The Liberty Prairie Foundation supports educational programming at the Prairie Crossing Farm to educate and inspire people to value healthy food, land and community.
 
We provide leadership and financial support for local food system development, social entrepreneurship, land conservation, environmental education, and civic engagement.
 
Join us for educational events at the Prairie Crossing Farm.
Organic Plant Sale & Farm Open House

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. Sat. May 14      

Join us for our Organic Plant Sale & Farm Open House from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. Sat. May 14 at the Prairie Crossing Farm!
 
Connect with Prairie Crossing farmers from Duck Tail Farm, Gretta's Goats, Marigold Hill Organics, Radical Root Farm, Sandbox Organics, Sandhill Family Farms, Yaw-Ye Farms, and participants from the Prairie Farm Corps youth development program at this pop-up seasonal farm market. 

In addition to plants and seasonal farm products for sale, FREE hayride tours will be offered at 11:15 and 12:15, along with a FREE seeding activity for kids, and live music! Don't miss it!
 
Our popular farm events balance our public education and outreach with the Prairie Crossing Farmers' needs to safely conduct farm operations on a working organic farm. Click here for more information about the Organic Plant Sale & Farm Open House including information about additional event participants. Join us on May 14 for a fun and educational day on the farm!
New Pastured Pork Facility

This spring, a new fenced in pasture area was built in one of our southern fields. This new facility will provide safe, secure housing for some of the pastured livestock enterprises that have been around the farm for the past couple of years. 

Pasturing livestock is an alternative to the confinement operations that currently dominate our country's livestock production systems. Providing fresh clean pasture to all animals improves their health, the environment and the quality of the protein produced.  
 
This year the majority of this new pasture area will be used by Yaw-Ye Farms and Sandbox Organics to raise 25-30 piglets of heritage breeds to market in the fall using rotational grazing. Our Farm Business Development Center farmers have been using this system for the past 5 years on smaller paddocks around the farmstead. Creating the new larger area of pasture will help farmers here do even better at making sure fresh green grass is always available for the animals.  
 
We hope you'll stop by to meet all the farmers at our annual Organic Plant Sale & Farm Open House from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. Sat., May 14. As always, you can learn what's happening at the farm by following us on Facebook or visiting www.libertyprairie.org.
Get Ready for Gleaning 
                                               
Looking for a meaningful volunteer activity that makes a difference in your local community? Come glean with the Liberty Prairie Foundation this season! 

Gleaning begins on Sun., Jun. 19 from 1 - 5 p.m. and continues on Sundays (except Jul. 3) throughout the summer, depending on crop availability. Click here for information and email gleaning@libertyprairie.org to join the gleaning program email list.

Thanks to the generosity of Sandhill Family Farms, more than 5,000 pounds of vegetables were gleaned in 2015. The fresh vegetables were delivered to local food pantries including the Northern Illinois Food Bank, Avon Township Food Pantry, COOL Food Pantry, and Roberti Community House.
 
Gleaning is a meaningful volunteer experience that makes a difference AND provides a "behind the scenes" view of organic agriculture. Click here for more information and join us on the farm this season!
Support the Prairie Farm Corps
 
The Prairie Farm Corps integrates personal and professional development with farm work, and provides hands-on experience cooking fresh vegetables and practicing healthy eating habits.

After-school work sessions are held in the spring and the full program begins in June. Recently participants have been practicing customer service skills and potting plants for the Organic Plant Sale & Farm Open House, which serves as a fundraiser for this youth development program.

Another weekly component of the after-school work sessions is the popular "snack hack", pictured above. Lead by Karina, a returning Prairie Farm Corps member who is now a crew leader, participants make simple snacks that are healthy alternatives to junk food. Recent "snack hacks" have included bruschetta, pico de gallo, baked potatoes, and quesadillas. 

The Prairie Farm Corps cultivates vegetables for the Libertyville Farmers Market, open on Thursdays from 7 a.m. - 1 p.m. June 23 - Oct. 20. They also distribute vegetables through the Women, Infant & Children (WIC) Farmers Market Nutrition Program in Round Lake and Waukegan, and a vegetable distribution program at Beacon Place in Waukegan.  
 
Visit the Prairie Farm Corps at this Saturday's Organic Plant Sale & Farm Open House and the Libertyville Farmers Market beginning June 23. Thank you for your support!
Community Connections
                                                
Through the Liberty Prairie Foundation's community food systems work, we continue to build and strengthen connections between the Prairie Crossing Farm and the larger community.  

The Liberty Prairie Foundation has been working on the Waukegan Local Food Project for several years. In 2014, we initiated a pilot project to provide fresh vegetables to low-income Waukegan residents through a partnership with Beacon Place. 
 
Produce grown by the Prairie Farm Corps is distributed at Beacon Place each week during their Lunch Bunch and Beacon Backpack programs. This certified organic produce is tended and harvested alongside produce destined for the Libertyville Farmers Market and the WIC program in Round Lake. 

Several varieties of fresh vegetables are harvested and transported to Waukegan, where they are offered at deeply discounted prices to the women who participate in Beacon Place's parent support program while their children take part in the Lunch Bunch. Recipes are provided in English and Spanish to share ideas for preparing produce in a way that will be popular for families. 

Click here to learn more about the overall Waukegan Local Food Project that initiated this vegetable distribution program at Beacon Place. 
In the News
                                               
The Prairie Crossing Farm and/or our Farm Business Development Center farmers were included in several recent publications and videos: 
Lots of fantastic reading/viewing to enjoy on a rainy spring day!
About the Prairie Crossing Farm      

The Prairie Crossing Farm is a working organic farm nestled inside the Prairie Crossing community in Grayslake, Illinois. The Prairie Crossing Farm is owned by the Liberty Prairie Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

 

The Foundation operates a variety of programs at the Prairie Crossing Farm to advance our mission. The Farm Business Development Center, an incubator program, prepares beginning farmers to meet the demand for locally-grown organic food in the Chicago region. The independently-owned Prairie Crossing Farm businesses serve customers throughout the Chicago region.

 

The 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. Educational programming includes the Prairie Farm Corps youth development program, seasonal events, and more.
32400 North Harris Road
Grayslake, IL 60030

Copyright © 2016. All Rights Reserved.