Online Diversions

Wander the paths of a botanic garden with a virtual tour:
Chicago Botanic Garden  
United States Botanic Garden

Offline Adventures

​Working with plants helps us slow down, notice small changes, and appreciate new growth. 

• Start a vegetable garden. square foot gardeninG DEMO [YouTube]
• Plant a native flower or shrub. Native species are carefree and attract wildlife. Lake County Forest Preserve Native Plant Sale
• Plant a small tree in your yard or protect a sapling that has planted on its own.
• Make a plant marker using a rock and paint. Some inspiration
• Use fresh veggies or herbs to prepare a refreshing meal or a little nosh. Suggested cookbooks

Suggested Reading

​Read for fun ~ read for good!

• Three book recommendations in 4 minutes (video): Book Break: Gardening 
• Fiction suggestions: books in bloom
• Gardening  Hoopla 📖   cloudLibrary 🎧 📖
• Kids’ gardening Hoopla 📖  cloudLibrary 📖

​Psst: All reading counts! You do not have to read about gardening.

​​CLAIM YOUR GARDENING BADGE

At the end of the week, submit your activities and reading minutes. Complete one online form for each participant. ​Deadline for raffle entry: Wednesday, June 10, at 12 PM CDT.

Badge Form

Print a Tracking sheet

Download a printable PDF to help keep track of the badges you've earned and the number of minutes you've read.

Download PDF

​As I listened from a beach-chair in the shade
To all the noises that my garden made,
It seemed to me only proper that words
Should be withheld from vegetables and birds.
— from “Their Lonely Betters” by W. H. Auden