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Community Resources Repository
Advocates for Urban Agriculture (AUA) is a coalition of urban farmers, community and school gardeners, individual supporters, businesses, and organizations dedicated to advancing sustainable urban agriculture in the Chicago region.
The links and pages below constitute AUA's full Urban Agriculture Resource Repository, a comprehensive, vetted collection of local resources for urban agriculture including growing practices, city regulations, funding opportunities, food safety, and business considerations.
[Image: Farmer-to-Farmer Gathering at The Growing Solutions Farm]
Getting Started
Mini Resource Guide
Quick links to help you get started with your own garden or farm, connect with educational opportunities, and support local urban growers.
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AUA’s Listserv is Chicago’s largest urban agriculture communication hub. This free resource is a community forum for the latest urban agriculture news, current events, job postings, opportunities for collaboration, and more. Anyone can join, anyone can share. auachicago.org/aua-list-serv
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Chicagoland Chicken Enthusiasts
is an advocacy and networking organization for urban chickens and hosts an online forum for advice, reviews, and articles. sites.goo- gle.com/site/chicagochickenenthusi/home
Windy City Bees
is a networking and meet up group of beekeepers to share good practices and mutual support. bit.ly/WindyCityBees
Belmont Feed & Seed
is Chicago's specialty store for people that keep pigeons, bees, chickens, small birds, and other poultry and farm animals in an urban setting. belmontfeedandseed.com
Chicago Honey Coop
delivers beekeeping classes and resources for individuals, community groups, and schools. chicagohoneycoop.com/classes
Goat Guardian Guild
hosts educational events at their West Side urban farm and across Chicago. glennartfarm.com/work-with-goats.html
Home to Roost, LLC.
offers poultry classes, phone consultations, school programs, assessments, health consultations, and even emergency house calls. 708-259-6877 htrchickens.com
The Hive
is a full-service beekeeping store that also offers educational classes on-site and across the city. thehivesupply.com
West Side Bee Boyz
offers classes and mentorship on beekeeping for both honey and native bees. facebook.com/westsidebeeboyz
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Community based garden groups are a wonderful way to connect with like-minded individuals. See chicagocommuni- tygardens.org for one near you, or explore starting your own with your neighbors!
Chicago Community Gardeners Association coordinates shared resources, facilitates communication amongst gardeners, and hosts educational and networking meetings. chicagocommunitygardens.org
Chicago Park District
provides ways to learn about joining or starting a garden on Park District land. chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks-facili- ties/community-garden
NeighborSpace
is the only non-profit urban land trust that preserves and sustains gardens on behalf of dedicated community groups. 773-826-3240 neighbor-space.org
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One of the best ways to support the local food system is to purchase directly from urban farms in the Chicago region.
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) directly builds relationships with local farms through a season-long subscription for regular shares of freshly harvested produce. Learn more and find a CSA that works for you at: bandofarmers.org
Chicago Farmers Markets are a great way to meet your farmers and participate in your local community. A list of city sponsored farmers markets is at: chicagofarmersmarkets.us and independent markets can be found through the Illinois Farmers Market Association at: ilfma.org/illinois-mar- kets/ilfma-markets
Urban Farm Stands offer an opportunity to see urban ag in action. Visit cuamp.org to find an urban farm near you; inquire with them directly about hours and availability.
Local Grocers & Food Cooperatives are an important year-round component in our local food system. See Zero Waste Chicago for a listing and search the internet for one near you - new organizations are being formed all the time! zerowastechicago.org/groceryshop
Cottage Food operations provide market opportunities for local farms through value added products. Explore resources and regulations with Illinois Stewardship Alliance: ilstewards.org/poli- cy-work and University of Illinois Extension: extension.illinois.edu/cottage
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Chicago Urban Agriculture Mapping Project (CUAMP) is an on-going collabora- tion between AUA, DePaul University, NeighborSpace, Chicago State University, and community-based organizations to publicly map all urban farms and non-residential gardens across the city of Chicago. Register the growing site you lead or own, and search for urban farms and gardens near you! cuamp.org
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The Chicago Safe Soils Initiative is a collaborative project between University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Illinois Extension, and AUA to build tools to inform stakeholder decision-making and develop evidence-based guidelines to mitigate potential soil risks to food production in Chicago. Receive free soil screening for lead contamination from your urban garden, farm, or yard! See auachicago.org/soil for sampling instructions and additional details.
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Interested in a career in Chicago’s local food system? Our diverse economy needs growers, teachers, health professionals and more!
Whether you're a seasoned grower, newbie, or just passing along info, see our jobs board for opportunities.
