Remember that book / film / musical, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn?

Well now an orchard grows in Logan Square!

(or at least the potential for one, marches toward realization…)

We have blogged about the Chicago Rarities Orchard Project (CROP) before. Its a great opportunity for urban greenspace revitalization. Click here for that introductory post.

Here is the latest development as an announcement from CROP…
—
Since the last big community meeting in August all us CROPsters have been looking forward to this day:

Chicago’s Department of Housing and Economic Development will host the…

Second-Stage Community Meeting Presenting Proposed
Logan Square Community Orchard Project

Wednesday, April 27th
6pm-9pm

at the Logan Square Auditorium
2539 N. Kedzie Blvd.

Please join us to see how your ideas and suggestions from the last meeting have been incorporated into the current plan. CROP could never have come as far as we have in the last two years without the support of our community. We need your voices now more than ever.

Let’s end this lot’s four decades as a forgettable patch of gravel and build our own community orchard. This space has the potential to become a haven for biodiversity, a living testament to the local food chain, and an utterly unique classroom. In addition it will provide all the social and economic benefits of programmed public space.

You can make this vision a reality by participating in this meeting. All you have to do is be present and ready to share your thoughtful opinion.

If you have any questions about the project or the meeting, please check out our website at www.chicagorarities.org

Thanks for your support thus far, and we look forward to seeing you in April!

Sincerely,

Your Neighbors at

The Chicago Rarities Orchard Project

Teaching and Eating in the Garden:

Enabling educators to utilize the school garden in their curriculum and find new models for nutrition education.

Teaching and Eating in the Garden at the
6th Annual CFPAC Summit Food Policy Breakout Session

March 18, 2011 from 11:30am-1:00pm

At the UIC Forum — University of Illinois at Chicago
as a part of the three-day Family Farmed Expo

Location: UIC Forum / 725 West Roosevelt Road, Chicago, IL 60607. Click for directions/map.
Purchase tickets (for single event, full day, or three-day pass) at the Family Farmed Box Office.

Join this Breakout Session panel presentation and community discussion-
Teaching and Eating in the Garden: Enabling educators to utilize the school garden in their curriculum and find new models for nutrition education.

Breakout Session Goals:
Establishing and incorporating gardens into schools’ curriculum is a priority. Nutrition education must embrace a broader understanding of the ecological, personal and social impact of the foods we eat. School gardens provide an unparalleled opportunity for engaging in the food system and illustrating it’s complexity.

Participants will come away with:
• Motivation and inspiration to begin growing edible plants as educational
  tools in a way that can scale to their needs, be that small herb plants in
  the classroom or a larger in situ garden.
• Recognition of the school garden as an opportunity to teach a wide variety
  of subjects and skills including: biology, history, team work, math, writing…
• Strategies to encourage student, parent, community and teacher
  involvement in the school garden.
• Ability to instruct students in Taste Education.

Session goals, discussion issues & possible policy changes:
• Funding allocated for establishing school gardens.
• Healthful cooking instruction included in curriculum.
• Professional development for teachers to learn gardening skills, garden based curriculum and cooking curriculum.
• Require nutrition education to include instruction on of food systems (ie.where food comes from, environmental impact, social impact, etc.) in addition to personal health issues.

By presenting this session, we hope to establish a community of people with a
commitment to school gardening and nutrition education who can share contact
information (on a voluntary basis). Creating this access to each other’s passion and skills will bolster success in projects inspired by this session. The hope is that this group will then
begin their own educational gardening and cooking projects and share their
experiences and discoveries with each other.

The session will also provide a take-away “tool kit” that will assist participants in moving forward with policy action in their community.

The tool-kit will include:
• example curriculum from several teachers and schools
• planning and growing advice for establishing a school garden
• classroom ready recipes
• sources for gardening materials
• possible funding sources
• resources for gardening advice
• resources for curriculum
• a list of professional development opportunities

Panelists/Discussion Guiders:

Megan Larmer is a board member with Slow Food Chicago and the Chicago Rarities Orchard Project. In 2010 she was selected as a delegate to Slow Food International’s Terra Madre conference. Currently, Megan is training as a Master Gardener. Megan is the facilitator & organizer for this CFPAC breakout session.

Lynn Hyndman on retiring from teaching took on the challenge of starting an edible school garden at her former school. The Dawes Garden of Eatin’ begins its eighth year of operation this spring. At the heart of the program is Taste Education along with helping children understand that their food choices effect not only their health but that of the planet.

Patricia Holdredge is a special subject handwork teacher at the Chicago Waldorf School. She is also the master gardener for the school who was instrumental in developing the Sophia Garden for over 10 years and now maintains the school’s beehives and plots in the Ruby Garden in Schreiber Park. In 1999 and 2000 Mayor Daley presented the Sophia Garden with 1st place awards in the City of Chicago’s Landscape Competition.

