Evanston Grows

#GivingTuesday is one week from today -- it's a time to give back and support the causes we believe in. At Evanston Grows, we are committed to ensuring that every member of our community has access to nutritious food. ? Double Your Impact: Giving Tuesday Challenge at evanstongrows.org/donate. ? During this week of giving, your generosity can go twice as far! A generous donor has pledged to match every donation, dollar for dollar, up to $10,000 from today through Giving Tuesday on December 3rd.

Testing, testing … We’ve partnered with non profit @treesthatfeed to learn how to use their solar powered food dehydrator! This is the first of their hybrid solar dehydrators in the USA. ?? Not only does this allow us to preserve food for the winter, but it gives @treesthatfeed the chance to test and continue to perfect the equipment their partners in Haiti, Jamaica, and Uganda are already using. #evanstongrows #evanston #communitygarden #urbanfarming #STEM

Curious about composting? Join Master Gardener and and EG Board Member, Jocelyn Mallard, next Wednesday to learn more and start your composting journey. We’re thankful for our incredible partners at #EvanstonPublicLibrary for hosting! No registration needed. ?? Robert Crown Branch Library ?? Wednesday, August 28th @ 2-4 PM #evanstongrows #evanston #communitygarden #urbanfarming #learnandgrow

We’re growing our Board. We are looking for two new Board Members, with a focus on legal and financial expertise. Please share widely, and if interested, send an email to express your interest by September 15th.

We invite you to join us to celebrate Evanston Grows' and our partners’ accomplishments of providing delicious, fresh, organic produce for Evanston families. Early bird tickets to our Sowing & Growing Annual Celebration kick off today and run through August 15th. You can support Evanston Grows even further as event sponsor. Click the ticket link for more information. Please also help us share widely to support our mission of providing free food access and food literacy programs in Evanston.

Sign up for Garden Gatherings to learn from the knowledgeable Matt Wechsler about heirloom varieties, vertical growing techniques, companion planting, crop rotation, and more! ?? Register at https://lnkd.in/gtAJzCHu #evanstongrows #evanston #communitygarden #urbanfarming

Y.O.U Summer Campers were SO excited to harvest giant yellow zucchini and other crops at Where Faith Grows Farm last week. Our young farmers helped harvest for our #InfantWelfareSociety’s Free Farm Stand on Thursday afternoons. We see lots of yellow zucchini bread in everyone’s future! ??

“The mission of Evanston Grows is to provide equitable access to organic, fresh produce in order to improve the health of our community,” Mary Collins, Associate Directo, said. “Specifically, we are trying to support families and households and individuals who find themselves priced out of buying good produce at the grocery stores. And, in addition to that, we’re really trying to increase food literacy.”

Faith Grows Here Farm’s growth from April (left) to July. It’s hard to believe this was an empty lot just three months ago. Thanks to our partners at Faith Temple for use of their land and Lincolnwood Garden Club of Evanston for providing funds to purchase high-quality soil for this growing site.

Our newest farm is flourishing. Ward Farm is a partnership between Ward Manufacturing and Evanston Grows. This previously underutilized half-acre lot behind the Ward Manufacturing plant has undergone a remarkable transformation into a beautiful and productive landscape. It is estimated to yield around 5,000 pounds of produce for the Evanston community throughout the growing season. Weekly distributions of vegetables, herbs, and flowers are available during the growing season at the Infant Welfare Society of Evanston, just around the corner from the Ward building.