[Communications] [Test] Register for the CCGA 8th Annual Virtual Conference! • The Legacy Gardeners Project • Grants for Community Gardens

[CCGA]

Recording the Legacies of our Gardeners   • Registration is open for the CCGA 8th Annual Gardeners' Conference  •  Grant Opportunities

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News for Community Gardeners

"My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.”
—Desmond Tutu

"The first bud of spring sings the other seeds into joining her uprising."
– Amanda Gorman


The smell of wormwood, fresh snow on beach greens,
like a place name, from a hand-scribed map.
dg nanouk okpik (http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/dg-okpik)

============================================================
Hello Community Gardeners!
The 50th anniversary of Earth Day, April 22, 2020 arrived with the coronavirus outbreak already unfolding throughout our lives. With the virtual disappearance of everyday contact with others, the prospect of plunging our hands in the soil gained extraordinary appeal; it was an act of self-preservation, for us and for the earth.

We knew gardening was not just about growing food, but growth for the soul. Gardening helped us feel rooted, connected, and grateful.

Connection with plants and the environment is an integral part of human culture. The process of making connections starts at an early age in life, even without conscious thought. During the pandemic, connections have given us a sense of place, of purpose, and of inspiration. This year’s theme, Connections through Gardening: Plants, People and the Environment, aims to explore and celebrate the interconnectedness of our shared garden work and to foster relationships and conversations that shape and support best practices for sustainable living and growing in Chicago. We hope you will join us on March 20th to discover deeper connections in your own communities!
Registration is Open!

Join fellow community gardeners on Saturday, March 20 for a lively and informative day of presentations, networking, and connections – all from the comfort of your home. Visit the ** conference web page (http://chicagocommunitygardens.org/conference/)
to see the full schedule and to register!
** Conference Info (http://chicagocommunitygardens.org/conference/)

Our first virtual conference features 18 live presentations, interactive breakout sessions and activities, special announcements, gardener-to-gardener networking, and a live virtual exhibitor hall.

The registration fee is $25 for adults and $15 for students.

We will be hosting a Hopin walk-through prior to the conference. So, if you’re new to the virtual platform, we’ll be able to answer your questions. Watch for an email about this soon.

There’s something for both new and experienced gardeners! Plus, recordings of all presentations will be available for attendees to view on-demand after the conference!
Presentations at-a-Glance

Session 1: 10:00 - 11:00 am
* Mapping Soil Lead in Chicago, Potential Uptake by Vegetables
* Production Planning for Community Garden Systems
* Selecting Fruit Tree Varieties for an Extended Harvest (Pick Three!)
* Best Practices for Sustainable Gardening in Small Spaces
* Keeping Bees at Your Community Garden
* Connect to School Gardens: Growing More Food and Celebrating Culture in Community

Session 2: 11:30 am - 12:30 pm
* Técnicas eficaces para la jardinera ecológica en pequeños espacios (Español)
* Keeping Bees at Your Community Garden
* #ChicagoGrowsFood: How to Creatively Grow Food in Small Spaces
* The Offers & Needs Market
* Treehuggers Unite!  Plant and protect our trees!
* 2021 Water Access for Urban Growers
* Permaculture in Practice
* Connect to School Gardens: Growing More Food and Celebrating Culture in Community

Session 3: 2:00 – 3:00 pm
* Keeping Bees at Your Community Garden
* Sharing Notes: Community Gardeners Panel Discussion
* Introducción a la Permacultura en Práctica (Español)
* Growing Extra for Food Pantries in a Time of Food Insecurity: Trials, Tribulations & Successes

Become an exhibitor

You're invited to share your valuable knowledge, resources, and skills with Chicago’s Community Gardeners. This year, we will be hosting a virtual Expo Area from 11:00am – 3:30pm. Attendees can visit areas of the virtual conference freely, and the schedule encourages networking and interacting with exhibitors from 11:00-11:30am and from 12:30-2:00pm. As an exhibitor, you will have the flexibility to schedule time to be ‘live’ in your booth. You can also provide pre-recorded content and website links while you're not ‘live’. The fee for exhibiting is $50.00 per organization. If you’re interested in becoming an exhibitor, ** please complete this application (https://forms.gle/TMQunTevNNaqTWcS)
.
Introducing the Legacy Gardeners Project
For some time, the CCGA Education Committee has considered recording the legacies built by our own gardeners. We're thrilled to share that this project has a green light! Even better, we plan to premier the first two short films highlighting legacy gardeners at the upcoming conference.

Do you know a lifelong gardener?
We want to feature those gardeners who have worked the soil over a lifetime and made an impact in their communities. This is someone, still living, who has built a legacy, not intentionally wanting recognition or success, but someone who has given their energy and wisdom to fellow gardeners and their community through leadership and service. This is someone who has taught generations how to garden by showing them how to value hard work, to nurture a tiny seed, and to feed the soil. If you know someone who has dared to be joyful despite hardship, who has always done what mattered, and has always given their time to make things better, please tell us. We want to give them a platform to share their story.

Please forward the name of your nominee to the Education Committee by emailing education at chicagocommunitygardens.org. Using the criteria in the paragraph above, please note why you are nominating this person. You may give your name or remain anonymous. Nominations will be considered once we receive the permission of the legacy gardener to be video recorded.

We hope this project will continue beyond this year’s conference – as long as there is interest. More details will be coming soon!
The Resources Committee is Busy Growing!
Spring Distribution in the Works
CCGA's growing and propagating operations at both the CCGT and Austin High School greenhouses are in full swing! Stay tuned for updates about a distribution of spring ornamentals (violets, pansies, coleus, etc.) and vegetables!

