[Communications] [Test] Winter Newsletter

Sun Jan 19 16:13:03 CST 2025

Amy,

As usual your editing of this smoothed it out.  Thanks for adding the
additional links. I did a quick read to get back to you.  I read more
thoroughly later this evening.

Lorraine

Lorraine

On Sun, Jan 19, 2025 at 4:02 PM Amy Olson <akeo at me.com> wrote:

> Begin forwarded message:
>
>
> *From: *CCGA <info at chicagocommunitygardens.org>
> *Subject: **[Test] Winter Newsletter*
> *Date: *January 19, 2025 at 4:53:48 PM EST
> *To: *<akeo at me.com>
> *Reply-To: *<us14-74d8a1481b-9f1dbc64f7 at inbound.mailchimp.com>
>
>
> View this email in your browser
> <https://us14.campaign-archive.com/?e=__test_email__&u=7f2904daf2a26a891c68f8bb0&id=3b30b7aa2b>
>
> *News for Community Gardeners*
>
> *"**Winter is not a season, it's a celebration"*
> — Anamika Mishra
> Celebrating Winter's Stillness
>
> As we start to focus on the year ahead while our gardens hibernate under
> the snow, we’re sharing some news and events as well as some highlights
> from our work together the past year. With everything going on around us,
> we hope you’re finding ways to celebrate Winter, whether that means
> getting inspired with gardening content and the new seed catalogues,
> planning a new garden bed, or finding moments of stillness in nature. We’re
> excited to share another year of growing together with you!
> *CCGA Monthly Meeting this Tuesday*
> Join us for our first monthly meeting of 2025 this Tuesday, January 21, at
> 6pm on Zoom. All are welcome! Details can be found on the CCGA website
> <https://chicagocommunitygardens.org/ccga-coordinating-meetings-2025/>.
>
> *Winter 2025 Edition*
>
>    - Volunteer with CCGA!
>    - Winter 2025 Seed Swap Events
>    - A few ways to Celebrate Winter
>    - Remembering Julie Samuels
>    - 2024 Highlights
>    - CCGA Legacy Gardener Film Project
>
> Volunteer with CCGA!
>
> CCGA is an all-volunteer collective of community gardeners and needs
> people power to thrive. If you have a passion for supporting our gardening
> communities (and have a little time to share) then you have come to the
> right place!
>
> The Communications team
> <https://chicagocommunitygardens.org/communications-team/> needs help
> supporting all of CCGA’s communications including (but not limited to) the
> website, community garden map, social media, newsletters, writing, graphic
> design, photography, and some workshop/special event technical support and
> promotion. You don't have to have professional experience to be on the
> team, just a zest for communications and amplifying all the amazing work
> gardeners and growers are doing in Chicago!
>
> The Advocacy & Outreach team
> <https://chicagocommunitygardens.org/advocacy-outreach-team/> is focused
> on tackling bigger-picture issues and helping to create policies that
> support the sustainability of green space in Chicago and all of us who are
> growers. While Chicago’s neighborhood gardens are our immediate focus, we
> also engage with issues that affect our larger shared environment by
> working with the City and other partners and organizations to get things
> done.
>
> The Resources & Distributions team
> <https://chicagocommunitygardens.org/resources-committee/> always needs
> help with growing seedlings and distributing plants and planning workshops.
> We would also like to hear from you if you learned/tried something in your
> garden last summer that you’d be willing to share with other gardeners this
> winter at a workshop. Last year, community gardeners shared their knowledge
> about growing luffas, cultivating sprouts indoors and planting containers
> for pollinators. Please email resources at chicagocommunitygardens.org if
> you’re interested in sharing your skills through a workshop!
> Find a Seed Swap!
>
> *National Seed Swap Day is January 25 *and the U of I Extension, Cook
> County created a handy interactive map to help you locate a seed swap. It's
> inspiring to see so many swaps happening around the city and suburbs! To
> add your swap to the list please email sbatka at illinois.edu. Thanks to *Sarah
> Batka* from *U of I Extension* for compiling and providing access to the
> seed swap map!
> Seed Swap Map <http://go.illinois.edu/SeedSwaps>
> For more *events and workshops*, check the CCGA events calendar
> <https://chicagocommunitygardens.org/events/>and follow us on Facebook
> <https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoCommunityGardenersAssociation/> and
> Instagram <https://www.instagram.com/chicommgardeners/>! If you'd like us
> to share your event, you can add it to the calendar and send an email to
> communications at chicagocommunitygardens.org
> <communications at chicagocommunitygardens.org?subject=Please%20share%20my%20event%20(W2025%20newsletter)> for
> us to share a post on our social channels.
>
> Ways to Celebrate Winter
>
>    1. *Make Seed Bombs.* Some of us have bags of seed pods in our
>    freezers needing to be stripped of dried petals. Seeds can be rolled
>    into seed bombs
>    <https://chicagocommunitygardens.org/2020/04/22/for-earth-day-or-any-day-make-a-seed-bomb/>
>     for easy planting.
>    2. *Make Pine Cone Bird Feeders. *Find a large and open pine cone and
>    attach string, wire, or pipe cleaner to the top to create a hanger. Then
>    smear it with sunflower butter (no allergies) and roll it in sunflower
>    seeds or another birdseed.  For a gardener’s upgrade, add native tree fruit
>    that you might see locally, like hackberry drupes, sweetgum, catalpa pods,
>    and sycamore balls. Dark-eyed Junco like to stay on the ground but will eat
