Community Gardening

There's something compelling about that image of a of a traditional bike basket, filled to the brim with just-picked delicacies from a local market.

Why not get out there this summer and combine your love of bicycling with the love of gardening & eating fresh produce. Visit farmers markets by bike (for a directory of markets, click here). Or, check out what people in your neighborhood are doing the in the community gardens. Try a tour of a few local community gardens on a weekend morning. If you arrive by bike, you are nearly guaranteed to make friends, and you may score some free radishes, dill, or - later - zucchini (don't count on tomatoes; for those you need a really good friend).
If you are lucky enough to have your own garden (or deck, or porch), a bike is a really great way to get stuff home from your local nursery. Can't carry it on a bike? Think again! Deborah, Rapid Transit's manager & determined gardener, sez:
"... went to garden store and used a bike trailer & 2 Jandd grocery
panniers & 3 Bungee cords & 2 bicycle inner tubes (too bad I didn't
have a partridge and a pear tree as well!) to bring home:

4 x 10 lbs bags of cedar chips, 2 x 10 lb bags of cocoa mulch, 1 x 20
lbs bag of sand, 2 x 8" by 36" wooden planters, 3 x 20 foot lengths of
hose, as well as plants: 2 bleeding hearts, 3 hostas, a flat of
pansies, a flat of vinca, and a small lilac bush... "

Comments

[Nathan]

Does anyone know of a bike trailer sharing program in Chicago?

[Justyna]

I am not aware of one. You may want to check with Working Bikes.