Chicago Botanic Garden offers new adult classes
Students can indulge their interests and build new skills this winter with classes that will take them from snowy sunrises to science laboratories to a green roof and beyond.
They can grow their gardening skills and knowledge of natural systems, learn about traditional foods, try yoga both indoors and out, hear from a renowned author, or tap into another field.
A new list of offerings by the Joseph Regenstein Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden is now available for registration.
Learning opportunities include:
• Introduction to Sustainability: 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 9. Learn how environmental, economic and social sustainability affect the green industry, and discuss the concepts of sustainability and the role horticulture can play in enhancing the sustainability movement.
• Winter Sunrise Scenes: 6-9 a.m. Sundays, Jan. 10 and 17. While sunrise offers a dramatic photo opportunity, winter sunrise, combined with snow and early morning light, presents particular photographic challenges. Learn how to compose and meter for these unique light levels.
• Business of Gardening: 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays, Jan. 16 to Feb. 27, (no class Feb. 13). As with plants, some businesses take root and remain part of the landscape for many years, while others wither all too quickly. This course offers an overview of the big-picture concepts and the practical considerations of startups in horticulture. Topics covered are financials, marketing, contracts, human resources and financing.
• Water: 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16. Explore water's role in sustainable horticulture. Topics include drought-tolerant plants, drip irrigation/xeriscaping, rain gardens, rain barrels, reduced lawn areas and native plants.
• The Art of Traditional Foods - Fermentation and Bone Broth: 10 a.m. to noon Thursday, Jan. 21. Learn how to prepare fermented foods such as sauerkraut, fermented berries, cultured salsa and more; and bone broth, which is full of bioavailable minerals, gelatin and collagen. Even more importantly, hear why you should be consuming these foods. Sample some fermented items and receive a pint of frozen bone broth to take home.
• Soil: 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23. Soil is a building block of sustainable gardening. Topics include composting, recycling garden waste, earthworms, beneficial microbes, bioremediation, organic/local compost and soil amendments, and container gardening.
• Glass Jar Terrarium Workshop: 7-9 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 27. Learn how to create a glass jar terrarium from start to finish. A glass jar, an assortment of small indoor plants for a variety of light conditions and all other materials are provided to create a miniature oasis. Bring gloves, an apron if desired, and pruning shears.
• Positive Economic Impacts for Our Landscape: 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6. Learn how sustainable practices can help your wallet with a reduced water bill and less equipment to own. Green roofs extend the life of roofing materials and reduce heating/cooling costs with plants, and the reuse of plants and materials on-site reduces unnecessary expenses.
• Social Impacts of Sustainability: 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13. Discuss how simple ideas can have big impact. Topics include the reduced crime in tree-lined areas; cleaner air and reduced stormwater runoff; planted areas filtering waste that enters the soil, reducing groundwater pollution; and community movements for green spaces and habitat development.
• Special Engagement with Rick Darke, Re-imagining the Accidental Landscape - Cultivating Hope Amid Collisions of Culture and Ecology: 7-9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18. Using a global mix of urban and ex-urban wildscapes, parks, and gardens for illustration, Rick Darke, landscape ethicist, designer, author, and photographer, explores a truly conservation-based design approach that goes beyond evocative naturalism, integrating editing techniques and the management of authentic wildness to make a lot from a little.
• Yoga classes begin Jan. 11, and Tai Chi on Jan. 19. Visit chicagobotanic.org/education/adulted for more information about these and other classes.
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