Field Museum: Plant Medicine

>From the Museum’s website, “The practice of cultivating plants in gardens across research project, "Cultivating Wellbeing: The Social and Ecological Effects of Urban Gardening in Chicago.” The exhibit points out that “there are about 870 community gardens and urban farms across Chicago, creating shared spaces where strangers can become neighbors.” Plant Medicine is based upon the findings of an original research project created and conducted by Dr. Molly Doane and others. Molly and her team conducted the interviews with our CCGA folks for this project.

Purslane grows abundantly in many of our community gardens. It's considered a weed by some, but it's used both medicinally and for cooking in the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America.

Through photography and personal accounts, this exhibit invites us to meet the people cultivating gardens and well-being in Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods; it is open with basic admission until Dec 5, 2021. The exhibit includes interviews with CCGA gardeners and highlights a portion of the Museum's ongoing research project, "Cultivating Wellbeing: The Social and Ecological Effects of Urban Gardening in Chicago." Many community gardeners contributed their time and knowledge. Learn more at ** https://www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibitions/plant-medicine (https://www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibitions/plant-medicine?fbclid=IwAR2SRc8SHbBiVjGRg0SluyRH0LlBbZC7WLz540EmRJ76BXdda5OFVYVnFNI)
.
The 2020 CEGA Awards (Almost) Broke the Internet
Last year, gardeners made the most of what they could as the pandemic unfolded in our communities. We became flexible and inventive in keeping our gardens going. Even the Chicago Excellence in Gardening Awards competition had to get creative. They launched their first ever CEGA 60-Second Garden Video Challenge. Virtual entrants came from as far east as Delaware and as far west as Washington state. Almost 13,000 people watched the videos! For the first time, in addition to community gardens, prizes were awarded for residential and institutional gardens. Community gardens with the most votes tallied in a month received rain barrels provided by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. Visit the ** CEGA website (https://chicagogardeningawards.org/)
to see the all the winners!
Community Garden Pilot Project Update
In August of 2020, CCGA was contacted by the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) to participate in a new Community Garden Pilot Project. As churches have always been important resources and community institutions in Chicago, the goal of the project was to support faith-based community gardens already growing fresh produce. The scope of the pilot program  allowed participants to add more growing beds or create a new garden. To better focus the assistance, The Illinois Legislative Black Caucus identified areas that have been hardest hit by Covid-19, “where food insecurity was prevalent and grocery stores scarce."
Pictured, from left, are Gina, Rev. Ken Todd, Mamie, and Brother Rice in front of the hoop house at Fernwood Garden.
The organizations selected were Fernwood Community Outreach Church, Great True Vine Baptist Church, Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN) and Trinity United Church. CCGA was sought out to provide technical assistance and partnered with these four faith-based organizations to support their plans. CCGA was also able to secure a donation from Gethsemane Garden Center of over 40 flats of lettuce, kale, Swiss chard, and even some pepper plants. May Toy accepted the many plants and prepared sets for pick-up by the participating gardeners. Additionally, May, Mamie Gray, and Gina Jamison visited the Fernwood Church garden to assist the church gardeners with planting all the seedlings. The pilot program successfully concluded at the end of last year, but CCGA is looking forward to continuing our support of these organizations again this year!
More news to feature a South or West Side Gardener: Could it be You?
Megy Karydes, a Chicago-based writer, contacted CCGA asking our help to identify a gardener to be profiled in an upcoming issue of ** Chicago Health Caregiving (https://chicagocaregiving.com/)
magazine. She is looking for a “Chicagoland-based gardener who is 65 years-old or better and lives anywhere but on the north or northwest side” as she had already found a gardener for these areas. The south or west side gardener should be someone who appreciates and uses gardening as a form of therapy or meditation, not necessarily a formal program…just someone who recognizes the therapeutic benefits gardening programs. She hopes this person has beautiful, high-quality digital images of their garden, and finally, “be willing to be photographed outside their home or garden space closer to early May.” You can nominate yourself or someone else. Contact ** megy at karydesconsulting.com (mailto:megy at karydesconsulting.com)
Circle back in May to find out who was in the news!
Upcoming Events
Click on an event title for more info.

** 16th Annual Chicago Food Justice Summit (https://www.chicagofoodpolicy.com/cfjs16)

February 25-26, March 5-6
Fee: Free
Presented by: Chicago Food Policy Action Council

** Saving Seeds from Your Garden (https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/events/saving-seeds-your-garden-online)
*
March 1 @ 7:00 - 8:00 pm
Fee: Free
Presented by: Chicago Park District

** Growing Sprouts & Microgreens (https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/events/growing-sprouts-and-microgreens-online)
*
March 2 @ 4:00 - 5:00 pm
Fee: Free
Presented by: Chicago Park District

** Seed Starting Workshop (http://chicagocommunitygardens.org/event/seed-starting-workshop-2/)
*
Saturday, March 6 @  1:00 - 2:30 pm
Fee: $15
Presented by: Kilbourn Park’s Winter Gardening Zoom Classes

** Chicken Health Workshop (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chicken-health-virtual-tickets-135756486305)

April 5 @ 6:30 - 9:00 pm
Fee: $30
Presented by: Home To Roost

* ** There are many more Chicago Park District events! (https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/events)

Check our ** Events Calendar (http://chicagocommunitygardens.org/events/)
for more upcoming workshops and events. You can also submit your own event!
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)
.
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