CGC Updates: Fall 2023
We’ve had a busy fall! Here’s what we’ve been up to since our last update.
The Fall Native Plant Festival
On September 9, we held our first annual Fall Native Plant Festival, featuring a variety of plant and other vendors, free presentations, food trucks, live music, kids’ activities and more. The enthusiasm and support you all showed for this event blew us away! From our enthusiastic volunteers to our knowledgeable plant vendors to the more than 1,000 people who came through the festival, we are so grateful for your support and excited to be part of this community.
There will absolutely be another Fall Native Plant Festival next year…and we’re looking to incorporate some of the popular elements into our annual spring event as well!
The Green Teens Challenge
The first full year of our Green Teens Challenge kicked off in September. We have 10 schools and 1 homeschool group participating, and so far, in the first two months of the challenge they’ve submitted a whopping 157 entries!
Each month’s challenges are connected to Cincinnati’s local seasonality. At the beginning of the month, Kaela or Mary visits each school, bringing materials and information to help the students be successful in the upcoming challenges, answering questions and helping students brainstorm and troubleshoot. When the month ends, students submit what they’ve been working on to be judged by outside partners, organizations and CGC volunteers and staff.
November’s challenges focus on celebrating the harvest. Students will be working on four challenges: Seed Collecting and Storing, a Local Food Map, a Local Food Cooking Demonstration Video, and a Community Celebration with a Shared Meal. Would you be interested in judging? Sign up for our Education team and we’ll keep you in the loop!
Nurturing the Mind
Starting in September, we partnered with the Episcopal Retirement Services Center for Memory Support and Inclusion to offer biweekly dementia-friendly gatherings that allow people living with dementia and their care partners to socialize and engage in activities in a safe, welcoming environment.
Each session focused on a different region of the world. We started with a slideshow and short lecture about plants native to that area, then did a related interactive hands-on horticultural activity. It was been wonderful welcoming new faces to our grounds, and we enjoyed learning about native plants around the world! So much so, in fact, that we’re adapting the program for our wider community. Check out the first class in our Plants Around the Planet series here!
Earth Cube Installation
As we wrote about in our Summer Newsletter, the CGC compost crew has been hard at work. The day our two new Earth Cubes from Green Mountain Technologies arrived was like Christmas! You can watch our “unboxing” video—complete with a cameo from our Horticulturist, Caroline—here. Thank you to Hamilton County R3source for making this project possible.
We’ve started cooking our first batch of compost in the Earth Cubes, experimenting with different sources of dry bulking agents and nitrogen-rich ingredients and keeping records on things like how many pounds of material we add, the rate of aeration, and the temperature. We’re on the right track but still have some fine-tuning to do before we’ve achieved a highly efficient routine.
At the end of October, we kicked off our pilot test phase in collaboration with Our Harvest and their CSA members. We’re purchasing supplies for our next phase of our compost installation project, which will include four bioreactors on the grounds here at the CGC. Stay tuned for more updates!
Staff Changes
Earlier this fall, our Community Engagement Coordinator, Sam, officially shifted into the new role of Conservation Program Manager. Which means…we’ve hired a Community Engagement Coordinator!
Meet Shelby Beckner, the newest member of our staff. Shelby comes to us from the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, where she worked in their education department with the corporate and community volunteer programs and then in the horticulture department, where she fell further in love with all things plants and gardening. She’s passionate about connecting people to nature through volunteerism and brings a wealth of volunteer coordination experience and enthusiasm to our team. Check out Shelby’s bio to learn more about her.
And if you aren’t familiar with our other staff members, check out our Facebook or Instagram feeds. We’ve been sharing an informal staff profile every week or so.
Holiday Weekend, Reimagined
This year, we decided to reimagine our annual Open House to focus more on community and education than on commercialism…and it was a great success! Instead of a market, we offered seasonally relevant classes and free events for all ages, including our drop-in Holiday Open House on Friday evening. It was wonderful to see everyone who stopped by. We at the CGC are sending a huge thank-you to everyone who contributed to the event, whether by lending your time and talents or stopping by to celebrate the season with us.
Looking Ahead
CGDT
It’s almost that time again: time for CGDT, our Community Garden Development Training! Our free 11-session series teaches participants everything they need to know to start a community garden or take over an existing one. It’s so inspiring to see participants gain knowledge and skills, then go out into the community and make a difference. We can’t wait to see what the 2024 cohort will do!
Market Garden Training
In early 2024, we’ll be launching a Market Garden training series. Here’s why we’re excited for this new program. Keep an eye out for details, which will be coming soon!
Native Plant Opportunities
With the growing season put to bed for 2023, our staff has begun scheming up new native plant classes and opportunities for 2024. Stay tuned…we’ll be sharing more over the ccming weeks and months.
Thank you for being a part of our work!