On March 16 three dozen people braved the cold to learn about vegetable gardening in small spaces and food sharing opportunities in Evanston. The program was jointly sponsored by our LWVE Climate Change Local Program and the Evanston Public Library.
Food Growing in Small Spaces
Living in an apartment or having a small yard space doesn’t mean you can’t grow vegetables. Chris Vaughn and Theresa Markham from the University of Illinois Extension kicked off the program with tips about how to start a vegetable garden in containers, raised beds, and small spaces. The number one consideration: finding a location with at least six hours of daily sunlight.
Cool season vegetables, including kale, spinach, radishes, leaf lettuce, broccoli, parsley, peas, and potatoes, can be planted in late March or early April, and then again from mid-July to early September. Frost-resistant plants, including beets, carrots, cauliflower, and chard, can be planted from mid-April to early May and again from mid-July to August. Tender plants like beans, corn, and tomatoes should wait until May to be planted outdoors. Seeds started indoors should be gradually introduced to outdoor conditions, transplanted on a cloudy day or in the evening, and watered before and after transplant with special attention to the roots to eliminate air pockets.
Representatives of Illinois Extension will be at the Evanston Farmers Market every Saturday, ready to answer questions. Meanwhile more tips can be found on their home gardening webpages.
Food Sharing Opportunities and Challenges in Evanston
Food waste sent to landfill contributes measurably to Evanston’s greenhouse gas emissions. Expansion of composting will help, but Evanston is also a community full of restaurants, groceries, and individuals with sharable excess food, as well as a community with residents experiencing food insecurity. This combination makes Evanston poised to expand food sharing to address climate change while getting food to those who need it most: a “win-win” proposition!
To raise awareness about ways to help, exchange ideas, and identify challenges, we assembled a panel of representatives from Evanston Community Fridges, Evanston Grows, Edible Evanston, the Unitarian Church of Evanston Garden Team, and The Urban Canopy.
Food Sharing Organizations and How to Get Involved
Ken Kastman of Edible Evanston described Eggleston Park Food Forest as “designed to mimic the natural balance of a forest," growing mushrooms, berries, peas, herbs, fruits, and nuts for donation. Edible Evanston also coordinates weekly donation drop-off coolers at McCormick, Twiggs, and James Park community gardens, where people can drop off extra produce for the Connections for the Homeless Food Pantry and the Levy Center Free Farmstand. Volunteers are needed at the Food Forest most Saturdays from 10–12; see the website or email volunteer@edibleevanston.org to learn more or volunteer.
Daniela Val of Evanston Grows described the organization’s six urban farms, with a seventh coming soon, and its weekly recovery pickups from Whole Foods. Evanston Grows operates three free farm stands and partners with multiple food pantries and social service organizations. See their website to volunteer at one of their urban farms in Evanston as an individual or group, donate gardening tools, or donate extra produce.
Evanston Community Fridges is an easy way to share food. Charlotte Kovacs explained how it works in simple terms: “Give food, take food”. Anyone can drop off food or take food without judgment, surveillance, or demonstration of need. Fridges are located at 620 Madison St., 1601 Payne St. and 1335 Dodge Ave, and the group hopes to open more locations. Large trays should be split into smaller “to-go” containers; more donation guidelines are on their website. Volunteers are needed to organize food pickups, shop for food with reimbursement, and clean the fridges. The group was recently given space in the old Morton Civic Center to organize food distribution, which will greatly increase their efficiency.
Dale Griffin described the Unitarian Church of Evanston Garden Team as an example of how faith communities can address food insecurity and build community. Cahill Plumbing donated materials for five raised beds, and in 2025, the church donated 275 pounds of food to local organizations. To help with weeding, planting, mulching, and digging on garden days, email uce@ucevanston.org. Alternatively, faith communities can be inspired by UCE and start their own garden programs.
Mary Beth Schaye represented The Urban Canopy, which recently merged with Collective Resource Compost. In addition to composting and a CSA-supported farm, Urban Canopy rescues food for donation to various mutual aid groups. Donations to support mutual aid can be made on their website.
Challenges, Ideas, and Progress
A highlight of the panel discussion was hearing panelists talk about common challenges and new ideas. Besides funding, one of the biggest challenges is how to address a vast untapped opportunity with a mostly-volunteer workforce. Specific challenges include:
- Getting a better nutritional balance of shared foods: There is often an abundance of bread products and canned goods, but not enough fresh produce, protein foods, and ready-to-eat foods.
- Challenges of scaling up: A larger network of volunteers would be needed to pick up, sort, and distribute sharable food from a larger number of restaurants. Evanston Community Fridges’ new Morton Center location is a big help, but volunteers are still needed for restaurant outreach, pickup, organization, and distribution. Finding new locations for more community fridges and urban farms is also a challenge.
Along with challenges, the panel was full of ideas, including:
- Fostering collaboration between food sharing organizations: Maybe a common Slack channel?
- Encouraging community members to talk to their favorite restaurants about food recovery: Do they regularly have excess food? If so, let Evanston Community Fridges know about it! And if possible, help with pickup.
- Adding a question to new city restaurant permit applications and permit renewals requesting their plan for zero organic waste and edible food recovery.
Epilogue: Making a Difference Already
Following our event, we were contacted by the city’s Solid Waste Coordinator. The Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County (SWANCC) has engaged a consultant to study food recovery in the region and asked to meet with Community Fridges and area businesses. As a side-benefit of that meeting, the city will now provide Community Fridges with compost pickup at no cost. In addition, at least one of the panelists has already received a new volunteer from our event, and we hope more will follow!