By farm on July 13, 2010

Happy July! There’s a lot going on this month! Read on for more details:
1 - Garden Tenders: We get a lot of people asking for volunteer days on the weekdays afternoon evenings. We’re trying to put together a schedule of community gardeners that would like to swing by and do regular tending. If you are interested in keeping a regular schedule or dropping by on a weekday evening. Email altgeld.sawyer.farm(at)gmail.com
This week in the garden is hoppin’ Wednesday (tomorrow) Margaret will be in the garden watering and preparing for This Saturday’s work day 6p - 7p. If you haven’t been able to come to a meeting or work on the weekends tomorrow is a good day to swing by. Afterward will be heading to the Whirlaway after to get a beer and chat with anyone that is available.
This Saturday 7/17 is a volunteer day 10a - 2p. We will be having a demonstration on how to use the community compost system 12p - 12:30. So if you’ve been dropping off your food, stop by to make sure you’re doing it right. If you didn’t know if was there, come on down!
After the volunteer day our lovely garden leader Shayna will be having a bookbinding workshop at wolfbait -check it out!
Sunday 7/18 We’ve been invited to participate in a movable feast that will be dropping by the garden at 1pm. Everyone is welcome for some or all of the feast and the flier is listed above.
*Please check our calendar for the rest of July -there’s a whole lot going on!
Posted in Uncategorized |
By farm on May 24, 2010
We had another successful day at the Farm last Saturday. We had another delivery of compost and many seedlings were placed in the ground:
tomatoes,
kale,
broccoli,
cabbage
herbs
and more!
We will be having a meeting tomorrow (Tuesday May 24th at 7p) to discuss future planning and ideas for the rest of the summer on the Farm.
We will also be organizing committees to help with small tasks during the week.
Please email us: altgeld.sawyer.farm (at) gmail (dot) com for more information on the meeting and if you’d like to be included.
We look forward to seeing you!!
Shayna
(and the Altgeld Sawyer Corner Farmers)
Posted in Uncategorized |
By farm on May 16, 2010

May 15th, 2010 - Garden Day
What a successful day! Thank you to everyone who came out to help.
Big Thanks to Amercorps Project YES! for helping us putting compost into our soil, providing snacks and tools. We also had a generous donation of 3 yards potting soil from Armitage Baptist Church. Our compost team did a great job prepping the compost bins for food scraps. (stay tuned for more details) And with a visit from the After School Matters group the garden was full of people and activity.
Please remember NEXT SATURDAY, May 22nd, 10a - 2p we’ll finally be planting seedling donations into the ground.
Please bring:
- trowels
- digging tools
- seedlings if you have them and would like to give them a home.
** a potluck snack to share **
- water to drink
- sunscreen if it’s sunny.
Thank you for your support!
Shayna
and the Altgeld Sawyer Corner Farmers
Posted in garden day |
By farm on October 29, 2009
Hello Fellow Farmers!!
oin us to celebrate Autumn, Halloween, and Day of the Dead with our neighbors. It’s a community work-day, and a celebration!
Bring your kids! Wear your costumes! Come dig with us!
Saturday, October 31st, 2009
10a – 3p
at: Altgeld-Sawyer Corner Farm
map: http://altgeldsawyer.cornerfarmchicago.com/location/
TO DO:
- put the garden to bed
- ready for the winter
- prep cold frames and get some clean up done.
TO BRING: (if you have it)
- yourself, your helping hands, your family and friends!!
- leaf mulch, compost
- gardening gloves
- trowels & clippers
- wheel barrows and shovels
- harvest snacks for the potluck
We will have cider and snacks to share. We encourage you to bring other festive fall foods, like apple pie, pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes etc..
The morning will be dedicated to prepping the garden for winter, in the afternoon local teens from After School Matters will present benches and cold beds they designed specifically for our garden. This will be followed by fun children’s activities, face painting and some special festive fall foods!
We look forward to seeing you there!!
Posted in garden day |
By farm on October 25, 2009

Archi-ASM is an After School Matters class about architecture, design, and the built environment. They have class twice a week at the community-based organization Voice of the City.
On Wednesday Oct 21st they presented their proposed bench and cold beds designs for the garden. On Saturday Oct 24th the spent the afternoon constructing their creations!
For more pix visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/archi-asm/sets/72157622655173186/





Posted in Uncategorized |
By farm on October 5, 2009
We ordered 1500 adult Live Ladybugs from gardeningzone.com to help combat the Aphids that had been relentlessly attacking our Milkweed all summer. The kids from Christopher House helped release them on Friday October 2nd and they seem to be doing the trick!

