Save the Date – CCGA 7th Annual Conference – Saturday March 30th
The CCGA Annual Gardeners Conference (now in its 7th year!) will be held on
Saturday, March 30, 2019 from 9am-3pm and return to the bright and inviting
Breakthrough FamilyPlex in the Garfield Park neighborhood. Our theme this year is:
Gardening and Adapting to a Changing Climate
Join fellow gardeners for a day of workshops focused on gardening in Chicago with our
subtly, and sometimes not so subtly, changing climate. Community gardeners are
known for resourcefulness in finding the best solutions to growing healthy plants,
conserving water, and keeping soil fertile. They work with determination, grit, and
courage. They are used to the challenges of weather and pests. Determination and grit,
yes, but in what sense courage now? Courage because if you love something that
nourishes you, as your garden does, in so many ways, it is your courage that takes you
back to it even though it may feel more and more like you may have a fight you didn’t
sign up for… heat waves that fry our seedlings, pelting, sopping rains that drench our
gardens, humid conditions that spur the growth of pests and pathogens, and the November 2018
blizzard that put an early end to many fall gardens. Climate change challenges the
resilience of every gardener. We’ve chosen to turn our focus this year to regional
climate change in Chicago and the Midwest. The conference will provide an excellent
opportunity for us, as community gardeners, to learn and empower each other and
reflect on the challenges of gardening and adapting to the evidence of climate change
emerging in our backyards, our community gardens, our parks and nature preserves,
our rivers, and our beautiful Great Lakes.
Workshop Proposals
Are you interested in presenting a workshop? Our request for proposals (RFP) will be
released on Jan. 4 or you may download it HERE. The deadline for acceptance of all proposals is Jan.18. All proposals received by this date will be reviewed together.
Notification of acceptance will be sent out January 25.