CGC Updates: Summer 2023
With the growing season in full swing, we’ve been busy here at the CGC! Here’s what we’ve been up to since our last update.
Hoop House: Completed!
With the help of some awesome volunteers, our new hoop house is built and filled with the native plants we’ve been propagating (some for our Fall Native Plant Festival on September 9!). We started growing our own native plants last year to meet a growing demand from our community: a desire for locally sourced, insecticide-free native plant material. More and more, we’re all learning that it’s these plants that serve as the cornerstone of our local ecosystems.
Lil’ Sprouts
We’ve been having so much fun with our every-other-week Lil’ Sprouts sessions. Geared toward kids from 3-8 years old, these Monday mornings are full of family-friendly, nature-based activities. We’ve been doing them since July and have no plans to stop. Do you have a Lil’ Sprout in your life? Learn more about these free sessions and sign up for reminder emails here!
Botany Bistro
Mary, our Ecology Education Manager, has been putting her botany degree to use every other Friday during Botany Bistro, a free virtual lunch-and-learn series. No matter what your experience level is with plants, Mary’s aim is to uncover the science behind plant form and function while highlighting significant local efforts to advance and conserve our botanical heritage. The June (Basic Botany) and July (Plant Morphology) recordings are up, if you want to get a taste for what Botany Bistro is all about!
Native Plant & Conservation Classes
In May, we kicked off a monthly series of classes focused on native plants. These intro-level courses cover everything from native plants 101 to natives for small spaces and even seed saving and propagation. Check out the full series here.
We’ve also recently added a trio of Invasive Plant ID classes to our calendar over the next few months. The first one—on invasive vines—is next week!
Both of these topics are new for many of us, both here at the CGC and in our community, and we’re excited to learn alongside you.
GORV Green Teams Partnership
This summer, we partnered with Groundwork Ohio River Valley (GORV) to provide weekly professional development to the talented adolescent employees and adult team leaders as we all engaged in a full day of collaborative exploration into current issues in ecology, urban agriculture and group dynamics. Building capacity in the next generation to tackle the challenges of today’s climate crisis is crucial for our community to thrive as we navigate the unpredictable future. The creativity, insight and intelligence of the students and leaders we interacted with cannot be understated. Their ability to identify native plants during a bio blitz, comprehend the complexities of local ecosystems through terrarium building, and food web reconstruction, and apply their knowledge to a compost design challenge was impressive and inspiring. Enjoying some fresh produce on homemade pizza dough along with some unique lemonade and teas was a treat as we built community together.
Returning Programs
Our free HUB Garden classes in community gardens around Cincinnati and our Summer Sprouts program with local summer camp participants were back in 2023. We love seeing people of all ages out in the garden!
Looking Ahead
Gardens may be winding down in fall, but we won’t be. Here are a few things on the horizon we’re looking forward to.
The Fall Native Plant Festival
On September 9, we’ll be hosting our first-ever Fall Native Plant Festival! We’ll have native plant growers from around the Cincinnati area as well as educational sessions, food, children’s activities, vendors, a raffle, live music, a beer garden and more. Don’t miss this free, family-friendly event!
The Green Teens Challenge
Our first full year of the Green Teens Challenge kicks off next month! With 12 schools and counting, we’re so excited to see what participating students create in response to this year’s challenge. You can learn about the challenge and even peruse the challenge handbook here.
Fall Field Trips
Fall means our Compost Kids field trips for students in grades K-6 are back…and we’re looking for facilitators! These events feature stations about composting, nature exploration, pollinators or herb gardening and planting seeds. Interested in becoming a facilitator? Learn more about our upcoming training.
A (Revamped) Holiday Open House
We’ll be having our annual Holiday Open House the first weekend in December, but it’ll look a bit different. Stay tuned for details (or better yet, make sure you’re signed up for The Civic Gardener and we’ll keep you up to date).
Thank you for being a part of our work!