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Christy Webber Farm & Garden
2833 W. Grand Ave. 312-829-8200
cwfng.comGethsemane Garden Center
5739 N. Clark St. 773-878-5915
gethsemanegardens.comJohnny’s Selected Seeds
johnnyseeds.comFasel & Sons Garden Center
10841 S. Cicero Ave. 708-422-5335
faselandsons.comKilbourn Park Greenhouse
3501 N. Kilbourn Ave. (773) 685-3359
kilbournparkfriends.orgSeed Savers Exchange
seedsavers.org -
For information and good practices for complying with Chicago’s composting ordinance, see: auachicago.org/resources
Lake Street Landscape Supply
1810 W. Lake St. 312-226-0760
lakestreetsupply.comMidwest BioAg
(800) 327-6012
midwesternbioag.comCrop Services International
800-260-7933
cropservicesintl.comChristy Webber Farm & Garden
2833 W. Grand Ave. 312-829-8200
cwfng.comE-Z Tree Recycling
7050 S. Dorchester Ave. 773-493-8600
e-ztreerecycling.comMidwest Organics
(312) 550-2464
compostmatters.comCowsmo Compost
cowsmocompost.com -
Lake Street Landscape Supply
1810 W. Lake St. 312-226-0760
lakestreetsupply.comReBuilding Exchange
1740 W. Webster Ave. 773-252-2234
rebuildingexchange.org -
Brew & Grow
3625 N. Kedzie Ave. 773-463-7430
brewandgrow.comChicago Roots: Hydroponics & Organics
4020 W. Irving Park Rd. 773-545-4020
chicagorootshydro.com -
Depaul University Department of Environmental Science & Studies
1110 W. Belden Ave.
Email jmontgom@depaul.edu with 'soil testing' in the subject lineSTAT Analysis
2242 W. Harrison St. 312-733-0551
statanalysis.comUniversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
1011 Plant Sciences Laboratory, 1201 S. Dorner Dr. Urbana, IL 61801
bit.ly/SoilScreeningUIUCLoyola Environmental Testing Laboratory
6349 N. Kenmore Ave. 773.508.2056
bit.ly/SoilTestingLoyola -
Whether you’re looking to learn about growing your own food, continuing professional development, or starting a career in urban agriculture, the following organizations cover an incredible range of educational and networking opportunities.
Advocates for Urban Agriculture
Visit our Programs Overview page to learn more about programs for Soil Health, Chicago Water Access, and Farmer to Farmer Mentrorship.
auachicago.org/programs-overviewAngelic Organics Learning Center serves prospective, beginning, and experienced farmers through training in regenerative agricultural practices, business planning, and financial manage- ment at their sites in Chicago and Caledonia, IL. learngrowconnect.org
Bionutrient Food Association-Chicago Chapter offers grower and consumer education, provides soil interpretations and prescriptions, and hosts soil, seed, and inoculation workshops. bionutrient.org/site/chapters/US/chicago-il
Chicago Botanic Garden leads a wide range of classes, workshops, and certification courses at the Chicago Botanic Garden and Windy City Harvest urban farm sites. chicagobotanic.org/urbanagriculture
Garfield Park Conservatory hosts classes, workshops, and lectures on topics such as beekeeping, composting, and gardening. garieldconservatory.org
Midwest Fruit Explorers is a non-profit organization of amateur backyard fruit growing enthusiasts that coordinates lectures, workshops, events, and more. midfex.org
Openlands offers workshops on planning a school garden, eco-explorations for youth, and resources for teachers in developing outdoor curriculum, learning, and nature education. openlands.org
Permaculture Chicago Teaching Institute hosts events, workshops, certificate programs, and design services for urban permaculture design. permaculturechicago.com
Peterson Garden Project promotes pop-up victory gardens and educational resources whose primary purpose is to teach people in urban settings how they can grow their own food. petersongarden.org
Plant Chicago cultivates local circular economies and food production through education, research, and small business support. plantchicago.org
University of Illinois Extension serves Cook County by offering programming and resources around conservation, school gardens, cottage food and nutrition, and Masters courses in urban farming, gardening, and naturalism. web.extension.illinois.edu/cook
Chicago Partnership for Health Promotion at University of Illinois Chicago provides training and resources on food systems, wellness, nutrition, and container gardening. auachicago.org/resources
Urban Growers Collective offers agriculture, small business development, and equity building workshops to prepare growers to develop community food projects, commercial urban farms, and more. urbangrowerscollective.org
Many of the above organizations ofer a component of job skills training, and organizations like Chicago Lights, Chicago FarmWorks, Growing Home, Sweet Beginnings, and Sweetwater Foundation ofer workforce development for youth, and for adults with barriers to employment.
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Learn about grant and funding opportunities for your urban agriculture projects.
Chicago Urban Agriculture
Informational Resources
More in depth resources, media, and documents for download. Feel free to search by keyword or filter by category.
City of Chicago Urban Agriculture Ordinance
When starting a commercial urban farm or community garden, make sure you understand zoning rules and regulations before you get started. Amendments made to the Chicago’s Zoning Ordinance in 2011 specifically address urban agriculture.
City of Chicago Urban Agriculture FAQ Sheet
To learn more about City of Chicago’s urban agriculture zoning ordinance, check out their FAQ sheet.