Kilbourn Park Organic Greenhouse and Community Garden

Our New Digital Digs

For up to date information on activities and events at the garden please visit us on Facebook or our spiffy new website!

Garden Buddies Family Event

This family event celebrates the season through hands-on activities focusing on fall leaves and seeds!

Children will make their own leaf journal and fill it with rubbings, collages, and even homemade paper. They will learn about seeds through opening up fall flowers and by planting a seed and watching it grow and families can collect leaves during a tour of the organic garden. We recommend this event for children ages 2-8 years old. 

Healthy snacks will be available for sale at the event to help raise funds for Friends of Kilbourn Park Organic Greenhouse.

Come enjoy the final days of fall at Kilbourn Park Organic Greenhouse!

When: Saturday, November 6 from 10 am – Noon

Where: Kilbourn Park Fieldhouse Gymnasium

Fee:  $5 per child, parents are free  

Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Kilbourn Park Field House Monday- Thursday 1 pm – 7 pm.

Kilbourn Park is located at 3501 N. Kilbourn., just south of Addison between Milwaukee and Cicero. The event will be held in the field house gymnasium.

Questions?  Contact Kirsten Akre at Kirsten.akre@chicagoparkdistrict.com or 773-685-3359.

Organic Summer Series

 

Use of cover crop in vineyard

Come and Participate in Kilbourn Park Organic Greenhouse’s New Summer Series

This summer at Kilbourn Park Organic Greenhouse we are focusing on techniques to build healthy living soils for organic garden from materials you can gather in your home.  Each program will be part discussion and part workday to begin improving the soil around Kilbourn Park’s new orchard.  We are requesting each participant to bring a donation of organic matter based on our theme from coffee grounds to a mixture of fruits and vegetables from your home.  We look forward to seeing you!

 

Coffee Grounds and Cover Crops

Saturday, June 5 from 10 am – Noon

Free workday

 

Bring used coffee grounds and be ready to dig! This month, we will discuss trench composting and begin planting our summer alfalfa cover crop. Learn these techniques to increase the fertility of your soil through plants and your own food waste.

 

Eggshells and Earthworms

Saturday, July 10 from 10 am – Noon

Free workday

 

Bring dried eggshells and learn more about the organisms at work underground and above the soil helping you fight disease and pests in the garden. We will discuss worm composting, mulching, and the basics of companion planting while implementing these techniques in the garden. Come for a hands-on, participatory workday.

 

Compost and Crop Rotation

Saturday, August 7 from 10 am – Noon

Free workday

 

Bring those fruits and vegetables scraps and learn how this household waste is an important element for our garden. We will show how to add these to your compost bins, worm bins, and through trench composting to keep our friendly city rodents away. We will also discuss crop rotation techniques to keep the disease and pest organisms at bay in our soil. Come to the participatory workday and learn how you can use these techniques in your own garden.

WANTED: Perennials and Boxes for Plant Sale

Do you have perennials that need dividing? You can help support Kilbourn Park and its programming by bringing them for our sale. We will pot them up and get them ready for our May 15 & May 16 organic plant sale. We encourage donations of both shade and full sun perennial flowers and native plants, ground covers, herbs, and even any fruiting plants. 

Bring them to Kilbourn Park Organic Greenhouse anytime after April 27^th and before May 7^th .  If no one is in the greenhouse you can leave them next to the greenhouse door during regular park hours. The park is closed on Sundays.

 

We are also looking for boxes or plant trays to help our patrons carry their plants home. Do you have any shallow cardboard boxes? Any plastic plant trays? You can help us reduce costs by keeping our specialized trays at the greenhouse for reuse next year. Please bring these any time after April 27^th.

Many thanks for all your help and support!

 

Earth Day Event

A great friend of Kilbourn Park is presenting a workshop tomorrow: Growing Your Own Organic Vegetables tomorrow, Sataturday April 17th from 1:30-2:30pm in Flanners 105 at Loyola University's Quinlan Hall. It's part of the North Lake Shore Earth Day.

The workshop above is part of a whole days worth of wonderful programming. With great films, workshops including grown your own organic vegetables, making organic baby food, solar ovens, raw food making.  There are also panels on local initiatives and food policy along with 50 environmental organizations  and a full day of kids' activities.  And to boot, it's all free!

