From the first harvest of pure maple syrup to the last bit of fall bounty, our video courses teach, show, and help you succeed. Click below for more info on each course. They are both fully accessible now with new modules coming soon.
Hi, I’m Jim Kuehnle
I'm the owner of Clovers Garden and Maple Tapper and so glad you've joined us for our Garden School. In 1957 my grandfather started our nursery and we've grown our business into one of Chicago's most respected garden centers. As with most family businesses, I've worked in the garden stores since I was old enough to hold a watering can!
It's truly been my privilege to help generations of gardeners and sugarmakers grow from beginners to experts. And I'm excited to share all this knowledge with you. Our goal with these courses is to teach through hands-on, fun learning and I know you'll go away a better gardener.
Our teaching team includes me, our long-time garden writing partner, Julie Fryer, and her son, Sam Fryer. Julie has been working with Clovers since 2013 and Sam has recently joined our team to help with production and filming. Of course, he trained at his Mom's knee for years in the garden (and his favorite summer snack was always stolen snap peas, which his Mom knew he was stealing!).
If we've learned anything with our 75 years of combined experience, it's that kids love to eat stuff they helped harvest. And we're delighted to be your partner in bringing gardening to your backyard or balcony and to your family and community.
Welcome to our backyard garden! We're all about the harvest from pure maple syrup to tasty fall veggies. Here we are all partners -- in learning, in growing, and in having fun. Whether you've never picked up a garden spade or have been gardening for decades, this is the place to expand your knowledge and learn.
We believe in working together so we've made our courses as interactive as possible. Each lesson will begin with a video instruction from our team and will include step-by-step instructions you can print out and take with you. We're on hand (and tapping and gardening right along beside you) so you can send us questions as they pop up.
It's going to be a great season and we're glad you're here!