EcoPod @Farm on Ogden

Budburst (opens in new tab), a project of the Chicago Botanic Garden, is a community science program that is open to everyone, from students preK-college as well as adult learners of all ages. At Budburst, we ask community scientists to collect data on the plants they see in their neighborhood, usually looking at plants going through seasonal changes – like when plants get buds and flowers in the spring or when leaves change colors in the fall. When people all over the country send us this information, the scientists at Budburst are able to see how plants are changing at a large scale in response to climate change.

The Chicago Botanic Garden (opens in new tab) opened 50 years ago as a beautiful place to visit, and it has matured into one of the world’s great living museums and conservation science centers. Every year, more than one million people visit the Garden’s 28 gardens and four natural areas (opens in new tab), uniquely situated on 385 acres on and around nine islands, with six miles of lake shoreline. Plants create connections that are essential to people. And, just as important, they also allow us to eat and breathe. In addition, serious threats to plants, including a changing climate and the loss of biodiversity, are weakening Earth’s ecosystems and imperiling our fragile planet. At our research sites, the work Garden scientists do on plants and their pollinators provides clues to our changing climate.

Since 2013, Windy City Harvest (opens in new tab) has helped to grow 25 small farm businesses. FOOD: More than 100,000 pounds of produce is grown every year on over 15 farms. Most of the produce stays in the communities where it’s grown on our farms. HEALTH: We offer cooking and nutrition classes as well as affordable or free produce for more than 1,000 community health center patients with diet-related diseases every year. We support a network of more than 60 family-run community garden plots, empowering families to grow their own healthy food. JOBS: We provide paid, on-the-job training for more than 150 people every year, with an average of 80 percent placement rate in food systems jobs post-training.