Montrose Metra Community Gardens

Contact Information:montrosemetracommunitygardens@gmail.com
Address: 4200 N Ravenswood
Neighborhood/Community Area: North Center
Garden Established: 2016
Protected by NeighborSpace: Leased 2017
Social Media/Website:
Facebook: Montrose Metra Community Gardens
Instagram: @montrosemetragardens 
Fundraising: MMCG GoFundMe
Garden Workdays: April – November|Weekdays 6 pm – Sunset, Weekends 10 am – 12 pm

Community Partners: We have diverse and wonderful partners including the Chicago Community Gardeners Association, Openlands, Union Pacific, Common Pantry, The Friendship Center, Ravenswood Community Services; Loyola, DePaul and Northwestern Universities, The American Indian Center of Chicago, The Field Museum, Sulzer Regional Library, Spoken Cafe, Ravenswood Neighbors Association, Ravenswood Community Council; the Greater Ravenswood, Lincoln Square, and Northcenter Chambers of Commerce, and local Special Service Area committees

About the Garden: 
Montrose Metra Community Garden’s mission is to create vibrant, green community spaces that connect neighbors and fosters a healthy, sustainable environment for all. 
What started in 2016 has grown into more than just permanent vegetable plots. It now hosts a public orchard of native fruits, a pollinator flyway, and a native Oak savanna. Our garden has become home for the families that grow in its plots, the students from area schools and colleges who come to volunteer and learn about ecology and civic engagement, and the countless volunteers and visitors we host each year both at the gardens and our Green and Growing Speaker Series at the local library. 
The garden hosts reoccurring volunteer days, workshops, and educational events for all interested people including gardeners or wannabe gardeners! Like our page or email our garden leaders for volunteer opportunities, sponsorship, invites and/or additional details. 

We would love to meet you on our garden workdays!
April – November:
Weekdays: 6 pm – Sunset
Weekends: 10 am – 12 pm

Montrose to Berteau (vegetable beds + native orchard)
15th of the month

Sunnyside to Wilson (Sunnyside savanna)
1st of the month

Native Land Acknowledgement 
As environmentalists and people of Chicago, Illinois, MMCG as an organization has a duty to acknowledge the ancestors of this land. Centuries ago, the land that we call the savanna and gardens were inhabited by the original Native caretakers of this land. The Potowatomi, Miami, Ho Chunk, Sac, Fox, and Kickapoo Nations cared and care for the land as sacred and essential to their physical and spiritual survival. After decades of genocide, stolen land, and forced removal the French and British forces took over the land in 1835 in the Treaty of Chicago.

MMCG would like to continue working and building relationships with the local Native peoples. We would like to continue spreading awareness to our neighborhood here in Ravenswood and the Chicago community at large to create a safe and inclusive space to share ideas. Together we can preserve and beautify the land of the Savanna and the garden for generations to come. Therefore we acknowledge the Native Nations of the past, honor the people of this land in the present, and hope that together we can continue to care for the savanna and gardens in the future.