[Communications] [Test] Late Summer Newsletter • Water Access for All Gardens • Community Garden Profiles • Perennial Distribution Sept 25

Sat Sep 19 10:05:48 CDT 2020

Looks great. I say send it ASAP#

On Fri, Sep 18, 2020, 9:41 PM CCGA via Communications <
communications at chicagocommunitygardens.org> wrote:

> "Here's the latest and hopefully final draft of the late summer
> newsletter. It owuld be great if we could send this out before noon
> tomorrow. Please take a look and let me know if there are any changes
> needed. I had to remove the mention of the sign because I have not heard
> from Robin whether we could have signs ready for the distribution next
> week. We will have to promote the sign on Facebook which I think is OK!
> Amy" — Chicago Community Gardeners Association
> To send feedback about this test campaign, reply with a message above this
> bar.
> News & Updates • Community Garden Profiles • Water Access for All Gardens
> •  Perennial Distribution Sept 25
> View this email in your browser
> <https://us14.campaign-archive.com/?e=__test_email__&u=7f2904daf2a26a891c68f8bb0&id=b38dabb5a6>
>
> *News for Community Gardeners*
> *"What we do echoes through the generations."*
> - Barack Obama, 2020
> *Pictured here are young adults working with West Side gardens through the
> Garfield Park Community Council last summer.*
> Celebrating and Supporting One Another
>
> As spring turned to summer, our support for Black lives and for the
> community gardening community grew and continues to grow with each day. As
> surely as we tend our gardens, we tend to our neighborhoods and each other,
> and we reaffirm that growing is an important part of creating resilient and
> healthy communities in Chicago.
>
> In this issue, we have garden stories, news and updates, distribution
> notes, and awards to tell you about. But first, we want to share a moment
> we had in dialogue with founding CCGA member Angela Taylor, a committed
> community activist and garden leader in Garfield Park, to share some
> thoughts on the importance of staying focused and dedicated to our work in
> our communities as an antidote to the sadness and unrest that has swept
> through our city.
>
> *How does community gardening support Black lives? How do community
> gardens contribute to dismantling racism in our city?*
> *Here at the Fulton Street Flower and Vegetable Garden, we see the color
> green. To be afforded the opportunity to work with young people, and watch
> them learn about gardening and the role farming played in our culture, and
> then realize the importance of growing not just food, but growing a sense
> of community as well is amazing to witness. All of this seems to bring
> about a better appreciation for life.*
>
> *From your work with young people, what can you suggest that will bring us
> to a more creative and conscious dialogue about Black and Brown lives?*
> *If we could sometimes stop talking and just listen, we could learn a lot
> about what the needs of others are, and become open to learning new ways of
> getting things done.*
>
> *What are some practices for creating more loving, resilient relationships
> among each other in our communities as we work for and support racial
> justice?*
> *This is a tough one, but here you go... In everything we do, we should
> first consider how we would want to be treated, cared for, and responded
> to. *
>
> *In what way do you see gardens as a place for healing and empowerment?*
> *Community gardens are considered a healing space. Early in the morning,
> before the community wakes up, taking a walk in this quiet space sets the
> tone for the day: Being one with the earth, becoming inspired in our
> day, and to clear our mind to be able focus on what is in front of us.  *
> *"Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our
> struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month or a year, it is the
> struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in
> good trouble, necessary trouble.”*
>   - John Lewis
> Has your garden been affected by the 2020 Chicago Water Hydrant Policy? We
> want to hear from you - there is help!
> *Illustration by Sunshine Cahill or @sunshine.saqimax (via IG) courtesy of
> AUA.*
>
> During the last few months, CCGA has heard from community gardeners that
> the new rules the Department of Water Management has enacted for fire
> hydrant water access is crippling for them. Acquiring, installing, and
> certifying a Reduced Pressure Zone (RPZ) unit for any community garden can
> be cost-prohibitive.
>
> CCGA contacted Sean Ruane, the executive director of AUA (Advocates for
> Urban Agriculture), and we became a signatory on a letter to garner public
> support for this issue and advocate for more inclusivity of community
> gardeners.
>
> The need for advocacy for the unique water access needs of community
> gardens with the City of Chicago is evident. CCGA seeks to develop a
> position and proposal to present to the City for what our community
> gardeners need as a long-term solution. The increase in the fee from
> previous years in the new policy is not as much a hardship as is the cost
> of the RPZ, inspections, and liability insurance. We look forward to
> working collaboratively with community gardeners, AUA, the City, and others
> to find a solution.
>
> *There is much more to this issue, and we want to hear from more of our
> community gardeners.* We've developed a simple survey and would greatly
> appreciate your participation! The goal of the survey is to gain a clearer
> picture of how community gardeners in Chicago access water and to determine
> where support is needed.
>
> Take the CCGA Water Access Survey <https://forms.gle/uroWr5SGR3Hjjwm4A>
>
> *For those who need assistance now,* AUA has compiled a resource guide
> and funding to help farmers/gardeners navigate the updated policy on their
> website, and we encourage you follow the link below! Please reach out to us
> if you have any other questions at
> communications at chicagocommunitygardens.org.
>
