[Communications] [Test] 8th Annual Conference Updates • Meet the Presenters, Part 2! • Upcoming Events

Wed Mar 11 14:42:15 CDT 2020

8th Annual Conference Updates  •  Meet the Presenters, Part 2!  • Upcoming Events

View this email in your browser (https://us14.campaign-archive.com/?e=&u=7f2904daf2a26a891c68f8bb0&id=76c4670c97)
News for Community Gardeners
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength
that will endure as long as life lasts."
- Rachel Carson

============================================================
Saturday, March 21 from 9:00am - 2:30pm
Whitney Young Magnet High School
211 S Laflin St, Chicago, IL 60607
** Register for the conference (http://chicagocommunitygardens.org/conference/)
Hello Community Gardeners!
The first day of Spring is nearly here, and we are finalizing details for the 8th Annual Conference on March 21. Good weather will energize all of us, new as well as returning gardeners. Let's work together to ensure our community gardens are a friendly, green, safe, and fun place to unwind and recharge during these uncertain times.

Listen this Sunday to the Mike Nowak Show to hear Mike Strode talk about his workshop "The Offers and Needs Market." The show has been called the "greenest show on the air or in the cloud," and our other Mike is pretty green too; he is an urban cyclist. Mike Stroud has told us his grounding philosophy is mycelium, collaborative agility, empathic individualization, and all things human glue. Let's all tune in on Sunday to hear more about what all of that means for creating greater human resilience. Listen to the Mike Nowak Show on WCGO 1590 AM or 95.5 FM, Sundays from 9-11am. Tune in to hear Mike Strode from 10:30 to 10:45 a.m.

Over the winter the CCGA Resources committee was the recipient of many, many herb, flower, and vegetable seed packets from reputable seed companies known for providing fresh, non-GMO seeds.  They've been generously grouping packets and donating these to libraries and community gardens and distributing them at workshops. We are more than community gardeners, we are people connected to each other through growing food for ourselves, for pollinators. and small wildlife that depend on an insect population to produce young.
Each and every person attending our March 21 conference will receive a bundled packet of seeds.  Every seed sown is a little act of rebellion to protect our right to grow food and preserve biodiversity. We are glad that Resources is sharing the wealth before and beyond our conference!
We'll also provide attendees with these awesome, sustainable bamboo utensils. They provide a lightweight, long-lasting alternative to disposable silverware. In addition, each carrying case is made from recycled plastic water bottles! Keep a set in your bag, glove compartment, lunch box or desk, and see how many disposable utensils you can pass by.

We care deeply about the health and well‑being of our attendees, presenters, exhibitors, support team, and community. CCGA is closely monitoring the evolving situation regarding the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and at this time (today), we plan to move forward with the 8th Annual Conference as planned. We are in communication with our event host, Whitney Young Magnet High School, and will continue to follow the official guidance from the Chicago Department of Public Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). If you have any questions or concerns about attending the conference, please reach out to ** communications at chicagocommunitygardens.org (mailto:communications at chicagocommunitygardens.org)
.

Distinctive Calls and High-pitched Whistles in our Trees, from the Likes of Birds!
“Strictly for the birds” can insinuate that something is not worth consideration, and this careless slang bears a hint of how poorly these graceful creatures of flight can be thought of. By conference time (next weekend!) Spring will officially be here in Chicago, and we should hear the birdsongs of robins and blackbirds and the chirps and cackles of woodpeckers as they head here to nest in our oaks, sycamores, and in the hackberry and hickory trees. Even year-round birds like black-capped chickadees get noisier in Spring. Purple martins search for human-made nesting boxes. Who doesn’t want to continue seeing these birds and hearing those rollicking songs and flute-like excited twitters?

Our 8th Annual Conference offers hands-on possibilities to rebuild our connections to the natural world. Meet more of the amazing presenters for this year's workshops!

