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It's Curious City, where we take your questions about Chicago and the region.

And investigate. Report. Explore. From WBEZ.

Hey, I'm reporter Monica Eng, and I recently went out to Winniac Park on Chicago's northwest side with question-asker Barb Carney.

Because over the years, Barb's heard some intriguing stories about the place from German-American neighbors.

They said it used to be flower fields and a pickle farm. That would have been cucumbers, I'm sure.

That's right.

They told her this neighborhood full of schools, tire shops, and gas stations was once a giant pickle and flower farm.

Over the decades, these stories took root in Barb's imagination until she asked us,

What parts of Chicago were commercially farmed and what was raised just before becoming residential?

Well, the short answer is a lot.

By the mid-1800s, Chicago had hundreds of small farms growing stuff like cabbage, turnips, and potatoes to feed its growing European immigrant population.

And the city got good at it.

So people were producing for the city, and then they started exporting.

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