Saturday, April 17
9:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Quinlan Life Sciences Building
1050 W Sheridan Road

Have a great weekend everyone!

2010 Kilbourn Park Organic Plant Sale

It's almost here folks!  I hope you are as excited as I am.  We have been busily germinating, watering, moving, thinning, and generally loving these plants as we get them ready for the sale. 

Saturday, May 15, 10 am – 3 pm  &  Sunday, May 16, 10 am - 2 pm*

*Plant prices range $2 & up; Kilbourn Park accepts CASH ONLY; Bring your own tray or box for carrying plants.

Kilbourn Park Organic Greenhouse will sell more than 150 varieties of organically grown vegetable, herb and flower seedlings at our annual plant sale. This year you will find not only the large selection of peppers and tomato seedlings, but also a large variety of other interesting vegetables, herbs and flowers. You'll find flowers, a large variety of herbs, and vegetables galore including cucumber, beet, celeriac, eggplant, broccoli, greens, lettuce, sweet and hot peppers as well as past, cherry, medium, beefsteak and oxheart tomato varieties.

For a full list of all plants you can View this PDF

Here are just a few examples of what we'll be offering:

Tomato: Black from Tula, Hillbilly Potato Leaf, Garden Peach, Siberian, Blondkopfchen, Principe Borghese, Federle and Hungairan Heart.

Vegetable: Ground Cherry, Price Choy Pac Choi, Red Kuri Winter Squash, Verde Pueble Tomatillo, Rosa Bianca Eggplant, Golden Detroit Beet, Diamante Deleriac, Mexican Sour Gherkin Cucumber and Cajun Jewel Okra.

Peppers: (hot) Ho Chi Minh, Matchbox, Black Hungarian, Fish, Bulgarian Carrot Chili - (sweet) Feherozon, Klari Baby Cheese, Buran, Amish Pimento

Herbs:  Broadleaf Sage, Spilanthes, Feverfew, Borage, Lemon Verbena, Rosemary, Valerian, Basil (Aromato, Sweet, Thai), Dill, Marjoram

Flowers: Alyssum, Nasturtium, Zinnia, Mexican Sunflower, Marigolds

Location: Kilbourn Park Organic Greenhouse; 3501 N. Kilbourn Ave., West of Milwaukee Ave. and South of Addison St.  

Note: On Wednesday, May 19 from 5 – 7:30 pm, the Kilbourn Organic Greenhouse will host their Half-Price Sale and Gardening Basics: Free Question Answer session by the Master Gardeners of Cook County Chicago – University of Illinois Extension. Bring your gardening questions and select from limited quantities of organic seedlings.

Spring Showers bring more than just flowers

The folks at North Park Nature Center hipped us to wonderful idea that we wanted to pass along. 

Ever wondered what might be done to that old, broken umbrella in your closet or perhaps the one you find tossed away on the sidewalk? Well it can be reborn as a lightweight, reusable grocery bag! 

If your not the sewing type but have a collection of old umbrellas, the North Park Nature Center have started up a collection.  They'll use what they get for a community event or even a public program.  If you have some to donate, please contact Sean at the Nature Center, contact information is below.

Sean Shaffer
North Park Village Nature Center
5801 North Pulaski Rd.
Chicago, IL 60646
(312) 744-5472

If this is right up your alley and you'd like to sew one up for yourself, this is a great DIY video from Grist.  They also have step by step written instructions on their website.

Got Dirt? Growing Healthy Kids

Volunteer Training Opportunity at Kilbourn Park Organic Greenhouse

Saturday, February 27; 10 am – Noon

Kilbourn Park Organic Greenhouse

3501 N. Kilbourn, Chicago

Presented by Illinois Nutrition Education and Training Program (Illinois NET) - Training programs to initiate and enhance your school's local wellness policy 

Kids love getting dirty.  Learn how you can use a garden project to bring core subjects alive, encourage healthy eating and increase physical activity.  The Got Dirt? program will help participants initiate a successful garden project at a child care, park or  school site. Successful projects will be highlighted. This training is designed for serving children PreK – Grade 6.

