Welcome to My Garden
An experiment in suburban abundance.
Jen Caputo
Chicago Suburban Gardener
Hello and welcome!
I'm Jen, an organic backyard gardener just outside of Chicago, on a mission to grow as much food as humanly possible in a small suburban space. My Zone 5b garden is a slightly chaotic, intensely planted, and deeply loved patch of earth where I experiment with what's possible for Illinois gardeners.
It's a place where perennial fruits are the backbone of our harvest. We're talking maypop passion fruit (yes, in Illinois!), paw paw trees, honeyberries, goumi berries, raspberries, currants, gooseberries, jostaberries, strawberries, rhubarb, elderberries, plums, cherries, and serviceberries. To fill in the gaps, we supplement with an endless, ever-changing assortment of annual herbs and vegetables—all grown from seed right here in my Chicagoland home.
My goal is to share what I've learned (and my many mistakes!) with a friendly, warm, and sometimes goofy approach. No fakeness, no clickbait, just real gardening from a real backyard. Let's get our hands dirty!
And I have to give a shoutout to my amazing husband, Adam (@murph.adam), who turns our amazing bounty into the most gorgeous garden-to-glass cocktails, complete with our edible flowers.
From the Garden
