Urban Agriculture

From left: Smith, Willingham, and Coleman at Windy City Harvest’s Legends Farm, where they each have Incubator plots.

You may remember staring at the bulbous purple lump on your plate as a little kid with pure disdain—beets were not for you. You’re not alone. Beets have a bad reputation as one of the most hated veggies around, but the nutritionists and dieticians at VeggieRx—a cooperative program by the Chicago Botanic Garden, Lawndale Christian Health Center (LCHC), and the University of Illinois-Chicago’s Chicago Partnership for Health Promotion (CPHP)—are showing a tastier side of beets.

At Windy City Harvest Youth Farm, our young workers are exposed to nutrition in ways that relate directly to their work. As the season progresses, new crops are harvested and introduced to our staff.

A lot of these are vegetables they have never eaten or seen before.

They also are surprised at the nutritional benefits in some of these vegetables. Here are three vegetables we are harvesting at Windy City Harvest that are nutrition powerhouses:

#1. Scallions

Sure, they are fun pets and a good educational tool for your kids, as well as a great source of fresh eggs. But what do chickens have to do with the environment? There are a number of ways that having hens in your backyard can be environmentally beneficial.

Poultry Pest Patrol

Jennifer Murtoff of Home to Roost, LLC with one of her pullets

As we are all adapting to new ways of connecting for work and play, students in Windy City Harvest’s Youth Farm program have learned to adapt too. With a new way of doing things, the Youth Farm found themselves up against a few obstacles, but discovered some positive surprises along the way.

‘Tis the season for the harvest bounty at Windy City Harvest! Our staff and program participants are busy harvesting our final summer crops: peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant; and early fall crops: kale, carrots, and cabbage.

On a bright, sunny Saturday in June, more than 1,500 people came to see just what was happening inside the renovated paint store along Ogden Avenue in the North Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago.