Here's a funny tidbit from my rooftop-to-tabletop restaurants story, which appears in today's Sun.
Joe Edwardsen, owner of Joe Squared Pizza & Bar on North Avenue, is growing tarragon, thyme, oregano and a ton of basil on his rooftop.
"We drop over $3,000 in an average week in produce, so growing the herbs, I think, probably saves $200 to $300 a week, especially with all the pesto we make," Edwardsen said.
It helps that he picked up his big growing tubs and hydroponic equipment for free.
"The police threw it out when they were busting the pot-growing operation next door," Edwardsen said.
His rooftop garden is not just about saving money. The herbs Edwardsen grows are more flavorful because he doesn't have to wash them as thoroughly as produce from a commercial farm.
"Growing on the roof, you don't have the pest problem," he said. "You don't have to use pesticides. We can keep most things off our plants. You get things from these farms, and you have to have it soaked three times in bins of water before you serve it because you don't know what they've put on it."
With the rooftop herbs, Edwardsen said, "We can give it a quick rinse, and that's about it. So we don't have to soak all those oils off it. ... You want all that flavor."
The sort of weed that first sprouted in the bins now used for basil, oregano and other legal herbs at Joe Squared. Chicago Tribune photo