allow the growing season to be extended.
(Very important in Chicago, this means we might get a little more than three weeks of growing time in… ha!).

They take many forms, but the simplest is an enclosed wood box filled with dirt covered by old windows on top, slanted at an angle to let sunlight in and let water drain.

UHC’s plots are larger than most, averaging 4’ × 7’, so our frames are a 4’ high lean-to structure, angled south, and with a high north back. The lean-to with be wrapped with plastic to retain heat and let sunlight in on west, east, and south sides. A hinged top will provide access for harvesting and maintaining produce.
In the northern portion, we plan to stack high thermal mass materials to moderate temperature swings, retain heat and help the plants grow, while reducing heat lost to the night sky and north by radiation.

Second generation coldframes, December 2009. Low tunnel, at left, and lean-to model, at right

Trench Composting

Trench composting is a method of in-place composting. As the name suggests, one digs a trench and use the trench to deposit organic materials. Once filled, seed above the trench and the crop have direct access to the nutrients as the organic materials below decomposes.

Trench composting: grass (sod) lawn is removed in strips, broken into chunks, set aside in mounds, and holes like this one are dug about 3 feet deep.

Trench composting: sod placed in the bottom of the hole.

Trench composting: branches and twigs trimmed from overgrown areas are placed in the hole over the sod to aid in good drainage and aeration for crop roots. They will decompose more slowly than the sod.

Trench composting: loose compost (weeds, etc.) is added on top of branches and twigs.

Trench composting: lawn clippings are placed on top of compost as a cap.

Trench composting: holes are filled and smoothed, and the area later prepared for planting.

An almost-complete example of trench composting showing an open hole ready for sod, sticks and twigs, and grass clippings.

Finishing the row off by preparing for seeding with a Garden Weasel.

Learn more about other UHC urban agriculture projects

2607 Garden (formerly known as the UHC dinner garden)
UHC Garden at James Park (coming soon!)
Rooftop Victory Garden at True Nature Foods (coming soon!)

Notes: Special thanks to homeowners John and Andy Valkanis who have generously allowed Urban Habitat Chicago the use of their backyard for this demonstration urban agriculture project.

Materials for coldframes are 80-90% reclaimed materials (by weight) donated by UHC members and Green Cross, LLC.