|  | Summer Fun at Star Farm!June 2024 Updates |
| Summer is an amazing time at Star Farm! This June, we will hold our Star Farm Summer Camp, Pop-up Farmers Markets, and annual June Brunch. With your help, we also plan to open our Star Farm Chicago Market, Shared Kitchen, and Community Dining Room this summer! |
| | |  | | Our annual June Brunch is fast-approaching! Join us on the farm for live music, cocktails, and chef-inspired food.
Use this Early Bird Coupon Code for 10% off: earlybirdbrunch
Sunday, June 23rd, 11am-2pm 5152 S. Carpenter St., Chicago 60609 |
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| Help the Star Farm Fresh Market Open this Summer! |
|  | | In its 5th year of development, the Star Farm Chicago Market, Shared Kitchen, and Community Dining Room will be an oasis in a food desert! We are excited to plan our ribbon cutting ceremony this summer after finishing up renovations.
This location will provide educational and employment opportunities, community-building, and support for local food and farm entrepreneurs here on the South Side. With your help, we can purchase coolers and produce display cases for our storefront, dining tables for our Community Dining Room, and equipment for our shared kitchen!
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| |  | Star Farm Summer Camp is now FREE for Back of the Yards residents! At Star Farm Summer Camp, kids ages 6-14 can enjoy activities like gardening, art, cooking, play, and more.
Dates: June 11-13 and 18-20. Camp is from 10am-2pm each day. Tuition: Tuition is $150 for the entire camp ($25/day) and FREE for Back of The Yards residents. If registering siblings, get $25 off for each sibling. Lunch: Star Farm will provide lunches and snacks for campers. However, if you prefer to send your camper with a lunch and snack you can do so as well. We just require all food items be nut-free. |
| | | | Little Store EventsThis month, we are finishing up the Spring Cooking Series at our Little Store. Using recipes from the new Star Farm Cookbook, we have shown community members how to use farm-fresh produce to make delicious recipes like Cheddar-Broccoli Soup, Roasted Radishes, and a Green Smoothie.
Join us for our last Spring Cooking Demo this Wednesday, June 5th, 4-7pm! You’ll be able to purchase fresh produce, learn a new recipe, and meet others in the neighborhood.
Summer HoursThe Storefront will be moving to summer hours this month! Starting on Wednesday, June 12th, the Little Store will be open every Wednesday from 12-3pm. |
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| | | Are you ready to start getting the best of local, seasonal produce delivered to your door? Sign up now for weekly or bi-weekly deliveries! Multiple payment options available. |
|  | | There is more and more abundance on the farm each week! Our last few May CSA shares have included microgreens, cilantro, radishes, and greens like kale, salad mix, bok choi, mustards, lettuce. Thank you to staff members Guadalupe, Uriah, Luna, Isaac, A.Z., and interns Monse, Lyda, and Grecia for all your help planting and harvesting these crops!
We’ve complemented these offerings with items like rhubarb, asparagus, and apples from our friends across other Midwest farms. Local eggs and rotating Publican bread are also available for purchase as add-ons. We’re looking forward to mixing things up and incorporating more variety as the season ramps up! |
| Shop Star Farm at 61st Street! |
| | We’re back at 61st Street Farmers Market, and we’re excited to bring more and more summer crops each week! Shout out to Isacc and Uriah for getting up early to bring our produce to the people every Saturday.
Come shop Star Farm at 61st and Blackstone every Saturday, 9am-2pm until October 26th, 2024. |
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| |  | This summer, you can also find Star Farm produce at our Pop-up Farmers Markets across the Southside! We are partnering with Operation Pathways, the Chicago Parks District, and WIC to host public Pop-up Markets starting this month.
