While the rest of the country has been embracing the good food movement and touting it at their regional shows, Chicago has been slow to the punch focusing primarily on landscape gardening in past years – all years, really. The 2012 show is making up for that deficit in spades – pardon the garden pun -with multiple inspiring edible garden ideas that are actually useful for Chicago food gardeners.

Speaking of deficits, there’s no shortage of awesome with the White House Kitchen Garden exhibit and it is about time considering we’re the First Lady’s home-town crowd! To learn about her new book “American Grown” on the White House kitchen garden, click HERE.

When I do my lectures, one of the perennial questions (on a bad garden joke roll today) is what to do about “evil fur faces” also known as rabbits and squirrels. This Gardenette solution from Complete Garden Systems is an attractive idea you can repurpose for your edible garden. It won’t do much to prevent squirrels but it will help with half the vermin battle.

Growing Power Chicago represented nicely with great tips for incorporating edibles into your landscape garden.

Not as many reuse ideas as I had hoped for but there were a few fun ideas and CHICKENS! This lovely hen was representing nicely in a beautiful, urban-sized coop.

And, finally, my Oregon-born hippie heart loved this herbal garden with the go-with-the flow layout and hand made signage.

I had the pleasure of meeting the new owner of the Chicago Flower and Garden Show, Tony Abruscato, last week when we were both on WGN. I was touting my Chicago Victory Garden lecture at the show next Saturday at 11:30 and he was talking about his vision for the show. I cornered him in the green room afterwards about edibles and he, very graciously, said I wouldn’t be disappointed this year. And he was right. Thanks, Tony…

–LaManda Joy