Skokie Art Guild

Sat. July 11 & Sun. July 12, 2009 will be the 48th annual Art Fair of the
Skokie Art Guild.
5211 W. Oakton
Next to the Skokie Library.
Live music featuring Steve Justman, guitarist/singer.
10:00-5:00
Free admission, free parking

Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter

We've all seen the commercial for the upside down tomato plant. Well, I'd like to share what I've learned first hand. When planting, DO NOT USE garden soil in planter. Only use potting soil. I used garden soil and it was about 50 lbs. I decided to hang it from a plant hanger on my garage. When my husband watered it yesterday, it got so heavy that it ripped the plant hanger right off the garage wall. Now I realized it was heavy when I originally hung it, but my husband normally does everything to extremes. So my thought was elephants could hand off of the plant hangers and not pull it down.

My suggestion if you plan on trying the Topsy Turvy, after planting with potting soil which is lighter that garden soil, make sure you hang it on a very study hook.

I spoke with Mrs. Anthony about having a plot of land land in the courtyard for a vegetable garden, unfortunatly this is not possible. In the summer the library holds concerts out there and it would restrict the number of chairs.
But, she did agree to our club having potted plants or veggies on the 3rd floor staff balcony.
So if anyone is interested in bringing in pots and taking care of them on the balcony, you are welcome to try that.

I have several sizes of empty pots if anyone needs them, I will bring them in.
Please let me know, I think it would be nice to have something growing on the green roof.

Raspberry Plants

I Have a lot of raspberry

plants if anyone wants a few

I will bring them in.

I Like My Lights-So Pretty at Night

Castles in the Ground?

Tomatoes & Green Peppers

Cucumbers

Zucchini

Start of Something Good!

Cherry Tomatoes guarded by my skulls

Beware!

Katy's creation

Flowers in my Garden

Message from Joey

Dear Fellow Garden Clubbers,

Maiko and I grew many plants from seed in our apartment this spring, including basil, shiso (a Japanese herb), ground cherries (a tomato/tomatillo-related small fruit), mint and several tomato plants. Because we get good light, but not great light, we now have five five-foot, viney, staked, already-flowering, sweet cherry tomato plants that desperately need to be "potted up" to much larger pots. (I think the current pots are 2 quart pots. See photo.) All the plants have been raised from organic seed with organic soil and organic fertilizer since the start.
We had planned to move all of the tomato plants into the courtyard of our apartment building, but there will not be enough room for all of them, so we need to find homes for at least two of them. We would like to give two of these enormous, need-to-be-repotted tomato plants to the Library's new garden club.
Debra mentioned that the garden club has received permission to grow plants and flowers in containers on the employee patio, and that perhaps one or two of our tomato plants could find a nice summer home on the patio. I think this is a delightful idea. There is a caveat:
Maiko and I do not have a car or truck, so we have no way to transport the plants to the Library.
This weekend, we will be around the house most of Friday and Saturday and could arrange to meet anyone who might be willing/interested to assist with the Great Tomato Evacuation of 2009.

Maiko is going to buy soil today (Thursday), and on Friday we will "pot up" the two plants we are able to give to the Library. We have two tomato cages we can provide as well. What we are seeking is someone who can help us transport the two tomato plants to the Library on Friday or Saturday (after we get them moved into the new pots).
We live in Evanston. Assuming we are able to get the plants to the Library, we of the new Garden Club will need to find a way to be responsible for making sure the plants get enough water.
Please let me know if you're interested/willing/able to help with the transportation (please be reminded that the plants are quite tall)!
Sincerely,

Joey