Publications & Sites 
Botanic Garden will hold Garden Chef Series
Updated: July 10, 2012 6:05PM
Forty of Chicago’s top chefs share their culinary expertise, preparing a signature dish with garden fresh ingredients during the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Garden Chef Series. Thousands of visitors enjoy watching the chefs work their magic in the Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden Demonstration Kitchen from the open-air amphitheater each year. The free demonstrations take place at 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays through Oct. 7.
The Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden is the Midwest’s headquarters for fruit and vegetable gardening information, exhibiting the best edible plants to grow in the Chicago area. Also, the garden is dotted with helpful hand-lettered signs with timely gardening tips and the how-to’s of organic growing techniques.
Summer plant giveaways are an added bonus from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesdays through Fridays and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Volunteers share information about the featured plant, which changes monthly, and encourage visitors to plant seeds or seedlings (while supplies last) to take home to their own gardens. A flyer with care information and a recipe is available.
Celebrate herbs during the all-new Herb Garden Weekend from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 28 and 29 in the Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden. People can learn how to grow herbs in containers during special herb growing demonstrations at noon, 1 and 2 p.m. on both days. Herb “Discovery Carts” will highlight a number of herbs and edible flowers you can grow in a home garden. Chefs giving demonstrations will feature fresh garden herbs in their recipes.
Visitors can learn all about growing and using heirloom tomatoes–from Paul Robeson to Yellow Brandywine–at the Heirloom Tomato Weekend from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on August 25 and 26 in the Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden. Tomato tours, seed saving demonstrations, shopping for tomato products from select vendors, and specially-themed family activities are all part of the fun.
For more information, call (847) 835-5440, or visit www.chicagobotanic.org/chef.
