One of the most important gardening tools is that half-empty glass of wine next to the bags of potatoes.


Now's the time to snap up those onion sets (bags of dry onions), onion transplants and seed potatoes at your local garden center. If you're growing onions to produce bulbs for autumn storage, choose a variety like Walla Walla, also called a long-day onion, which does best in the Chicago area. Onion sets planted now will provide green onions, or scallions, in just a few weeks. Harvest them when the stems are about 6 inches tall before they develop that strong sulfury-onion taste. A large plant pot, or a whisky barrel, is all you need to grow potatoes. Add a few inches of soil in the bottom of the pot, place the seed potatoes on top and cover with 2-3 inches of soil. As the leaves develop, continue adding soil so the potatoes remain covered. Onions and potatoes like full sun, well-drained organic soil.

— Nina Koziol