Jason Greenberg is parent and staff at the Chicago Waldorf School. He teaches sustainable design. As an activist educator he founded the Empirical Opera, the Spring Green Bike Tour, and has collaborated with Angelic Organics Learning Center, Heifer International, Chicago Rarities Orchard Project (CROP) and other locavoure and slow food advocacy organizations.

Jennifer Sandy became involved with Slow Food Chicago through the preSERVE project, a community garden in North Lawndale.

Announcing Chicago Catalog Choice -

A Free Mail Preference Service

The City of Chicago has joined forces with Catalog Choice to offer Chicagoans a free service to reduce unwanted mail. Any resident or business can create an account at  https://chicago.catalogchoice.org to reduce unsolicited catalogs, phone books, credit card offers, coupons and other marketing material received at home and in the workplace. We encourage you to participate and ask for your help in spreading the word.

You can help us spread the word about the new program: 
• Forward this as an email to your neighbors, colleagues, family, and friends.
• Link to the program from your website: https://chicago.catalogchoice.org.
• Comment about the program on Twitter and/or Facebook.
• Write about the program in your organization’s newsletters and blogs.

Hey Chicago!
Did you know that Chicagoans send more than 360,000 tons of paper to landfill each year? That’s enough to fill up City Hall three times. Help stop waste at its source with Catalog Choice.

“We’ve identified waste reduction as a crucial strategy to meet the goals of our Chicago Climate Action Plan (CCAP),” says Chicago Department of Environment Commissioner Suzanne Malec-McKenna. “The mail preference service with Catalog Choice will cut paper waste at the source and offers an ease of use that we know Chicago citizens and businesses will appreciate.”

Annually, Chicagoans send more than 300,000 tons of paper to landfills; material that could be diverted instead. By eliminating or recycling this material, the City can make serious gains towards the CCAP goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions through our waste management strategies.

This program is supported by the Chicago Department of the Environment. We appreciate your participation and assistance with spreading the word. If you have any questions about the service, please call (312) 744-5702 or email doecommunications@cityofchicago.org.

Knowledge is Power
Want more information on what Chicagoans throw away and what they recycle? Go to www.chicagorecycles.org to view the full Waste Characterization Study and Waste Diversion Study Results.

Submitted by Kimberly Worthington, Deputy Commissioner
Urban Management & Brownfields Redevelopment, Chicago Department of Environment

Watch The World According to Monsanto,

a FREE movie screening & discussion

Saturday, March 19, 2011 1:00 PM

at the Chicago Public Library – 310 West Division Street Chicago IL

A film by Marie-Monique Robin, The World According to Monsanto focusses on Monsanto’s controversial past with regard to genetically modified foods and toxic products. This movie combines secret documents with first-hand accounts by victims, scientists, and politicians.
Some review comments about this movie-

“Devastating expose … Will freeze the blood in your veins.” The Gazette
“Extraordinary Documentary.” Le Monde
“Scrupulous, thorough, and damning.” Montreal Mirror

The movie is 109 minutes long. Here is a trailer of the movie http://www.nfb.ca/film/monsanto-trailer/ The movie will be succeeded by introductions and discussion. This is a joint event between Chicagoland Green & Eco-living (CGE), and Chicagoland Independent & Documentary Films (CIDF).
The venue is very close to the Brown line Sedgewick stop and the Red line Clark/Division stop.
Any question or comments? Car-pooling arrangements? Please use “Talk about this Meetup” section on the event page.

Only 75 seats available.
Reserve you seat now by signing up on the meetup website.
Click Here to reserve your seat and for more info.

SATURDAY, MARCH 5 — 8:00PM

at Center Portion Art & Activism
2850 1/2 W. Fullerton Avenue, Chicago, IL (map)

What better time to harmonize on themes of loss and forbearance than during the waning days of winter? Join your hosts, The Crooked Mouth, for a musical evening that will surely harken forth the coming of spring. (Or at least, entertain you all, helping you forget for a few hours just how very, very sick you are of the slush.)

Our musical compatriots, the Jeff Weisfeld Band will be joining us, and if you have not yet heard them, you are in for a treat. We’ll say one word: Sousaphone. Our good friend, Chris Sullivan, will also take the stage with his guitar, in the inimitable way that only he can.

It’s also the day before a certain band member’s birthday—if you want cake, you gotta come to Center Portion Saturday night!

Quick Reminder:

The E.O. Weekly Skate at Warren Park continues…

Thursdays, until end of Feb., 2011
3:30-5:30pm
 
See you this Thursday at around 3:30pm on the ice!

