The Gaia Movement’s recent event was a great time for everyone in the community to come together and enjoy refreshments, live music, and art. The last Gaia Home Garden Club workshop took place with garden club members ready to dig deep into sustainable farming practices. Gaia also introduced a new addition to the Gaia Climate Center all the way from Zimbabwe. Read through for highlights from the event, or scroll to the bottom to watch the event recap on YouTube.
Gaia Home Garden Club Workshop
The event kicked off with the Gaia Garden Club Workshop. We discussed tips for gardening, as well as handed out garlic cloves to allow members in the community to grow their own garlic at home. The club members discussed different techniques that they personally used in their own home gardens to grow their vegetables over the course of this year.
The garden club members snacked on refreshments a potluck where everyone participated. There were baked goods, pasta, cheese dishes, jalapeño poppers and bacon wrapped peppers. Fun fact: some of the dishes in the potluck used herbs or vegetables from their home garden!
They also exchanged different ways that they incorporated the tips from previous workshops to have a successful harvest. Garden Club members discussed the successes they saw with different vegetables and herbs such as tomatoes, jalapenos, and cucumbers. The farming guru, Joannée went over tips for the garden and best produce to start growing in the fall and winter to see the harvest in spring.
Garden Members Get Involved
The Garden Club also discussed new features that they wanted to see in the upcoming Garden Club workshop in 2026. It is so exciting to see the Gaia Home Garden Club succeed in almost doubling the size of participants from the previous year. Garden club members were engaged in conversation and excited to talk about upcoming workshops in 2026. This included a potential mentorship program for new Garden Club members to get guidance from more experienced gardeners!
After the Gaia Garden Club workshop commenced, everyone proceeded into the garden for the hands-on portion of the garden event. They learned first-hand the techniques to best support produce growth and tending to the garden. Garden members worked close with farming guru, Joannée, to learn need to know garden tips since this was the last workshop before the new year.
Members covered important garden skills such as the ‘4 Finger Test’. This is a common garden tactic used to assess whether a plant or garden bed needs to be watered, despite how it looks on the outside. In order to do this test you insert your finger about 2 inches into the soil. If the soil still feels moist on your fingertip or higher, you can wait before watering. However, if it feels dry then it’s time to water the plant.
Gaia Home Garden Club members also began the process of planting the fall and winter produce that do best in cold temperature, such as garlic which all members took home with them! If you are interested in joining the Gaia Home Garden Club for 2026, send an email to eva@gaia-movement.org.
Gaia Art Exhibition from Zimbabwe
Then came the second event, the art exhibition. This event took a deep look into Zimbabwean art sculptures and the small village in Zimbabwe called Tengenenge that hosts these incredible artists.
Tengenenge is a prominent artist community in Zimbabwe known for continuing traditional stone art. Many renowned stone sculptors have come from this community since 1966, such as Fanizani Akuda, Bernard Matemera, & Sylvester Mubayi.
Gaia was lucky enough to have these sculptures up for display for this event. In addition to the amazing sculptures on display, Gaia’s COO, Marianne, presented interesting facts in a fascinating speech about the Zimbabwean art. It was captivating to learn so much about these handcrafted sculptures and even learn a common Zimbabwean phrase.
Almost as incredible as being able to see these sculptures was the opportunity that Gaia granted community members at the event. Everyone had the opportunity to purchase a small, handcrafted sculpture from artists from Tengenenge. Everyone was so excited to take home their own piece of Zimbabwe with these incredibly detailed and emotional sculptures.
Some people even said that certain sculptures caught their attention and spoke volumes to them. They were all so incredible, but my personal favorites were “If The Eye Offends You, Pluck It Out” and “Spirit in the Stone”. The sculptures were made from different natural stones and portrayed a wide variety of feelings or moments. Quite a few sculptures were purchased during the event. However, if you are interested to see what sculptures remain for purchase, call the main office at 773-651-7870.
The Event Was A Hit!
The taco bar was back with handmade tacos that were, of course, a hit! Everyone was able to enjoy building tacos with fresh ingredients straight off the grill! There was chicken, beef, and vegetables to accomodate any diet. A table was setup with different toppings and sauces to spice up your taco how you liked and everyone went back for seconds and thirds.
We were honored to have live music performed by Russoul for this event. Russoul has been in attendance, and performed, and past Gaia events and produced music that everyone could enjoy. He sang and DJed for this art exhibit event. Everyone enjoyed his original pieces and covers, as well as instrumental songs that went perfectly with the late summer garden event. His music really brought the energy up for this event and was a hit with everyone from the community.
We cannot wait to have more events in the future and for the upcoming Gaia Home Garden Club workshop to start in the spring of 2026. It was a great event, and we have many more planned for next year! If you are interested in viewing the Zimbabwean sculptures on display at the Gaia Climate Center, please call the office to schedule a time to tour the new art exhibition!
Check out the full video of the event on our YouTube! Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date on future events, exhibits and workshops!
