The Plant

Welcome Little Press to The Plant! Little Press is a small-batch Chicago coffee roaster. The name Little Press is inspired by the owner Dylan's graphic design background and the small scale of the operation. Beans are roasted and delivered by bicycle by Dylan across Chicago, rain or shine!

Join Urban Eden Farms for an engaging in-person workshop all about growing plants without soil on Sat. June 20 from 10am-1pm!
Come ready to learn, ask questions, and get hands-on experience. Sign up at the link below.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hydroponics-101-tickets-1988953024036

New at The Plant: CTRL Kitchen is a one stop shop for savory and sweet cuisine, providing meal prep, catering, and your everyday food needs. Founded by Chef Jamy Franklin and Chef Taj Savage, CTRL Kitchen is dedicated to providing quality cooking of various cuisines and giving back to the community. Give a warm welcome to CTRL Kitchen here at The Plant!

This May Day, we're highlighting the labor history of Chicago's Union Stock Yards. The Plant's former use as the Peer Foods meatpacking facility directly connects us to this legacy. Plan a visit to the Packingtown Museum to learn more, and take action today!
www.packingtownmuseum.org

We're excited to be hosting the Peace and Education Coalition - Back of the Yards, New City for their upcoming scholarship fundraiser on Sat. May 2. Our absolute favorite part of this event is hearing from the young people who have benefitted from this important program -- congrats to Mayra Macias, who will be honored at the event!

Tickets are available at https://peaceandeducation.org/taste-of-back-of-the-yards/

Join in if you can, or consider supporting this worthwhile cause!

This year, we will honor Mayra Macias, past PEC Scholarship recipient, for her advocacy work on the local and national levels. It was here in the Back of the Yards, where she grew up, that she learned the importance of solidarity in community, and as she pursued higher education, recognized the systemic imbalances that challenge the hardworking people of the Back of the Yards and beyond. Join us May 2 in thanking Mayra for her dedication to justice and peace. Visit the Peace and Education Coalition website for tickets.

The newest addition to our Winter Garden is no small shrub! This massive bird of paradise is 14 years old and was adopted from a community member, who had grown it from when it was just 3 inches tall.

Named King Pong for its huge ping-pong paddle-shaped leaves, this tropical plant has Chicago grit as it has survived two winter moves and now has grown to a magnificent 11 feet tall. We are grateful to have been trusted with this well-loved plant!

And that's a wrap! Many thanks to the fantastic organizations that joined forces with us for our spring Reuse-a-Palooza, and to all of the approx. 550 enthusiastic humans who attended!

It was a busy day, with so many great discussions throughout. Reduce Waste Chicago collected 887 lbs of materials for repurposing and responsible recycling, and the top items were books, CDs, electronics, and school supplies. Community Glue Workshop fielded a whopping 70 items for repair and successfully repaired 59 of them! And the vans for both Habitat for Humanity ReStore Chicago and Cradles to Crayons Chicago were stuffed to the gills with donations.

The metrics on the event are still coming in, so we'll do a deeper reporting in our April newsletter. If you'd like to sign up, just follow the link below and fill in your email address at "subscribe." You'll receive a save-the-date about the next Reuse-a-Palooza when it's announced as well!
https://www.insidetheplant.com/contact

Thanks to Laura Stillwell for the fab photos of Reduce Waste Chicago (including the view with the book table), EcoShip Chicago, and The Struggling Black Girl Magic Club.