Aphids on Milkweed

Ladybugs eat Aphids

Ladybugs eat Aphids
“Ladybugs are general predators that feed on a variety of slow-moving insects including aphids, moth eggs, mites, scales, thrips, leafhoppers, mealybugs and other slow-moving insects. Ladybugs are a must-have for organic gardening or organic farming. A ladybug (or lady bug) eats insects during both the adult and larval stages, so you can buy ladybugs as adults and continue to have live ladybugs eating through other parts of their life cycle as they reproduce. Adults are shiny, hemispherical beetles, often reddish-orange or yellow, with black markings. Larvae are black, with conspicuous legs and orange spots on their backs. The larvae are often compared in appearance to tiny alligators, and are similarly aggressive in consuming insects. The larvae move from plant to plant on leaves. Larvae pupate on the upper leaf surfaces, plant stems and twigs. Eggs are yellowish-orange ovals, laid on end in clusters of 10 to 50.”
Posted in Uncategorized |
By farm on October 5, 2009
Below are images from the Joyful Noise hand made paper installation:

Joyful Noise

Joyful Noise

Joyful Noise

Joyful Noise

Joyful Noise

Joyful Noise
Below are images from Trail, a one day hand made paper installation by JE Baker.

Trail at the Corner Farm

Trail at the Corner Farm

Trail at the Corner Farm
Posted in Uncategorized |
By farm on September 29, 2009

Paper Demo on the Farm
Altgeld Sawyer Corner Farm will be a featured program in Chicago Artist Month 2009.
We will be giving a garden tour, a hand made paper demo and natural dye demo by artists Amy Mall and Shayna Cohen. Tours of the farm begin on the hour and include the story behind this eco-art spot as well as the kinds of plants and vegetables grown there. You will also have a chance to watch both artists’ process in action.
http://chicagoartistsmonth.org/artwork/914429_An_Interdisciplinary_Urban_Farm_Tour_and.html
Posted in Uncategorized |
By farm on September 29, 2009
Weather Permitting

"Joyful noise"
Altgeld Sawyer Farm is proud to announce a one-day, temporary installation of Laurie LeBreton’s interactive, hand made paper, sound sculptures.
We invite you to come explore the possibilities of hand made paper, to play and interact with this work!
“Joyful Noise” is a series of 29 instruments filled with materials that make distinctive sounds. Participants are invited to shake the instruments or to hit them with sticks, creating their own joyful sounds. “Wild and Sweet” is a set of bell-like sculptures created with abaca and reed.
LeBreton makes sculptures with handmade paper. Through her sculptures she examines ideas of ephemerality, the role of chance, the interplay of joy and sorrow and the futility of control. Many of her sculptures are hanging sculptures that respond to currents of air and manipulation, underscoring the idea of impermanence. www.laurielebreton.net
Posted in Uncategorized |
By farm on September 14, 2009

Paper Sculpture Installation
One day site-specific outdoor installation
Friday, September 18, 2009 6-8pm
at Altgeld Sawyer Corner Farm
www.altgeldsawyer.cornerfarmchicago.com
Trail
by JE Baker
Trail is an installation that questions the place we call “safe.” It illustrates the story of a dead doe, killed for her heart by the Huntsman and his hounds, and the fawn she left hidden in the garden. The fawn was hidden to keep her safe, but how long should she stay? The fawn is haunted by what she can’t see: A coyote hiding in the brush? Her mother’s ghost? Perhaps the huntsman returning to kill her, too?
This site specific installation demonstrates the possibilities of sculpted handmade paper. Part of Altgeld Sawyer Corner Farm has been sowed with plant fibers to be used for handmade papermaking. This event is a collaboration between mixed media artist, JE Baker and artist/community organizer, Shayna Cohen. The garden has been partially funded by the Aiko’s Fellowship, and Cohen has been recognized by Chicago Artists’ Month 2009 as a featured artist for her efforts growing papermaking fibers. Both artists are members of Caesuraltgeldsawyer.cornerfarmchicago.comited edition of Her Heart prints on handmade abaca paper will be avaaltgeldsawyer.cornerfarmchicago.comwww.jebaker.com and www.miss-shayna.com to learn more about the artists and their work.
Posted in Uncategorized |