The Liberty Prairie Foundation supports educational programming at the Prairie Crossing Farm to educate and inspire people to value healthy food, land and community through experiences on our farm.
 

The Liberty Prairie Foundation provides  leadership and financial support for local food system development, social entrepreneurship, land conservation, environmental education, and civic engagement.   


We hope to see you at our upcoming events!
Fabulous Fall Events
        

Thank you to everyone who attended our Oct. Fall Festival and Nov. Growing a Greener World  screening event. We enjoy connecting to share our passion for sustainable agriculture and conservation!

 

We hope these events provided "food for thought" as well as connections with farm businesses for more tangible locally produced food from the Prairie Crossing farmers.

 

If you missed the PBS show featuring Prairie Crossing and the Prairie Crossing Farm, the "Greening of Suburbia", stream it anytime to revisit some early summer scenes. It's the perfect antidote to a cold winter day! 

 

Stay tuned for future event announcements including another film event this winter and our annual spring Plant Sale & Farm Open House.   

Midnight Sun Farm Transitions to New Farm Home

We are pleased to announce that Midnight Sun Farm has graduated from our Farm Business Development Center (FBDC), and is in the process of transitioning to their new farm home in Harvard, Illinois. 

The FBDC is a launching pad for beginning farm businesses growing to meet the demand for locally-grown organic food in the Chicago region. We provide new farmers an incubator setting with affordable access to certified organic land near the Chicago-area customer base, and access to experienced mentor farmers.

Midnight Sun grows certified organic produce and raises pastured laying hens for eggs. They begin their sixth year as an independent farm business in 2015 at their new location in Harvard. Midnight Sun sells certified organic produce at the Glenwood Sunday Market (in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood), the Glenview Farmers Market, and has a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program through which customers receive weekly boxes of produce during the growing season.
 
Visit their website, www.midnightsunfarm.com for updates as they complete their move and begin to plan for next year. Best of luck to Midnight Sun Farm!
Seedling Donations Take Root
By Lexie Raczka            

Each spring and summer the Liberty Prairie Foundation coordinates a seedling donation program in partnership with the Prairie Crossing farmers and organizations growing food for vulnerable populations.

 

Between April and June this year, over 9,000 seedlings were donated by the Prairie Crossing farmers and planted in food pantry gardens and at other programs dedicated to providing healthy food to those with limited access to fresh vegetables.

 

The Chapel's (Mundelein) CARE Garden received over 100 seedlings and harvested over 1,000 pounds of produce which was distributed to those in need at The Chapel's Community Care Program in Grayslake. This project not only provided seedlings - it made it more affordable for The Chapel to distribute fresh produce, and sparked interest in sustainable agriculture amongst people of all ages and backgrounds.

 

The Holy Family Food Pantry in Waukegan turned gardening into a project for the entire community. The garden, which included a number of seedlings from our Seedling Donation Project, hosted work days when the food pantry was open and grew fresh produce for those involved.

 

The Foundation is pleased to coordinate this annual program to connect excess seedlings from the Prairie Crossing Farmers with a variety of community organizations serving under-resourced families. If you're connected with an organization growing food for a free distribution program, contact Emily Weber at [email protected] to be added to our contact list.

 

On behalf of all the organizations that received seedlings, we thank Sandhill Family Farms, Midnight Sun Farms, and the Prairie Farm Corps for their donations this past season. We'd also like to thank Conserve Lake County for their generous donations of vegetable seedlings at the conclusion of their annual plant sale.


Prairie Farm Corps Summary

This season 14 area high school students acquired gardening, farming and cooking skills in the Prairie Farm Corps as they practiced skills critical to personal and professional success throughout their lives.

 

Prairie Farm Corps participants increased their farm and garden skills 550% over the course of the program developing skills including direct seeding, harvesting crops, maintaining a garden, and crop identification.

 

They also grew professionally increasing competence in skills including effective communication, teamwork, customer service, and professionalism. All felt they had experienced at least "some improvement" in all areas over the course of the program and "significant or dramatic improvement" in 4.3 out of 6 categories of professional skills. 
 

Participants enjoyed the fruits of their labor as they also learned to cook. In June they felt confident in performing 15 of 39 basic kitchen skills that ranged from preparing a salad and chopping vegetables to slightly more advanced tasks like saut�ing and baking bread. This grew to 27 out of 39 by August - an 80% increase.  Download the Prairie Farm Corps cookbook so you can also enjoy some of the favorite meals from the summer!

 

Quotes from Prairie Farm Corps Participants

 "I have grown a lot through the program and learned many strategies that will help me grow in the future. Also I've learned many new vegetables that I didn't know before, for example, chard, kale and fennel." - 2014 PFC participant

 

"I see this experience taking action later in life while going through my career. I see myself talking in public, taking on full responsibility, and being more confident." - 2014 PFC participant 


Home Energy Event - 7 p.m. Wed., Nov. 18 


Want to trim your home's energy bill while being a "green" homeowner?

Join Elevate Energy and the Sierra Club - Woods & Wetlands Group at 7 p.m. Wed., Nov. 18 at the Byron Colby Barn for a free home energy event.

 

Over the last two years, more than 4,000 Chicago area homeowners took advantage of the Energy Impact Illinois (EI2) program to make cost effective home energy improvements. EI2 is a program of the non-profit Elevate Energy organization, an affiliate of the Center for Neighborhood Technology.

 

Click here for additional event details

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Prairie Crossing Farm
www.libertyprairie.org, 847-548-4062
32400 North Harris Road
Grayslake, IL 60030

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