Blasphemous, I know, but they still seem to like me here. So, when I was introduced to Lisa Sandoval, a Food Growers Network member, I was intrigued by her story. She mentioned that through seed saving, Lisa was able to provide a GardenWorks participant with eggplant seeds native to her home nation, Liberia, so that she could grow them in her new home in the U.S. Besides being an avid lover and regular consumer of eggplant (so I was already slightly partial), I thought that was pretty resourceful–and quite heartwarming being a transplant to the area myself.

I used to think gardens were primarily a backyard thing. As I walked up to Lisa Sandoval’s home, though, I was met with a large plot of plants that seemed to be enjoying the late summer sun. I walked around an extremely impressive core of chard, tomatoes, melon with a decorative sprinkling of ‘volunteer’ pumpkins starting to get their footing, and a neighbor’s pollinator garden with milkweed (which I learned attracts butterflies), all before getting within a newspaper’s throw of the front door.

A 911 dispatcher who moved to Illinois from the Bay Area in 2014, Lisa comes from a family of farmers. Her mother hails from a family with 13 kids and used farming/gardening to feed her family. Her father, a former chef in Lisle, has his favorite seeds. While he stays loyal to certain seed brands, Lisa assures he can ‘propagate almost anything indoors.’ Lisa started growing food as a part of her family’s diet somewhat dated back to her time in California. She recalls the advantages of the more temperate climate in California. Though not an avid gardener at the time, the lemon, peach, persimmon and guava trees on her property served as a supplement to her family’s diet (Anyone else jealous? Just me? Okay.)... read more at: