Education — Community Gardening

Green Youth Farm

A Summer Job Like No Other

If you think that no teenager you know would ever be interested in spending 20 hours a week in the blazing sun, surrounded by bees, snakes, and compost…think again! Each year, approximately 60 high-school students ages 15 to 18 work from mid-May through mid-October on three organic farms, earning their summer pay the old-fashioned way.

Read about the farms on Gaper's Block

TASTE THE RESULTS!

Produce grown by Green Youth Farm students is available at these public markets:

North Lawndale Green Youth Farm, Wednesdays, 3 – 7 p.m. through Oct. 13, 3539 W. Ogden Avenue

Bronzeville Farmers' Market,
Saturdays, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. through Oct. 9, 4400 S. Cottage Grove Avenue

Pilsen Farmers' Market,
Sundays, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. through Oct. 24, 1800 S. Halsted

U-Pick-It Market,
Wednesdays and Saturdays, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. through Oct. 9, Green Bay Road south of Belvidere Road, North Chicago

Chicago Botanic Garden Farmers' Market,
first and third Sundays of the month, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

RECIPES

The Green Youth Farm program offers students the opportunity to learn all aspects of organic farming — from planting seeds and starts to managing a hive of bees, from cooking with the food they grow to selling it at farmstands and markets (and to the Garden Café, where the chef incorporates the fresh organic produce into many menu items available to Chicago Botanic Garden visitors).

Students are paid a stipend for four hours per week in the spring and fall and 20 hours per week in the summer working at the farms, but the benefits they gain far outweigh the wages they earn. By the end of the season, participants have learned how to work together as a team, gained valuable job skills, discovered a whole new way to look at the food they eat, and grown their support system to include supervisors, program coordinators, legislators, and their fellow participants.

The one-acre farm in suburban North Chicago is located in the Greenbelt Forest Preserve off Green Bay Road. The quarter-acre site is in the North Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago, at 3555 West Ogden Avenue. An additional farm was added in 2009 — the Washington Park Farm at Dyett High School at 555 E. 51st Street added an additional three-quarters of an acre of growing space to the farms. Click on the photos below to find out more about the main farm projects at North Chicago and North Lawndale. Click here to find out more about the new Washington Park Green Youth Farm.

Finally, Chicago Public Schools has hosted one more Jr. Green Youth Farm since 2006, currently located at Helen J. McCorkle School at 4421 S. State Street. This Jr. Green Youth Farm serves 10 to 12 middle-school students after school and for a six-week program during the summer. For more information on the McCorkle School Farm, click here.

Award Winners

In the fall of 2008, the North Lawndale Green Youth Farm received first place in Mayor Daley's Landscape Awards. Mayor Daley's Landscape Awards recognizes Chicagoans who help make the city green through environmental beautification efforts.

North Chicago Green Youth Farm

North Lawndale Green Youth Farm

Green Youth Farm is a youth leadership program that builds confidence, teamwork, problem-solving skills, knowledge of business, and a sense of pride and ownership in students ages 15 to 18. "Since the program’s inception in 2003, we have watched young people be transformed through their participation in this program, which demands physical and intellectual effort, discipline and teamwork," said Patsy Benveniste, the Chicago Botanic Garden's director of education. "It also gives them confidence in their new-found strength."

Students grow fresh produce, herbs, and flowers at the three farm sites. Participants develop a business and marketing plan, sell produce at local farmers’ markets, and manage U-Pick days at the farms, all as part of a motivated team dedicated to sustainable food systems and healthy eating.

"The high-school students in this program come away with real-world work experience, a great deal of learning, and the ability to make a positive impact in their communities," said Angela Mason, the Garden’s manager of the Green Youth Farm program. "While weeding, watering, planting, and harvesting, they learn about being part of a team. And they take pride in shaping the farm from the ground up."

Who’s right for Green Youth Farm?

PHOTO: teamwork! Students from Waukegan High School, North Chicago Community High School, North Lawndale College Prep, Manley Career Academy, Farragut High School, and Dyett High School in Chicago participate in the program. They begin planting in May after school and on weekends, and begin their official summer schedule as soon as school lets out. Students work after school and weekend hours through October.

This program challenges participants in a hands-on, outdoor learning environment that requires physical labor in all weather conditions. Working well with others in small-group situations is important. Students should have an interest in horticulture, agriculture, and plant or food science, plus a passion for and commitment to learning.

Participants prepare food grown at the farms in weekly cooking sessions. Cooking crews bring what they prepare to the North Chicago farm on Tuesdays or Thursdays to share with the planting and harvesting crews and community members, and to discuss various healthy eating topics.

How it works

Job shadowing and field trips boost students’ understanding of sustainable gardening, vermicomposting, urban farming, nutrition and food preparation, and various green businesses. Training sessions, guest speakers, and entrepreneurial activities provide learning and experience opportunities. Field trips to the Chicago Botanic Garden and Green City Market open up the world of horticulture, plant science, and the culinary arts. Several graduates of past years’ programs act as peer leaders, mentoring and leading the new participants.

For more information

If you are a student or parent interested in learning more about the Green Youth Farm program, contact Eliza Fournier at , or (847) 835-8352.

Green Youth Farm is a program of the Chicago Botanic Garden in collaboration with the Lake County Forest Preserve District, Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, NeighborSpace, Cook County Sheriff’s Boot Camp, Chicago Public Schools, and the Chicago Park District. Green Youth Farm is made possible by the generosity of the following corporations, foundations, government agencies, organizations, and individuals:

Major Support for this progam comes from the After School Matters, Inc., The Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Alvin H. Baum Family Fund, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Elizabeth Morse Genius Charitable Trust, The Grainger Foundation, The Hearst Foundations, Barbara Notz Hines Foundation, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity/Office of Workforce Development, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), JP Morgan Chase Foundation, Walter S. Mander Foundation, McKenna Foundation, Quad Communities Development Corporation, Sheridan Foundation, and the Steans Family Foundation.

Additional Support for this program comes from the Brinson Foundation, Corner Bakery Café, Garden Club of Barrington, Grossinger Autogroup, HSBC-North America, Kemper Educational and Charitable Fund, Harold M. and Adeline S. Morrison Family Foundation, North Shore Garden Club, Inc., Janice Becker, Edward K. Hibben, Virginia A. Hotaling, the University of Chicago, and Stacy Vaccani.