> AUA Water Access Resources & Growers Guide
> <https://auachicago.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/AUA-Updated-Chicago-Growers-Guide-.pdf>
> You can still show off your garden:
> Enter the CEGA 60-second video challenge by September 30!
>
> The Chicago Excellence in Gardening Awards (CEGA) will be honoring gardens
> for a fourth year—though with a twist, thanks to COVID-19. The timing of
> the pandemic has made it impossible to ramp up the gardening competition in
> time to take advantage of the summer growing season. Instead, CEGA is
> presenting its first-ever *60-Second Garden Video Challenge*.
>
> Here’s how it works. Gardeners create one-minute videos of their gardens
> and upload them to the CEGA website. The CEGA Team reviews them for social
> standards considerations, and posts the videos on the CEGA YouTube Channel
> <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs7W3pRPsioXIK3S-1XOyvw/videos>.
> Viewers then use the “thumbs up” to vote for their favorite videos.
> The competition is FREE and open to anyone who has a garden or who belongs
> to a garden, whether it’s a community garden, church or school garden, or
> even a business garden. Videos can be straightforward, clever, artistic,
> funny—whatever the gardener chooses. And, for this special contest, e*ntrants
> need not be from Chicago. *We’re looking for 60 second videos of gardens
> from anywhere in the world.
>
> Videos that receive the most votes will be posted on the CEGA website and
> on its social media pages. Those gardeners will receive a certificate, but
> more prizes are in the works. Stay tuned. Videos will be accepted now
> through *September 30*, with winners being announced monthly.
>
> Find out more and enter your garden video!
> <https://chicagogardeningawards.org/>
> Register for the CCGA Resources Committee Fall Perennial Distribution on
> Friday, September 25
> *STORIES FROM CHICAGO'S COMMUNITY GARDENS*
> El Paseo Community Garden is granted a Creative Placemaking Award
>
> El Paseo Community Garden enhances the quality of life for Pilsen
> residents through community building, stewardship, conservation,
> placemaking, partnerships, programming, and community gardening. The
> converted brownfield site provides opportunities to socialize with each
> other, plant and grow food, play, or simply be outside and enjoy the
> wildlife and fresh air the native plants provide. The garden and adjacent
> land it stewards provides over 34,000 square feet of public green space for
> the neighborhood and as a backyard for neighbors in the adjacent senior
> living and affordable housing apartments. The garden sits along a path with
> a monarch butterfly prairie on one side and raised beds on the other.
> Gardening is offered through private allotment beds or collective beds.
> Collective beds eliminate waiting lists for allotment beds and allow anyone
> to get involved. Free food beds are included on the perimeter of the
> collective beds for visitors.
>
> The leadership team at El Paseo Community Garden applied for the MacArthur
> Foundation Creative Placemaking Award and by the end of 2019, they were
> notified they were finalists. On May 6th they were recognized via a virtual
> ceremony and awarded $15,000 along with it. The Acevedos credit their
> founders Sallie and Ron Gordon and their land trust, Neighborspace, for
> trusting them to carry on their vision. Gratitude is also expressed to all
> the organizations who have provided support through sponsorship,
> partnerships, and various donations. The success of our garden is possible
> by the countless volunteers that help maintain the space and provide
> programming. Congratulations, El Paseo!
>
> Continue reading about El Paseo Community Garden
> <http://chicagocommunitygardens.org/2020/09/04/el-paseo-community-garden-is-awarded-a-creative-placemaking-award/>
> Applications are being accepted until *September 30* for the *27th Annual
> Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards*, including the *MacArthur
> Foundation Creative Placemaking Award*.
> Find out more and apply.
> <https://lisc-cnda.org/awards/creative-placemaking/>
> North Lawndale 'Slumbusters' Garden Workdays are a Success
>
> *Since the 1980’s a diverse patchwork of green spaces has appeared on
> North Lawndale’s map. These pocket gardens are sites of community activism,
> neighborhood beautification and youth education. In 1986, Gerald and Lorean
> Earles founded “Slum Busters” to transform vacant lots into flower and
> vegetable gardens. Their efforts have inspired the creation of more than 40
> gardens and the North Lawndale Greening Committee."  – *Learning from
> North Lawndale”, Chicago Architecture Tour, 2006
>
> Volunteers with the North Lawndale Greening Committee, inspired by the
> work of *Lorean and Gerald Earles*, started a garden restoration of the *Slum
> Busters Garden* on Saturday, June 20th. According to volunteer, Kimberly
> George, “The garden was literally buried in overgrown weeds. I started to
> reconsider this project, but then I remembered a story about Lorean Earles,
> discouraged in the evening, would still be out the next morning pulling a
> few weeds.”
>
> In the middle of a pandemic, social unrest, and a financial depression,
> restoring a garden may not be the best idea. But, the reality is, this is
> the perfect time. Fresh produce and beautiful flowers are needed more than
> ever. The outpouring of individuals from all over the city wanting to
> contribute time is inspiring. Garden leaders like Dr. Shemuel Israel and
> Mamie Gray are following the example of the Earles, who once said, “No one
> wants to do anything, so why don’t we?”
> Dr. Israel, Mamie and Kimberly have held many workdays (safely) this
> summer to restore and clean up gardens in North Lawndale. To offer support
> please, sign up to volunteer using the button below.
>
>
> <http://%20https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZ_ha06HcUTY5fYAbA4tCrm9x9mifyS76erqZDm7wo13WP_Q/viewform>
>
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