The West Chicago Garden Club

By Barbara Darrah

It’s February and little is happening at Kruse House. We live in the north and January and February are gray months. After the fun and excitement of the Christmas lights have dimmed, we are back to the dullness of a sleeping nature. It is only in the pleasure of watching the silhouettes of our magnificent oaks and hickories edge out against the orange and purple sunsets that I truly find the woods once again “lovely, dark and deep”.

Yet, I am writing this as millions of snowflakes are filling the skies and covering all the debris with a radiant coating of white. This is the best part of this season – waking up to a crystal fairyland of ice and snow. Once again, Kruse House and its garden are a quiet, pale oasis in the midst of the commercial bustle around them. I am proud that our garden club continues to help maintain this reminder of a gentler, kinder small town America.

Come and enjoy the serenity. The Kruse House Garden (527 Main Street, West Chicago) is open every day from dawn to dusk.

Three long-time club members will present our January program on Seed Starting: Methods to the Madness. Christina Covarubias, Jeff Handel, and Dan Beebe will share their personal experiences with starting perennial, annual, and vegetable seeds using different indoor and outdoor methods that allow gardeners to get a jumpstart on their gardens in the cold days of winter.

Christina will share her firsthand experiences with winter sowing. Borrowing from nature’s cold stratification process, when winter sowing, you don’t need sunny windows or grow lights, just some outdoor space. Christina will share tips on this “set it, and forget it” method of seed starting, which seeds are best to use, and when to start them

Jeff uses a more traditional indoor seed-starting method. He will cover the specifics of his setup, which seeds he has had success with over the years, and possibly some information on seeds and techniques that have not been very successful.

Dan uses methods similar to Jeff’s but on a larger scale. In preparation for the club’s plant sale and his gardens, Dan starts around 500 tomatoes, 500 peppers, 500 annual flowers, 250 herbs, and 250 other vegetables each year from seed. Dan will share information on the different growing methods, supplies, and tools he has used in the past, as well as some information on other indoor seed-starting methods he has been experimenting with.

Meeting Location: St Andrew Lutheran Church (NE Corner of Prince Crossing & Geneva Road.)

Meeting Time:

• 6:45PM Arrive & Mingle
• 7:00PM Business Meeting
• 7:15PM Program

One of the most enchanting aspects of winter is the way it transforms the world into a serene and quiet landscape. Freshly fallen snow blankets the ground, absorbing sound waves and creating a peaceful atmosphere.

Come and enjoy the serenity. The Kruse House Garden (527 Main Street, West Chicago) is open every day from dawn to dusk.