>    seeds that fall from feeders. The Northern Cardinal, Carolina Chickadee,
>    Red-breasted Nuthatch, and the Blue Jay will love this biodegradable
>    wildlife fodder. Here are some helpful instructions.
>    <https://carnegiemnh.org/make-your-own-pinecone-bird-feeder/>
>    3. *Do Some Birdwatching. *There are no longer leaves to break the
>    fall of the sun, and cold bare branches are truly not silent. The birds
>    mentioned above are still here and watching them can help you understand
>    ecosystems and how creatures respond to environmental changes. It’s easier
>    to spot birds in winter (especially for little eyes). The stillness of
>    winter allows for bird calls to be crisper and clearer. Merlin, by
>    Cornell Labs <https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/>, has a great website
>    and apps to help with identification.
>    4. *Try Identifying Trees in Winter by Their Bark. *Oh, what a
>    challenge but a glorious endeavor if you can find a walk led by someone
>    knowledgeable. Take a virtual walk with Tom Ebeling
>    <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0818Rf0Ewto&t=1381s>, an Openlands
>    community arborist, and begin to identify trees in Winter at the Garfield
>    Park Conservatory!
>
> Remembering Julie Samuels
>
> *Captions*
>
> We mourn the loss of our dear gardening friend and mentor *Julie Samuels*,
> who passed away on July 19, 2024. A Celebration of Life was held for her in
> August in Oak Park. Many from CCGA attended and there were well over two
> dozen speakers who gave testimony to the grace, selflessness, and truth
> that Julie gave us with her friendship, as an organizer, and her propensity
> to propagate! Her online obituary can be found here
> <https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/legacyremembers/julie-samuels-obituary?pid=207356134> and
> you're welcome to add a memory or story.
>
> We’ve formed a committee working to create a lasting tribute to Julie and
> will share details as they develop. If you’d like to be a part of the
> committee or have any stories to share of Julie, please send them to us at
>  *communications at chicagocommunitygardens.org
> <communications at chicagocommunitygardens.org>* or message us on Facebook
> <https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoCommunityGardenersAssociation/>. Let’s
> share our treasured memories of our time working with Julie and her
> enormous impact on Chicago community gardens!
> Looking Back on 2024, Thank You!
> *Clockwise: a beautiful selection of plants from Resources' fall
> distribution, a Garfield Park Garden Tour attendee at Kuumba Tre-Ahm Garden
> in August, and Ms. Erma Purnell and Ms. Juline Clinton at the How To Keep
> It Going event in May honoring our Legacy Gardeners.*
>
> While plans for 2025 are coming into sharper focus, we'd like to take a
> moment to look back at 2024 to acknowledge all the work CCGA volunteers and
> gardeners accomplished together. From the thousands of plants grown and
> distributed by the Resources team to the Garfield Park Garden Tour, we
> thank each and every one of you who lent your time and talents over the
> last year! We're also incredibly grateful to all of the community gardeners
> who participated in workshops, events and plant distributions! We are
> honored to support your work in your community gardens which forms a vital
> bridge between your community and the natural world. We’ve highlighted just
> a few of the many incredible things that happened in community gardens last
> year. Read our 2024 wrap-up on the website to learn more!
> Read 2024 Highlights
> <https://chicagocommunitygardens.org/2025/01/12/year-end-message/>
> CCGA Legacy Gardeners Film Project
>
> The *Legacy Gardeners Film Project *was created to recognize those
> lifetime gardeners who have made an impact through their leadership and
> service. These gardeners have taught generations, showing us how to value
> hard work, nurture a tiny seed, and feed the soil and our communities. CCGA
> has been honored to create short films so far highlighting three amazing
> legacy gardeners:  <https://vimeo.com/532001628>*Erma Purnell
> <https://vimeo.com/532001628>, Doretha Penn <https://vimeo.com/532001226> *
> and* Juline McClinton
> <http://Juline%20McClinton%20Legacy%20Gardener-%201080WebShareNamevimeo.com>*.
> This year, our goal is to learn about and record the personal histories of
> more of our senior garden leaders.
>
> Do you know a Legacy Gardener? We want to tell their story! We aspire to
> feature those gardeners who have worked the soil beside us and, over a
> lifetime, have made an impact we can’t overlook. 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.
>
> Please forward the name of your nominee to the Education team
> <education at chicagocommunitygardens.org?subject=Legacy%20Gardener%20Film%20Project>.
> Using the criteria in the paragraph above, please share why you nominate
> 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
> videotaped.
> Support the Legacy Gardener Film Project
> <https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-the-ccga-legacy-gardeners-film-project>
> [image: Facebook]
> <https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoCommunityGardenersAssociation/>
> [image: Instagram] <https://www.instagram.com/chicommgardeners/>
> [image: Website] <https://chicagocommunitygardens.org/>
> [image: Email] <info at chicagocommunitygardens.org>
> *Copyright © 2025 Chicago Community Gardeners Association, All rights
> reserved.*
>
> *Our mailing address is:*
> 445 N. Sacramento Blvd, Suite 204, Chicago, IL 60612
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