Join us every week…(for the address and map to the location, follow this link to previous post)

What were some of the successes and surprises for the sustainability movement in 2010 ? Where will the movement take us in 2011? Attend the annual State of Sustainable Chicago to gain a wide-angle view on important local initiatives and learn ways to connect with organizations that match your interests.

These panelists discuss the State of Sustainable Chicago:
Randy Blankenhorn, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning
Jack Darin, Illinois Sierra Club
Ben Helphand, NeighborSpace
Karen Lehman, Fresh Taste Initiative
Graciela Robledo, Claretian Associates

Wednesday Jan. 12th
5:30-8:30pm (panel discussion 6:45-7:45)

Jefferson Tap & Grille
325 N Jefferson St

Foresight Design is sponsoring this event. See their calendar for more event details.
Register here for the event.

Photo of an earlier Green Drinks Chicago event, by Mark Raulston, LEED AP

To any backyard/community gardeners, urban agriculture enthusiasts, or “newbies” interested in starting your own garden:

You know the foundation of a good garden is cultivating a diverse and excellent seed bank. Germinating seeds can be a unique and rewarding experience. Ever set up a seed nursery before? How do you get access to heirloom seeds and other specialty seeds? Connect with other gardeners to trade info, advice, resources and yes, SEEDS!

Every year the Kilborn Park Organic Greenhouse supports local gardeners in kicking off the growing season by hosting an enormous Organic Plants (Seedlings) Sale in early May. Well, now they are extending that support and knowledge by offering this 2-day workshop for gardeners interested in sharing, germinating, and care-taking seeds in the planning for this Spring’s new garden crops.
The event kicks off at 9am with a free Seed SWAP at the greenhouse, followed at 10am by an educational workshop (requiring a small materials fee) in preparing your own seed nursery.

Explore Urban Agriculture:

With A Seed Starting Workshop

Saturday, January 22, 2011
10:00am-12:00pm

Kilbourn Park Organic Greenhouse
3501 N. Kilbourn
RSVP: Kirsten Akre 773-685-3351

Craving unique vegetables? Want those old fashioned French marigolds? Like the delicate herb chervil? Want to show your children the wonders of plants? Sometimes, to get the plants you want–when you want them–you just have to grow them yourself.

Master Gardener and organic advocate Nancy Benjamin will show you the basics of seed starting. Discover seed sources, trays, growing mediums, lights as well as germination tips and times for a whole variety of vegetables and flowers.

This 2-day workshop will be lead by Nancy Benjamin, Master Gardener.
Saturday, January 22 & February 12.
CASH ONLY. Cost: $10
More info about the Kilbourn Park activities is on their calendar.

Ladies & Gentlemen, Children of All Ages, come join us to see

CircEsteem’s 10th Annual Winter Circus

Saturday December 18, 2:00 PM
Sunday December 19, 2:00 PM
at

Alternatives
4730 N. Sheridan Road (just South of Lawrence)
(Map it)

Filled with international talents and serving local kids from many Chicago neighborhoods, CircEsteem is a treasure. This Youth Circus & Afterschool Program offers many great services from circus arts and life-skills training to athletic competitions and after school tutoring. And of course they specialize in Circus Performance. So come see their annual circus; this is an intimate extravaganza where the kids (both young & teen staff) make physical feats look effortless and magical. Everything from juggling to clowning, floor exercises, trampoline to aerial acrobatics, gymnastic wheels, unicycles, and more. Check out these kids as they strut their stuff!

Winter Circus Tickets are $12 Adults and $8 Kids. Purchase tickets at the door/general admission seating. Doors open at 1pm.

More info at www.CircEsteem.org

Submitted by E.O. Members, Jason Greenberg & Vicki Walden

Style is the mind skating circles around itself as it moves forward.” -Robert Frost

Style is managing to turn a “watch out for that banana peel,” feet-out-from-under-you, backwards, arms pinwheeling fall into a triple lutz that looks like you meant to do that.” -Jason Greenberg

Last years skating outings were such a big hit; we figured, lets not change a thing…

Thursdays 3:30-6:00pm skate to your heart’s content.

We are re-launching the the E.O. skating excursions starting this Thursday, Dec. 16th.

All interested Empirical Operans are invited to come (bring friends and fellow outdoor enthusiasts) and feel the nip in your nose and catch a snowflake on the tip of your tongue as you skate in the beautiful outdoors at Warren Park Ice Skating Rink.

Bring your kids, bring your skates (or cheap $5 rental is available at the shop) for free skating sessions. The E.O. will host meet-ups at the Warren Park ice rink, weather permitting, for the entire Winter season through Sunday, Feb 27 (when the rink closes).

Warren Park
6601 N. Western Ave. (Map It)
773.761.8663
$6 skate rental or free if you bring your own skates

Looking for a rink closer to home? See the Chicago Park District Rinks.
Submitted by E.O. members Vicki Walden & Jason Greenberg