Springfield local newspaper The State Journal Register has been showing Black Sheep and Southtown a lot of love recently, and today we are bringing you two more Southtown-related articles from the SJ-R. The first was in the paper yesterday and it is about our neighbors over at Clay’s Popeye’s Barbeque. The article is called Clay’s Popeye’s Barbecue owner still fired up after 25 years and it focuses on owner Mary Clay. For the full article you can pick up yesterday’s newspaper or read it online here.

The second article focuses on a community garden that George Sinclair (of Southtown and Skank Skates) and other Southtown members are involved in. You may have seen George on the front page of the Wednesday paper along with an article about the garden. You can check out the beginning part of that article below, or head over here to find the whole thing.

At one time, the empty lot behind Springfield’s Washington Middle School served as a stomping ground where schoolchildren fought or otherwise got into trouble, said Kemia Sarraf, president and founder of genHkids, a volunteer Sangamon County children’s health-issues organization.

Today, the lot in the 2300 block of East Cook Street serves a much different purpose: as a home to the not-for-profit’s first community garden.

Aptly named Seeds of Possibility, the 2-acre plot was planted in March with the hope that, like urban gardens in other economically and socially depressed areas, this one could fuel positive changes in the community, Sarraf said.

“They’re great connectors of neighborhoods. They connect children and families to the source of their food and helps bond people to one another,” Sarraf said.

The Seeds of Possibility garden is one of several featured stops in Springfield’s first Urban Roots to Rooftop Tour, hosted by University of Illinois Extension. The tour, which includes community gardens, school gardens and the only rooftop garden in the Springfield area, will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, July 28.

Hidden treasures

The idea behind the garden tour is to raise awareness of urban agriculture and the positive effect it can have on communities, said Deborah Cavanaugh-Grant, a local food systems and small farms educator at U of I Extension.

“We have a lot of community gardens in Springfield, and nobody knows about them,” Cavanaugh-Grant said.

Individuals can check out any of the eight participating garden sites anytime during the tour hours July 28. Other gardens to be featured include Jefferson Park Community Gardens, Suttill’s Garden and the rooftop garden above Maldaner’s Restaurant downtown, among others.

Michael Higgins, chef and owner of Maldaner’s and longtime supporter of locally grown  food, said his rooftop garden is in its second year. Much of what he grows — cherry tomatoes, basil, dill, peppers —typically goes straight from the garden to customers’ plates. His two beehives within the garden also produce honey for the restaurant.

Unlike with some of the more expensive green rooftop gardens he toured while in New York, Higgins said he opted to use inexpensive milk crates as planters. The crates are lined with burlap and secured with duct tape, he said.

With the upcoming garden tour, he hopes people realize that taking on their own garden is possible despite how difficult they can be to start up.

The State Journal Register also did some coverage of Dumb Fest earlier this summer and did an article about DIY punk music in Springfield, which you can find here.