August 7, 2010 @ 10:30am – Ecologist Becky Schillo will lead a Native Plant Identification class. Becky is a long-timefriend of WPC, and she will give us the training we need to
become expert plant detectives in order to best understand the
Park’s variety of plant wildlife. Becky will also be lecturing about the complex process of insect-pollinated flowers, and the troubles
that may destroy the careful balance needed to maintain this process. Meet in the Washington Park Refectory
parking lot on 5531 S Russell drive.
September 11, 2010 @ 10:30am – The Chicago Botanic Garden will lead a
demonstration of how to build a coldframe, which allows food to grow even in
Chicago’s cold winter months. The workshop will be held in the Dyett High School garden.
October 2, 2010 @ 10:30am - Master Food Preservers Ella Russell and Rosemary
Wyche will be co-teaching a lecture about how to preserve veggies and herbs
at the end of the growing season for planters to enjoy throughout the winter.
Their lecture will include techniques such as drying, freezing, and canning,
as well as a kitchen and food demo that will provide taste tests for everyone.
Previous Birds, Bees & Beets Lectures
June 5, 2010 – In the debut of our Birds, Bees and Beets Lecture Series, Adrian Fisher taught local residents how to builda human-beneficial ecosystem in their own backyard. Members
of the Washington Park Camera Club and others learned
how to attract pollinating wildlife and grow organic food. Click our facebook link www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=401982554693 to access the resources discussed during the class. Adrian’s audience enjoyed fresh garden salad as they learned
about the ways to improve the green space around their homes.
To learn more about Adrian and the lecture, check out
www.ecologicalgardening.net.
July 10, 2010 - Rosemary Wyche gave an extraordinary lecture on worm composting (vermiculture) at the Washington Park field house. Rosemary’s lecture started with an intricate explanationof the positive effects of worm composting for our planet, followed by a step-by-step demonstration of how
to construct a compost bin out of basic household items. Accompanying Rosemary in her lecture was Hermetta, a custom-made replica of a wriggler worm complete with fake eyelashes.
With Hermetta at her side, Rosemary taught audience members not only about the benefits of worm composting, but also about
the biology behind worms themselves. At the conclusion of her
lecture, Rosemary gave away plant Terrariums to further inspire a world in which nature becomes a part of our everyday lives.
To learn more about home composting, go to urbanext.illinois.edu/homecomposting/basics.html andurbanext.illinois.edu/homecomposting/worm.html. To read more about
composting, see Worms Eat My Garbage by Mary Appelhof.