WORKSHOP:
Birds as Connectors to Nearby Nature
Meet Lillian Holden (left) and Jeramie Strickland.
Did you know that birds are a wonderful introduction to nature for young people and their families? Join Lillian Holden and Jeramie Strickland of Openlands for their kid-friendly workshop, Birds as Connectors to Nearby Nature. By sparking an interest in birds, participants are invited to see that nature is around all of us – regardless of where we live – and it is our responsibility to steward and protect it. Attendees will learn how birds can be used as a catalyst for a life-long appreciation of nature.

Lillian is the Education and Community Outreach Associate for Openlands, supporting Birds in my Neighborhood, Space to Grow, and the Building School Gardens community conservation programs. She loves being an agent in galvanizing succeeding generations to be advocates for nature and is passionate about tackling the global climate crisis through youth mentorship and nature exploration. Her co-presenter, Jeramie, is the Manager of Education and Community Outreach, also at Openlands. Prior to his current position, he served as a Wildlife Biologist for ten years with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on a National Wildlife Refuge. Jeramie is passionate about developing programs that engage communities from diverse backgrounds to help them appreciate green spaces, nature, and conservation.
WORKSHOP:
Tree Huggers Unite! Let's Plant and Protect Our Trees!
Trees are vital to having a livable Earth. In this workshop, learn about the necessity of trees, where to plant them—in community gardens or elsewhere, how to plant them, and why it is extremely important to protect the trees that we have left.

Betsy Elsaesser is the President of the North Park Village Garden Club, one of the oldest and largest community gardens in Chicago. She works to plant and maintain trees in her neighborhood of Logan Square. Betsy has loved gardens, trees and natural areas all her life. She has been a volunteer TreeKeeper with Openlands since 1993 and assists with TreeKeeper classes and pruning practical exams. As well, Betsy is a Certified Arborist.
Spring Awakenings
As spring comes to Chicago the air loses its winter chill garden, soil grows softer and more yielding to plants. As Chicagoans, we dream and seek inspiration as the days grow longer, with lots of bed prep, soil building, seeding, and transplanting in the days ahead. These presenters bring their knowledge and experience to share, so that each participant can take home lots of new ideas and processes that can be applied in their community gardens.
WORKSHOP:
Production Planning for Community Garden Systems
Is figuring out how many seeds and transplants are needed for your beds a guessing game? Does computing how much soil, compost, and inputs are needed overwhelm you? Don't worry! Zach's workshop will prepare you for a successful growing year. He'll share various approaches and techniques from his toolkit, and how some simple but powerful tools can provide a clear and accurate plan.

Zachary Grant is Local Foods and Small Farms Educator for the University of Illinois Extension. From 2008-2015 he was the manager and director of the Sustainable Student Farm at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a working small farm laboratory located on the fruit research farm at the university. Its mission is to grow year-round, high-quality produce for the dining halls and university community. In addition, the SSF conducts research in intensive small-scale farming techniques, season extension techniques, and outreach to the larger growing community. In 2015, he became the Local Food Systems and Small Farms Educator for Cook County, focusing on urban food production systems programming for a diverse group of stakeholders.

WORKSHOP:
Using Traditions to Build Our Gardens and Our Community
Meet Sharon Holmes, DeVonya Shelly, and Jacqueline Smith (clockwise, from left).
The presenters of this workshop will discuss how The Green Lots Project facilitates connections between human communities and human-nature relations using principles of the traditional ecological knowledge of our Africa American and Mexican American elders and ancestors. Learn how GLP has built its organization and maintained their gardens over the past 12 years utilizing the key principles of diversity and relationships. They will also provide information about their growing practices that utilize TEK including soil building and maintenance, using chickens in your garden, and complementary planting.

Jacqueline Smith is an urban vegetable gardener, indigenous food cultivator, and the owner and lead consultant of GrowAsis Urban Garden Consulting Inc. on Chicago’s south side. Prior to founding GrowAsis, she held various leadership roles in urban agriculture with the Chicago Botanic Garden, Urban Habitat Chicago, and WeFarm America. Her research on food security in Chicago has played a significant role in helping empower residents to grow their own produce through organic methods.

