Permaculture garden in Cook County

How do you go about installing a permaculture garden in Chicago and Cook County? See Beginners permaculture garden for general guidelines for starting a permaculture garden. That's fine for general guidelines. What are the specifics for Chicago? Where is the best place to go in our area for a soil test, bed framing, top soil, drip lines, a composter, and a rain barrel?

Soil Contamination and Testing

Listing of soil testing labs by Univ. of Illinois Extension Services.

Lead in soils in Chicago:

http://www.personal.psu.edu/jdh358/Courses/Geog586/QuarterProject/final/final.htm

Map:

• http://www.personal.psu.edu/jdh358/Courses/Geog586/QuarterProject/final/figure6.htm
• http://asap.sustainability.uiuc.edu/groups/Urbansoil/leadfolder/Pbpage

GreenNet:

• Soil Contamination

Bed framing

Bed gardens, often constructed as raised beds, are key components in permaculture gardens, especially considering the specific needs of Cook County. These gardens offer a controlled environment that enhances soil drainage and temperature, crucial for plant growth. Utilizing materials like untreated cedar provides natural resistance against decay, making them well-suited for diverse climates.

Raised beds optimize soil quality, supporting a wide range of crops, including greens, herbs, and root vegetables, by promoting healthier growth patterns and improving yields. These structures are particularly beneficial for growing sensitive crops such as tomatoes, which flourish in the warmer soil of a raised bed.

Even with the soil control offered by bed gardens, timing is still essential for your edible crops. For example, tomatoes should ideally be started indoors six to eight weeks before the last frost, crucial in areas like Chicago with short growing seasons. Planting around this time ensures they can be transplanted outside safely after the threat of frost has passed, typically around mid-May.

To explore more about the best times and methods for planting tomatoes, consider consulting this Chicago tomato planting guide.

Top soil

Drip lines

A source of free information:

Irrigation Tutorials

Composter

Rain barrel

For Chicago residents it's not so much the best place as the best time. That is to say, the City of Chicago will several times over the course of a year, sell rain barrels and Earth Machine "rat proof" composters for less than half the amount one would spend at a green store. Be sure to bring your drivers license as they will check for residency.

dated site

Notes

On old tires as planters: Tire-Planters-And-Garden-Soil

The only problem I have with this information is that it may not be directly relevant as they're talking about using the old tires as planters and not as raised beds. In our situtation, some of the decomposing agents, namely, UV and O_3, would not be hitting the tires, but I'd still be slightly wary of doing this. - Thx to Nathan C.