THE ROGERS PARK GARDEN GROUP

People + Plants =
A Caring Community
A Beautiful Community
A Working Community

Thanks to all the members of the Rogers Park Garden Group

VOLUNTEER!

Volunteers are key to the equation.

Gale School Planters

Devon Avenue Streetscape

Goldberg Playlot

On Wednesday June 4th, 2008, after many rain delays, Family Matter's garden club finally got the opportunity to complete their garden project. The project was to plant the eight 5' containers in front of Gale School on Marshfield.
     The club consisted of eleven volunteers who ranged in age from 6 to 11 years old and were being directed by Sophie Nyanue. The 6 year old was in charge of obtaining permission from Gale School's principal, and all the kids were in charge of looking at garden catalogs and picking out their favorite colors and plants.  Everyone wanted roses, and everyone wanted purples and reds. Some of the older volunteers assisted Sophie in applying to the Rogers Park Garden Group's Adopt the PUblic Way grants program for a $200 grant.

John Eskandari of Gethsemane Garden Center and Karen McCarthy from the RPGG met with the club on Mondays and discussed the possibilities for the planters and helped the club with their vegetable garden at the Howard community garden site. Lots of soil was needed for the planters yet the budget for the project was only $200. John  contacted one of his landscapers friends for assistance with the soil.
     On the last day of school at 2 pm Jeff Hufnagel of Contour Landscaping,Inc. delivered 5 yards of soil in front of the planters. John Hoekwater donated flats of plants from the Gale School Greenhouse. Gethsemane donated Petunias for peace that day as well. Sophie and Karen spent the $200 to purchase lots of red and purple annuals.

     Armed with buckets to haul the soil and five shovels, Sophie, six of her garden club volunteers, Karen McCarthy and Alison Zehr and her dog Fiona set out to dig and haul the mound of wet and heavy soil into the planters.  The school bell sounded and within moments, hundreds of very excited children ran out of the school, yelling and screaming. They were all curious about the digging, and all wanted to help. Buckets of dirt, flats of Petunias for Peace, and gaggles of children swirled about. The girls were really good at shoveling the soil into the buckets and the boys did a terrific job of picking worms out of the dirt and chasing girls around with them.  Three hours later, project was completed and the garden club volunteers were off for oreos and ice cream.

Devon Avenue Green Team: An All-Volunteer Gardening Group,
Dedicated to the improvement of the Devon Avenue Streetscape

Two years ago, a handful of Edgewater and Rogers Park volunteers, tired of the weeds and the trash, began to take care of the streetscape planters along Devon Avenue. Last year, more volunteers joined the effort and the Devon Avenue Green Team was formed. All through the 2008 growing season, a variety of local neighbors, stores, and civic groups added their support to the effort. By the end of the season, many of the planter boxes were sporting a wide variety of new plant life. 
      Notable during the 2008 season was the Adopt the Public Way grant that the Rogers Park Garden Group made to the Devon Green Team. Peter Fugiel, Garden Group member and Green Team’s 2009 Resource Coordinator, made substantial soil and plant life improvement to four of the boxes.
     There was also a grant made by the Edgewater Chamber of Commerce, as well as materials donations by Clark and Devon Hardware Store.  At least two dozen local volunteers were involved in the effort.
 

Garden styles ranged from free form selections of grasses and annuals, to a formal fall garden, as well perennial gardens featuring spring bulb plantings.
Volunteer coordinator for the 2009 season will once again be Dennis Matyja, and Susan Darnall will be Green Team’s new Gardening Coordinator.
Green Team’s goal for the 2009 season includes improvement of the planter box plant population to improve perennial varieties, as well as to improve plant life durability. There will also be increased attention paid to identifying ongoing maintenance issues related to the Devon streetscape. Virtually all of the large boxes have their own well-maintained sprinkler system. Last October, each of the boxes received a supplement of a new soil mix, from the City’s Department of Transportation Streetscape and Sustainable Design Program. 
     The Devon Green Team has worked closely with various City departments. More volunteers are needed, since Green Team members fre-quently pay for out of pocket expenses, and many times, they pay for improvements to the boxes as well. Contributions from such groups as the Rogers Park Garden Group public way program have helped with expenses.
     Resource Coordinator for 2009 is Peter Fugiel, member of the  Rogers Park Garden Group. Volunteers are encouraged to call Peter at 773/218-7422.