Sharon Holmes has been a compassionate, dedicated, and resourceful social service worker for Catholic Charities for 20 years. She is currently in her last semester at Chicago State University majoring in Sociology with a goal to continue with the graduate program in social work. When she is not working, at school or studying, Sharon enjoys singing and directing a harmonious group of singers at her church.

DeVonya Shelly is a student at Chicago State majoring in Sociology. She joined the Green Lots Project during the Fall semester of 2019. She enjoys learning about growing and maintaining healthy edible plants including fruits, vegetables, and herbs.
WORKSHOP:
Técnicas eficaces para la jardinera ecológica en pequeños espacios
(presentado solo en Español)
Este taller será una discusión guiada e interactiva, centrada en el tema de cómo economizar para rendir el mayor provecho posible de una temporada de cultivo limitada y escasos recursos de tal forma que también contribuimos al cuidado de nuestra tierra. En equipo, diseñaremos un jardín urbano estándar que mide 4 pies por 8 pies usando un tapiz a la medida. A la vez, exploraremos cómo adaptar las siguientes técnicas para los jardines chicos: combinar plantas, plantar en sucesión, hacer nuestro propio abono y conservar el agua.  Al final de la discusión, cada participante tendrá oportunidad de hacer preguntas mientras dibuja un plan para su propio jardín estándar de 4 por 8 pies.

Emilia Arellano es Coordinadora de invernadero para el Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance. Ofrece talleres de horticultura para adultos y dirige un grupo diverso y dedicado de más de 30 voluntarios que propagan plantas de adorno y comestibles. Además maneja el Jardín donativo desde la etapa de cultivación hasta la distribución de las cosechas. Su pasión por la jardinería sostenible no se limita al trabajo.  Como voluntaria en el programa Chicago Master Gardeners, tiene mucha experiencia trabajando junto a jóvenes y adultos en jardines de escuelas, hospitales y huertos comunitarios del norte y oeste de Chicago.
WORKSHOP:
Creciendo Una Comunidad: Invitando Interacción Desde la Perspectiva de Permacultura
Growing Community: Inviting Interaction through a Permaculture Lens

Meet Anai Brizuela (left) and Lori Upchurch.

This session will be presented in both English and Spanish. A live verbal translation and bilingual written materials will be provided.

For generations, connection with community has been an integral part of healthy human culture. Our modern urban society often emphasizes the individual's responsibility to survive and thrive purely on their own volition. For many, that vital connection to community has been lost, leading to an increase in stress, social anxiety, and disconnection. This workshop’s goal is to empower individuals to invite community into their lives in accordance with their own dreams, creating a stronger, more caring culture and a shift toward a healing Earth. It will give an overview of permaculture principles and ethics and explore how these tools can be used for creative and regenerative community design. Participants will engage in discussion to identify needs of their community gardens and explore ingredients needed to bring and keep a community together.

Anai Brizuela is an information enthusiast and enjoys her connection to Earth more every day. After earning her Permaculture Design Certificate in November 2018, she went on to co-found the Chicago Urban Permaculture Salon with Lori Upchurch. She is working toward cultivating a more resilient network of activists to grow a greener world.

Lori Upchurch is a permaculture designer and facilitator who has been engaged in regenerative community design since 2000, with Northside Unschoolers, Great Lakes Urban Explorers, Girls Scouts of Chicago, Edge Youth Theater and now, Chicago Urban Permaculture Salon and Permaculture Chicago Teaching Institute. She is in the process of turning her rectangle of Midwest soil into a food and medicine forest and the wetlands prairie it wants to be.
Free soil testing at the conference! It's time to prepare your sample:
** Register for the conference (http://chicagocommunitygardens.org/conference/)
Join the Conference Support Team
We are looking for people to help out at the conference! Support Team members (volunteers) receive a $5.00 discount from general registration which includes workshops, breakfast, and lunch. Support Team members who don't attend workshops pay $15 for lunch only. To sign up, select the Support Team option on the main conference registration page.