 

This training is open to all Kilbourn Park Organic Greenhouse volunteers as well as Master Gardeners or Chicago Park District volunteers who are working with their local school or park garden.

 

Please register in advance at kirsten.akre@chicagoparkdistrict.com. If you are working with another garden, please specify the garden name and location.

This is a wonderful opportunity, not to be missed!

 

Winter 2010 Organic Gardening Series

"Soil is the substance of transformation."  -Carol Williams

Already thinking about what you might be growing in the spring? Our Winter Organic Gardening classes are a great way to prepare for spring.  Sign up for the one that interests you or take the whole series to expand your knowledge of organic, sustainable practices and native plants.  We look forward to seeing you!

Organic Vegetable Gardening Part II
Anna Viertel, Urban Farmer at Near North Montessori School
Saturday, January 23rd
10am-Noon;  Fee: $20  

Now that you have learned to build a strong foundation for your sustainable garden, it’s time to discuss maximizing the productivity of your garden. In this class, Anna Viertel will discuss design and planting techniques to help reduce pests and disease while simultaneously encouraging a healthy, high yield garden both above and below the ground. Topics will include companion planting, crop rotation, soil maintenance, season extension, and permaculture.

Seed Starting Basics
Nancy Benjamin, Master Gardener
Saturday, February 13th
10am- Noon;  Fee: $20 

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.

Early Spring Greens
Bill Shores, Shores Garden Consulting, Inc.
Wednesday, February 24th
6:30-8:00pm;  Fee: $20  

Come learn about the colorful and tasty world of early spring greens. Urban grower Bill Shores will present a slide show and discussion of how to get a jump start on the growing season with salad and braising greens. Simple season extension techniques and the best greens for early planting will be discussed. Go home inspired and ready to garden!  

Rain Barrels and Rain Gardening
Cathy Breitenbach, Chicago Park District
Sarah Abu-Absi, Chicago Department of Environment
Saturday, March 13th
10am -Noon;  Fee: $20  

Interested in harvesting rainwater for your garden with a rain barrel or cistern? How about installing a basic rain garden in your yard? Cathy Breitenbach from the Chicago Park District and Sarah Abu-Absi from the Chicago Department of Environment will discuss the benefits of using rainwater for your garden. Participants will receive a rebate form from the City of Chicago to receive a $30 discount on a rain barrel. 

Landscaping with Native Plants
Rebecca Schillo, Chicago Park District
Saturday, March 27th
10am-Noon;  Fee: $20  

Landscaping with native plants is creating a new buzz in the gardening world! Native landscapes create backyard habitat for birds and butterflies while offering gardeners unique, beautiful plant selections. Native habitats require less water, fertilizer, and energy to maintain than their ornamental counterparts and can help increase stormwater infiltration and carbon sequestration.   In this class, Becky Schillo of the Chicago Park District, will discuss practical design and planting techniques for introducing natives into the home landscape. Topics will include site considerations for native landscaping, appropriate plant selection, basics of maintaining native landscapes, and where to find native plants in the Chicago area.

For more information or to reserve a space, please contact Kirsten Akre:
Kilbourn Park Organic Greenhouse
3501 N. Kilbourn Chicago, IL
(773) 685 - 3351

Garden Buddies 2009

When: Saturday, November 7 from 10 am – Noon

Where: Kilbourn Park Fieldhouse Gymnasium

Fee per child is $5, parents are free

Recommended for children ages 2-6 years old

This is a family event that celebrates the season and brings the garden inside. We are going to be focusing on leaves and seeds through hands on activities. Your children can make their own leaf journal and fill it up with rubbings, prints, collages, and even their own homemade paper. They will also explore seeds through a close up look at the fall flowers and planting an edible sprouting necklace.

Peter Pan is returning to Kilbourn Park and so is our storyteller Nancy Roberts for this event.

Local crafts and healthy snacks will be available for sale at the event to help raise funds for Kilbourn Park Organic Greenhouse.

You can purchase your event tickets in advance at the Kilbourn Park Field House Monday- Thursday 1 pm – 7 pm.

 If you have any questions feel free to calll or e-mail Kirsten Akre at Kirsten.akre@chicagoparkdistrict.com or 773-685-3359.

The event will be held in the field house gymnasium.