COVID-19 has struck Illinois in force just as the spring gardening season is starting. If you’re a gardener in Chicago, you’ve probably already ordered and started germinating your seeds, plotted your now-dormant backyard or balcony plot (or pots), and made a wish list of seedlings you’d like to buy from garden centers and the various community plant sales scheduled to begin in May (see below).
I talked with a pair of gardening experts about why home and community gardening is more important now than ever, and what they had to say is encouraging. Our conversations have been edited for length and clarity.
Why is this a good idea to revisit in general?
I think a lot of people are gonna want to garden either because they’re scared about the food supply, from the apocalypse end of the spectrum, or they just feel like they’re gonna be home. Clearly people are concerned about food, as we can see from recent hoarding situations. But the sense of doing something important, stress relief, etc., is more important than ever right now.
Should plant sales be allowed to proceed as an essential business under the government shelter-in-place order?
It’s still a little cold out for direct seeding without some sort of covering, but some of the earliest, and easiest, plants that can be grown directly are radishes, lettuces, spinach, arugula, sorrel.
