To Tweet or Not to (follow) Tweet(s)

I like to think I keep up with the times. I was the first of my friends to have a cellphone back in the '90's. I bought an item online on Amazon in 1996. (And, in fact, my dad got us an Atari game station back in the early 1980's, so we could play Galaga on a tv!)

I'm on Facebook and Pinterest, I've had several blogs, I've made picture books online, and I buy everything under the sun at all hours of the day online, from diapers to plane tickets. I like technology and I'm comfortable using it.

But Twitter? Not so sure how I feel about Twitter. There's a lot of self-absorbed, self-important twaddle on Twitter.

And feeling this way, why do I ask my gardeners to follow me on Twitter? Because -- and this is what I discovered -- when you stop following celebrities or goofy hashtags, there's a lot of good info being shared moment to moment on this platform. And my boss asked me to tweet. So there you are.

Seriously, though -- if you're one of my community gardeners, follow me on Twitter at @JenatWFCG. I follow a lot of gardening people and sites around the Chicago area, and I retweet events and resources I think might be helpful to you guys. I will also tweet WFCG-related info, although that will also still be found here on the blog. You can also contact me through Twitter, if email and cell phone aren't working for you. Click on the picture below to see the detail.

See? Cool stuff. Follow me on Twitter.

@JenatWFCG

State of the Garden... and a little black cow

What a lovely day! And what mud at the farm. Returning gardeners know the state of the garden can often be determined by what's going on at the front gate. Today: deep, deep mud. And check out the puddles elsewhere on the farm.

Luckily, our little cow Cayla enjoys mud. I happened to be at the farm when she got to enter the big pasture with all of the other cows. Quite a moment for our little girl, who was born here at Wagner Farm last August. 

This is Cayla, our milking cow Lily's youngest daughter (the white Daisy is her other daughter).

And that black cow on the left is little Cayla getting chased by our Jersey cow, Buttercup. There was quite a bit of pushing around and nuzzling and chasing in the pasture today as the ladies re-established their cow hierarchy. Cayla, of course, is at the bottom, but as she ran around the huge pasture, kicking up her heels and climbing up the manure pile, I'm not sure she cared.

Another question -- garden rules

So, I've gone through all of the signed Garden Info & Rules papers that were turned in, and I've got two with unreadable signatures.

If you turned in a signed form, but HAVEN'T received the slideshow or clean copy of the rules, let me know -- that means one of these signed pages is probably your page.

And if you haven't turned in the signed page, please do so ASAP!

Thanks,
Jen

John Swenson to speak at Wagner Farm -- all invited

Quarterly Volunteer Meet-Up with John Swenson and Jen Roberts on April 9, 7 p.m. Come to the Wagner Farm Heritage Center to explore the world of vegetables with renowned advocate for heirloom plants, John Swenson. John is a Glenview native, an expert on alliums, a former advisor for Seed Savers Exchange, and the “father” of the Speckled Roman tomato. John will be joined by Jen Roberts, Wagner Farm’s Community Garden Coordinator, for a discussion on John’s travels and work on behalf of preserving biodiversity. Volunteers will get to take home their own Speckled Roman seedling for their home gardens. Advance registration is required as seating will be limited. The first 25 people to RSVP will receive Speckled Roman tomato seedlings and the next 25 people to RSVP will receive Speckled Roman seeds. (Freebies dependent on mother nature’s cooperation). Contact Christine Shiel at 847-657-1506 or christine.shiel@glenviewparks.org.  

THIS EVENT IS OPEN TO ALL COMMUNITY GARDENERS. RSVP to Christine (info above). John is a terrific speaker and has a wealth of information on heirlooms.

Sign Order -- Question for you guys

Someone gave me an order form for a sign, plus $10, but the order form is blank -- whoever you are, please let me know!

Thanks,
Jen

Cooking Class at Wagner Farm

Glenview chef Jill Houk is teaching a cooking class at Wagner Farm tomorrow night (March 18) -- Quick and Easy Appetizers. Class is from 6-7:30pm and costs $25. Jill collaborated on the The Essential Dehydrator book, which is a terrific resource for gardeners who grow too many tomatoes and zucchini and want a way to preserve them for later eating.

If you're interested in the class, call Wagner Farm at 847-657-1506to register.

Hurray!

This has been an exciting week -- resident registration closed on Sunday, so we spun the lottery on Monday morning to see who would get a plot. It's great to dream about spring even with the new snow we got today, right?

If you're interested in a plot but didn't have a chance to sign up during resident registration, I still encourage you to get on the waiting list. Last year, we had several cancellations and moved several people up from the waiting list. You never know!