Uncommonly Beautiful Gardens
Uncommonly Beautiful Gardens
Plus a fermented PB&J beverage, and this week's regional farmers markets
Friends Honored with Chicago Garden Awards
On Saturday, Barb and I (and our friend Gerry) had the pleasure of attending the Chicago Excellence in Gardening Awards (CEGA) ceremony held at Wild Blossom Meadery and Winery on Chicago’s South Side. CEGA is a passion project for Mike Novak (at right in the photo above), on whose radio program I’ve appeared several times to discuss our local food scene.
It was great to see Mike in person for the first time in a very long time, and also lovely to learn when I arrived that friends were among the award winners.
The other folks in the above photo are the team from the two Uncommon Ground restaurants in Chicago: (from right) Helen Cameron, founder and co-owner with her husband Michael Cameron, who was farm-to-table before farm-to-table was a thing; Allison Glovak Webb, director of the nation’s first organic rooftop farm, which sits atop Uncommon Ground’s location in the Edgewater neighborhood; and Kristen Hollenbach, who assists Allison in her amazing work.
Uncommon Ground received an award as one of the best urban farms for the Edgewater location and an honorable mention for its sidewalk farm at its original Lakeview location. I’ve known the Camerons for about a decade and I am a great admirer of their work, and it was wonderful to see it rewarded.
Kristina Navarro, who I know from her role as Program Coordinator at Green City Market, received a CEGA Award for one of the city’s best residential vegetable gardens. She posed with her daughter and Mike Nowak after receiving the award.
This was my first visit to Wild Blossom’s beautiful tasting room, production facility and gardens, adjacent to the Dan Ryan Woods Cook County Forest Preserve. I had met owner Greg Fischer several times at business events and enjoyed his meads and other honey-based adult beverages.
While there, we struck up a conversation with David Lolis, the meadery’s executive vice president of sales & marketing, and he was kind enough to share some of their very interesting varieties of fermented honey beverages, including the one above. PB&J, made with Concord grapes and roasted peanuts, promises to taste like the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches… and dang, it sure does.
At 8 percent alcohol by volume, this drink is not child’s play, but that’s not the only kick I got out of it.
I will returning to more information about the garden awards later in the week.
This Week’s Chicago Region Farmers Market Sked
OMG, it’s not only autumn, but October starts on Saturday. So now my pitch turns from basking in the plenty of peak season to urging you to enjoy the fruits (and veggies) of our local producers’ labor before it all goes away. By the end of October, the vast majority of the markets whose days and hours I’ve been dutifully reporting will be closed for the season.
There is still a ton of beautiful seasonal food available for the next month. Don’t miss out.