Community Garden Slide Show
Show off your garden! Each year we present a slideshow of Chicago's community gardens during lunch. Please send photos via email to photos at chicagocommunitygardens.org.

Calling all Vendors & Exhibitors
You're invited to share your garden-related products, valuable knowledge, resources and skills with Chicago’s community gardeners at our annual conference! Connect with our audience of around 200 community gardeners who will have time to visit your table and have meaningful conversations. Please contact communications at chicagocommunitygardens.org to obtain a form and more info.
Bring One, Get One - A Garden Swap Table
We, as gardeners, are experts at recycling and reusing. And collecting and storing! Do you have something extra or something you no longer need that you think another gardener might find useful? We can help! We're trying something new at this year's conference: please bring ONE gently used, clean, garden-related item to swap. A pair of gloves, a hand tool, a rake or shovel, gardening book or unused journal, a small plaque – bring one, get one.

Anyone who brings something can get something in exchange!
** Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoCommunityGardenersAssociation/)
** Website (https://chicagocommunitygardens.org/)
** Email (mailto:info at chicagocommunitygardens.org)
Have ideas, suggestions or news you would like to share with fellow community gardeners in the next CCGA email? Please send those items to ** communications at chicagocommunitygardens.org. (mailto:communications at chicagocommunitygardens.org)

For questions about CCGA and how to get involved, email ** membership at chicagocommunitygardens.org (mailto:membership at chicagocommunitygardens.org)
or visit ** chicagocommunitygardens.org/ccga-organization (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=00179W6ckE8nHc3_ea7VKAt_U7Qet-JCzLSSeOPh9N6gLUWNELIG_623Uq6CaEg83lQ1WW0jnA6WuALEV1KYm5MScGNmqRYtYgAgBDTodIy-SyCKM58AQz6GunGMbJ4-ek7UqfS8SQG6_xSbq9jDG3ygw1D1zHRazackxCKDCvakZu8s8cYVx8sGl2f1mgl-HYIDcDzXQnxkrapObZi2PTbGA==&c=Q_d2K6wsNreybPhq6TiCSg0zyf5NMPf7aMT2L5QmEGvWL4M9ouukwQ==&ch=86ZxnO5wcbz_NBbECE7jjonhPQ3EptToF6SB0B4xUiWBxWw2KdMzXQ==)

Need resources for your community garden? Have resources to offer? Email ** resources at chicagocommunitygardens.org (mailto:resources at chicagocommunitygardens.org)
.
Copyright © 2017 Chicago Community Gardeners Association, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
445 N. Sacramento Blvd, Suite 204, Chicago, IL 60612

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences (https://chicagocommunitygardens.us14.list-manage.com/profile?u=7f2904daf2a26a891c68f8bb0&id=7791d05a6d&e=)
or ** unsubscribe from this list (https://chicagocommunitygardens.us14.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=7f2904daf2a26a891c68f8bb0&id=7791d05a6d&e=&c=76c4670c97)

This email was sent to communications at chicagocommunitygardens.org (mailto:communications at chicagocommunitygardens.org)
why did I get this? (https://chicagocommunitygardens.us14.list-manage.com/about?u=7f2904daf2a26a891c68f8bb0&id=7791d05a6d&e=&c=76c4670c97)     unsubscribe from this list (https://chicagocommunitygardens.us14.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=7f2904daf2a26a891c68f8bb0&id=7791d05a6d&e=&c=76c4670c97)     update subscription preferences (https://chicagocommunitygardens.us14.list-manage.com/profile?u=7f2904daf2a26a891c68f8bb0&id=7791d05a6d&e=)
CCGA . 445 North Sacramento Blvd . Suite 204 . Chicago, Il 60612 . USA

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp
http://www.mailchimp.com/monkey-rewards/?utm_source=freemium_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=monkey_rewards&aid=7f2904daf2a26a891c68f8bb0&afl=1
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://chicagocommunitygardens.org/pipermail/communications_chicagocommunitygardens.org/attachments/20200311/4bc10de5/attachment-0001.html>