Beginning Sustainable Gardening

Before the first spade of dirt can be turned over, Master Gardener, Linda Cook, will introduce you to the concept of sustainable gardening.  Linda will talk about  what plants are best to use, and why it is import to do so.  A Power Point presentation and a natural seed give-away are of part of the workshop.

Beginning Sustainable Gardening
Sunday, March 18, 2012
2:00 PM
SETF Office
13300 Baltimore Ave. Chgo.

To RSVP or for more information, call  to 773-646-0436

Kitchen Beauty

On Friday, February 17th, the Task Force hosted one of it's more popular workshops.  Our "Natural Beauty" workshop emphasizes the importance of using fewer chemicals in the name of beauty, and instead substituting everyday "good for you " ingredients that can be found in your kitchen. The ingredients cost only pennies and do the job.  Things like cornmeal, lemons, vegetable oil, sea salt, and cocoa can be whisked together to make facial masks, moisturizers, refreshing body soaks and scrubs.

Ending a busy week with a workshop where you get to mix things up, make a mess, get a free facial message and a sip of sangria made from left over lemons and oranges, is high on our members priority list.  In fact, this workshop is so much fun, we might have to offer it twice a year!










Linda Cook, Board member, demonstrates how to mix one of the recipes.



Sharon Rolek, Rose Martinez and Sylvia Villicana are busy mixing and stirring their potions.



Sylvia assesses the mess.



Julia readies herself for her facial message.




Linda Ruxton is "pleased as punch" with her scrub.



Sylvia is just as pleased a Linda.





 

Sea kelp and cocoa - who would have thought!

Waiting for the magic to begin.


 

Jingle Bell Recyclables

Scissors snipping, scraps flying and creative juices flowing, so went our ever popular "Holiday Crafting With Recyclables" workshop.  This year's project included made over Altoid tins, Olde English Crackers, Christmas Card pendants, and Glittered Snowflake Ornaments.  NO project is too difficult, and even the uncraftiest of people enjoy this workhop.  The purpose of which is twofold: firstly, to demonstrate how items can be reused or have their life extended before tossing them out and secondly, to show how money can be saved  for the holiday. 

Christmas music playing in the background to set the mood, participants quietly focused on their projects, speaking only to compare designs or ask questions.  The easiest and most interesting project proved to be the English Crackers made from toilet paper rolls covered in scraps of Christmas wrap, filled with candy and made to pop when opened.

 Linda Ruxton, a member of SETF, carefully designed, wrapped and tied her Cracker only to discover after she was done that she had left the candy out! 

Joe Mulac,  a resident of the Vet's Park Neighborhood, carefully cut and glittered his snowflake ornament with a ton of glue.

Young Maya Bansett carefully selected the perfect Christmas card for her pendant for when it was completed all agreed it was one of the most stunning.

Beatriz Diaz, our intern brought friends and family who by all appearances had a good time and did a great job.

The two hours we allotted for the workshop flew by.  After enjoying hot chocolate and cookies, the group cleaned up and was eager to display their works of art. 

It's time to start searching for next years ideas - we never want to have to duplicate projects.

Linda Cook, SETF Board Member , shares some basic intructions.

Everyone was so focused.



The challenge was to express your individuality.



Limited materials made the projects that much more challenging.



Some were more precise than others.



A great way to spend a Friday evening.

Making suggestions.

The group proudly displays their end products.

Berry Juice Photo Cells

The SETF office became a temporary lab on March 13th when Robert LeSuer, our President and resident Chemist, conducted his "Make a Solar Cell Workshop".   With the assistance of his chemistry students from nearby Chicago State University, he demonstrated how to use berry juices, iodine, Titanium Oxide, glass slides and other materials to construct and to create a photovoltaic cell that generates electricity. The process is similar to the one used by solar cells.   Different types of berry juices, such as strawberry, blueberry and mixtures were tested to see which one worked best for generating a current. Participants were fascinated by the process and enjoyed the "hands on" experience. 

Captivated audience.

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"Lab assistant" mixes the solutions.

NO doubt a mixed audience.

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Students explain the steps.

Examining the results.

Testing the current.

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Assisting with the process.

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"Hands on"

Robert LeSuer explains the process.

Paper to Plants - A Messy Workshop

Though it was hotter than we would have liked, the sun was a welcome sight after having had our paper making workshop rained out the first time.  Knowing how messy the process was, we decided to set up our work tables and equipment on the sidewalk in front of the office.  And it's a good thing we got an early start because just as expected, things did go wrong.  First it was the power strip that didn't work necessitating our having to unplug one of our staff.  Then it was a blender that quit on us before we even got started, leaving us with just one that worked.   Luckily, our group was small enough that it didn't matter.

Tearing paper into tiny pieces.

Blending paper into a slurry.

We began by passing out mini-folders that we had made from recycled manila folders,  They contained simple instructions, a sample of the finished project and a template to use as a cutting guide.  After presenting an overview of the project,  we led two at a time outside while the others stayed in to chat and enjoy the refreshments. Outside we stepped them through the process of making seed-embedded paper.  We had each participant tear 5 sheets of used text paper into tiny pieces, add the prescribed amount of water, blend the two into a slurry and then pulse in a scant amount of flower seeds.  The slurry was than poured onto screens, spread evenly around and then laid between pieces of felt to have the water extracted with a rolling pin.  Knowing the paper takes hours to dry, we had to cut box cardboard into rectangles and cover them with aluminum foil. 

Rolling out the excess water.

Measuring carefully.

 Everyone was thrilled with the finished product and carried their wet sheet of paper home on our makeshift trays to dry. Before they left, they inquired about having a second part to the workshop to learn how to turn their paper into gift tags.  We're working on scheduling a date.

 A new sheet of paper!

A big "Thank You" goes out to Pat Rosen of the Gibson Nature Preserve and Wild Ones, chapter 38 for donating the Midwestern Wildflower seeds.