CGC Updates: Spring 2023
Winter can be a quieter time for us, but we’ve managed to keep busy. Here’s what we’ve been up to since our last update in the fall.
Urban Agriculture
Misha Montgomery, our Urban Agriculture Program Coordinator, recently awarded certificates to 15 graduates of our 11-week Community Garden Development Training (CGDT) during their final class practicum at the McMicken Community Garden. Several graduates are already busy working in community gardens: Alex Browne is helping coordinate the EcoGarden in OTR, Alexis Marsh is coordinating the North Pleasant Community Garden in OTR and Carol Browne is managing things at the St. Bernard Community Garden.
We also distributed over 600 plant starts to gardeners in our community garden network, with plans to distribute another 600 warm-weather plants later in May, and we’ve engaged volunteers in seven community garden workdays so far, helping those gardens get ready for spring!
Green Teens Challenge
Our Green Teens program gives teachers and students access to free resources and monthly challenges that bring real-life context to complex environmental issues. Since launching Green Teens in January of this year, we’ve already done more than 60 class visits, engaging 140 students and 10 teachers from eight Cincinnati Public Schools. Those students have submitted 141 project entries for the monthly Green Teens Challenge, including DIY solar ovens, DIY hydroponic gardens, seed starting for pollinators and electrification PSAs.
Native Plants for Homeowners
Interest in native plants is growing wildly, and our five-part Native Plants for Homeowners series in March sold out so quickly that we added a second series starting in May—which also sold out in under 48 hours! This series teaches homeowners about why native plants matter so much, the different native plant environments, how to choose the right plant for the right place and some basic garden design options.
ReRooted
With the help of UC horticulture students and other volunteers, we’re in the midst of propagating more than 4,000 native plants from seed. The plants will be sold as part of our Fall Native Plant Festival, installed on our grounds in a variety of demonstration gardens that can be used for educational programming, and used in our Treeforestation habitat restoration projects at Walnut Woods of Evanston, St. X High School and Withrow High School.
Volunteer Teams
Earlier this year, we launched a news system for organizing our volunteer program. There are five teams broken up by interest: urban agriculture, horticulture, conservation, education and events and outreach. When you sign up for a team (or several!), you receive regular updates specific to that team, including a schedule of upcoming workdays and any relevant classes or resources on that team’s topic we think you might find interesting. We also have training for volunteers interested in a team leadership positions.
Looking Ahead
We have plenty in the works, from classes to programs and volunteer opportunities to our Fall Native Plant Festival!
Green Teens
On May 16, we’ll celebrate the hard work of the students and teachers who participated in the pilot launch of the Green Teens Challenge. We’ll also announce the winning school, who will receive $1,000 to further their environmental efforts.
Then, this summer, Green Teens will travel to locations around the city as we unite with Groundwork Ohio River Valley and their Green Teams summer employment program. We’ll train leaders and students in basic botany, including plant identification, wild edibles and the ecology of healthy plant communities.
HUB Garden Classes
Beginning in June, we’ll be conducting HUB Garden Classes in nine community gardens across our region. We’ll be offering ten garden education classes and ten nutrition and cooking classes over the course of the summer and early fall. All classes will be free and open to the public. We’ll be announcing that schedule soon, so stay tuned!
Summer Interns
Later this month, we’ll be welcoming two summer interns for our busiest season! They’ll help out with everything from running our Summer Sprouts program and HUB Garden Classes to maintaining our Hauck Botanic Garden grounds and working with the Green Teens program.
Native Plant Education
To keep our community’s native plant enthusiasm going strong, beginning in May, we’ll be offering a monthly native plant class covering everything from Native Plants 101 and natives for small spaces to edible natives and natives for pollinators.
Watering Help Wanted
As urban heat island pressure begins to impact some of the plant communities on our grounds, we’re seeking extra assistance to help water and maintain garden beds. We are currently looking for a few volunteers to help us keep the amazing diversity of plants, trees and shrubs found in Hauck Botanic Garden happy through the summer and fall. Interested? Please contact our horticulturalist, Caroline, at cscalzo@civicgardencenter.org.
The Fall Native Plant Festival
In recent years, the CGC’s horticulture program has shifted to focus on the ecological benefits of plants and the impact of better gardening practices. Our Fall Native Plant Festival—to be held on Saturday, September 9 this year—will recognize that shift and bring together the partners and experts who’ve helped us along this journey. This year’s event will feature:
A variety of local growers from the Greater Cincinnati area offering a wide selection of native plants
Vendors offering native plant related services or products
Educational sessions for those hoping to learn more about native plants
Mark your calendar, then keep an eye out! We’ll share details as soon as we have them.
Thank you for being a part of our work!