Chicago Botanic Garden

The Chicago Botanic Garden (CBG) will pilot the Native Seed Farming Project, a collaborative and complementary strategy to assist vulnerable people and plant communities. The Native Seed Farming Project will test the viability of generating native seed stock as a marketable crop for urban farmers. The project will utilize selections from 150 native prairie species, collected over fifteen states in the past seven years and stored in the Garden’s seed bank vault. Training will be conducted through the Garden’s Windy City Harvest program, which offers an accredited job-training program in urban agriculture for at-risk young adults. All Windy City Harvest students will receive instruction in native plant materials, and nine will specialize through paid internships. CBG conservation scientists and seed specialists will provide the expertise for establishing native plant gardens.