Events

I Can Fly will launch on Thurs, June 29th @7-10PM with an outdoor, public screening of the acclaimed film, Can You Dig This?, featuring “gangster gardener” Ron Finley and others who are rebuilding Los Angeles’ Compton community through urban agriculture. A short film about butterflies will also be featured -- and post-film dialogue and snacks (organic popcorn, smoothiesmade by blender bike) will be shared.  For more information, visit Green Community Connections

Get FREE tickets here: I Can Fly Tickets

The program itself will be hosted primarily at Harambee Garden in the Austin community, and will commence on Wed, July 5th (a half-week), continuing the weeks of July 10, July 17, and July 24.

The weekly program schedule includes instruction and work days for planting edibles (led by Aniki Shani of Sugar Beet Schoolhouse) and native monarch gardens (led by Stephanie Walquist of Wild Ones West Cook). The planting component will be accompanied by educational support on sustainability (including zero waste), sustainable food systems, harvesting and healthy food preparation, the “why” of natives and pollinators, entrepreneurship, and leadership.

The program includes garden talks, a weekly speaker’s series (by leaders in the fields of urban agriculture, food systems, sustainability, civic engagement, and community regeneration), as well as 2 field trips to related aspirational Chicagoland projects.

Art opportunities have been scheduled into the program, as youth build garden signage with local artist Tia Jones Etu. A healthy meal is included on many camp days (some will be prepared right in the garden, using edibles from the youth’s beds), and the program will conclude with a zero waste block party, harvest, and garden walk on Sat, Sept 16th; program certificates and Green Ambassador leadership awards will be conferred to youth at this time.