Keep an eye out for the full summer schedule, and come find us at any of these Pop-ups in June. We MATCH Link! |
| Berry Manor Apartments 737 E 69th St Monday, June 17th, 3:00-5:00pm
Sherman Park 1301 W. 52nd St Monday, June 24th, 3:00-5:00pm
Brighton Park District 4830 S. Western Blvd Tuesday, June 25th, 3:00-5:00pm |
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| Cornell Square Park 1809 W. 50th St Wednesday, June 26th, 3:00-5:00pm
McKinley Park 2210 W. Pershing Rd Thursday, June 27th, 3:00-5:00pm
WIC Center-Ogden 2653 W. Ogden Ave Friday, June 28th, 12:00-2:00pm |
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| | |  | Our summer crops are loving all of this rain! We can’t wait to bring you tomatoes, peppers, squash, eggplants, beans, corn, rainbow chard, and more. The farm is also blooming with flowers that our bees are busy turning into honey. Come on down to see the farm as it turns into a beautiful mosaic of colors and aromas! |
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| | WorkshopsThis month, we hosted the final part of our 3-Part Growing Workshop! Participants learned the fundamentals of harvesting, including Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) that reduce bacterial contamination in food crops.
Thank you to every community member who came out for this awesome workshop series! |
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| |  | | Our Incubator Farmers are working hard to provide the best for their communities! During Dia de Siembra, our most recent volunteer day at the Incubator Farm, volunteers helped add compost to the beds, spread woodchips, remove weeds, and plant seedlings.
Volunteers put peppers and tomatoes in the ground, and they got to enjoy beautiful flowers and strawberries - a sweet treat at the end of hard day’s work! One of the Incubator Farmers also made hot dogs for the volunteers to show their appreciation. |
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| | |  | Interested in volunteering with us? We welcome volunteers every week, rain or shine! During this season the farm is harvesting, planting, weeding, and more. There is never a shortage of work and all hands help! |
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|  | Volunteer Shout-outs! We are so lucky for all of our volunteers! This month, our friends at Chicago Cares came out for a staff volunteer day and weekly volunteer opportunities on the farm.
One of our newest volunteers, Julia, also runs a wildlife transportation service and helped relocate a baby raccoon off the farm this week! Another volunteer Dami jumped in to co-facilitate our Cooking Demo at the Little Store, and volunteer Pat has been a huge help during our Wednesday CSA prep. Finally, we would like to shout out our Disability Farmers volunteers who join us every week from the Rose Center!
Our volunteers are amazing! Thank you for showing love to the community and local ecosystem! |
|  | Is your organization looking for a way to give back to the community? We’d love to see you out on the farm! |
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| | | We are so pleased to welcome Joey Swyer to the team as our new CSA and Market Manager! Be sure to say hello if you see Joey at the farm, in the office, or at the market. We are also very grateful to work with our newest cohort of interns from Chicago Commons. Welcome Grecia, Lyda, and Monse! |
| | September Soiree Tickets and Sponsorship |
|  | Join us for an unforgettable red-carpet evening on our beautiful urban farm! The annual Star Farm gala will feature a 5-course meal featuring local produce and products that you won't forget! Partnering with local chefs and farmers, as well as chocolatiers and pastry chefs, we'll have an exquisite buffet as well as table-side salad service for your guests.
For sponsorship opportunities, please email step...@starfarmchicago.com. Feature your business or organization and reach a passionate and active community! Sponsorships range from $500-$25,000.
September Soiree 2024 Saturday, September 14th, 6pm-10pm 5152 S. Carpenter St., Chicago 60609 |
| | | Donate if you can via check, through your donor advised fund, Benevity, or directly via PayPal |
| | | Send gifts directly to Star Farm Chicago, 501c3 934 w. 50th Place Chicago IL 60609
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|  | | See you at the Garden Soon!Don’t forget to check out all the amazing ways you can get and stay involved with Star Farm! Apply to one of our open job positions, volunteer, bring your team or class for a fieldtrip, purchase from our wholesale produce offerings, visit us at the Farmers Market or Retail Storefront. |
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