Learn more about helping bees with Bloomingdale Garden Club Feb. 18
The Bloomingdale Garden Club will welcome City Bee Savers' Bill Whitney on Tuesday, Feb. 18, at Cornerstone Faith Community Church, 118 First St. in Bloomingdale.
Whitney has kept honey bees for over 20 years. City Bee Savers is his small honey bee farm in West Chicago that is deeply concerned about the future of bees. Their vulnerability has prompted Whitney to become a certified member of the Illinois Queen Rearing Initiative.
This group is developing a superior honey bee suited for the rigors of Illinois. He will be talking about how to plant for these pollinators. He also teaches classes about bee keeping and mentors families about caring for their bees.
Visitors are welcome. Social time and announcement begin at 6:15 p.m. Program starts at 7 p.m.
On March 17, learn about "Five Ways to Preserve the Harvest" with food blogger and cookbook author Emily Paster.
In this interactive presentation, Paster will cover five ways to preserve your garden harvest from canning to freezing to drying and root cellaring. She will offer an in-depth description of water-bath canning, a versatile and accessible method of home food preservation suitable for many common fruits and vegetables grown in home and community gardens. You will also walk away with Emily's "Freezer Cheat Sheet" which demystifies the process and benefits of freezing local and homegrown fruits and vegetables as well as an overview of safe water-bath canning procedures and helpful resources.
Paster is the author of two cookbooks, 2016's "Food Swap: Specialty Recipes for Bartering, Sharing & Giving" and "The Joys of Jewish Preserving," published in 2017. She is the writer and photographer behind the website "West of the Loop," which has been called "a family food blog to savor." As the founder of the Chicago Food Swap, a community event where handmade foods are bartered and exchanged, Paster is a leader in the national food swap movement.
For more information, contact bloomingdalegardenclub@gmail.com or visit www.bloomingdalegardenclub.org.