In 1978 the city built this raised area by the beach, probably to keep the lake from flooding the street. They built the brick walls at a 45 degree angle, filled the raised space with soil, and planted some hawthorns. In the mid 90s some of the people who moved into the building next to the raised area collected hundreds of fish (alewives) that had washed up on the beach and turned them into the soil. This made the soil we plant in as rich as chocolate cake.

This year I rototilled and turned in a lot of nice topsoil, peat moss, organic amendments, and mushroom compost. Then I went out and bought a lot of plants, and planted them over the next few weeks.

My part of the space is the southeast side, about 15 feet by 12 feet. I've been planting it since 1996 or so, and this is the best year ever.

This year the garden is the best it's ever been, and has finally been accepted into the Rogers Park Garden Walk. I busted three buttons on my vest when I found I had been invited. This is a stolen garden, the space is totally ripped off from the city without asking permission. We don't own it, the city does, but we put a lot of time into it, and we're damn proud of it.