by Eric Izzo, Assistant Farm Manager   Life is slowly springing up around McDonald Farm. Some of this life I find more exciting than others. The first week of April on the farm, in no particular order, I walked by some blooming Virginia bluebells, the very first wild asparagus shoots, nice patches of tender stinging nettle leaves, the subtle yellow flowers of cornelian cherry dogwood, swelling buds of juneberry, recently germinated spinach and carrot plants, and oats + peas cover crop just beginning to poke out of the soil. I’m also starting to see plenty of garlic mustard, honeysuckle, q ..read more

Photograph by Nannette Abate, Courtesy of the artist   A preserved tree standing defiantly with a fence forced to go around it symbolizes how art and conservation benefit each other. Conservation preserves nature, which inspires art. Art, in turn, can advocate for conservation.   Nature Inspires Art Simply put, conservation preserves nature and nature inspires art. This has been true throughout human history. Artists often will take their canvases, paints, and paintbrushes into the great outdoors so they can paint amidst the natural beauty that they wish to depict. Many famous artist ..read more

Purchase your ticker for our annual Earth Day Benefit Dinner on Thursday, April 25th! This event is a critical source of funding for our important work to save nearby nature and protect waterways.   2024 Earth Day Benefit Dinner Thursday, April 25th 5:00 – 9:00pm Bobak’s Signature Events The post 2024 Earth Day Benefit Dinner first appeared on The Conservation Foundation. The post 2024 Earth Day Benefit Dinner appeared first on The Conservation Foundation ..read more

By Russ Cerocke, Farm Manager Climate, it’s changing, and it’s on many people’s minds, most certainly ours. This winter has been brief and spring has certainly sprung earlier than usual. Although we are currently experiencing an El Nino weather pattern leading to a warmer and drier winter for our area, I have no memory of a winter in Chicagoland being this warm and this dry. How much is due to the cyclical El Nino and how much is due to global climate change? Someone with more degrees than I might be able to clarify, but I surely can’t. What I can say is that these weather patterns do feel off ..read more

Spring has sprung in northeastern Illinois, and nature in our neighborhoods is beginning to wake up. From bird migrations to the first appearances of woodland flowers, these spring happenings don’t last long. So, grab your boots and binoculars and head outdoors to see them before they’re gone! 1. Sandhill Cranes You know spring is kicking off when you hear the familiar call of sandhill cranes and rush outside to spot them overhead! Sandhill cranes spend the winter in Florida, New Mexico, or Texas. Come springtime, they head to their breeding grounds up north. As they pass by or stop for a ..read more

Source of Picture: Arbor Hills Tree Farm   Most people think charcoal is only meant for use in a BBQ. But there is a version of charcoal called biochar that helps with sustainability. Biochar is used to improve soil quality, sequester carbon, and enhance agricultural productivity. And, as exotic as it sounds, you can buy it from your local hardware store or garden center.   What is biochar? Biochar is a stable solid, rich in carbon made from organic waste material or biomass that is partially combusted in the presence of limited oxygen. The qualities that make up biochar vary dependi ..read more

Gratitude for Wastewater Treatment Plants We flush away our waste with just a push of the toilet handle. Our dirty sink and bathwater flow down the drain without any effort on our part. Obviously, the wastewater does not simply disappear. Instead, it flows into the sewage system and is directed to a wastewater treatment plant. Wastewater treatment plants are an essential part of our infrastructure. They protect our quality of life and the environment. Without wastewater treatment plants, our way of life would be dramatically affected. Yet, the sewage system and water treatment work so well th ..read more

Healthy Rivers = Healthy People Rivers connect people, they are the receiver of our wastewater and stormwater and they reflect all of the things we do on the land. If we have healthy aquatic communities, we likely have healthy people communities too.  What lives in our streams? As part of our stream monitoring program, we collect and identify fish and macroinvertebrates, the bugs that spend part or all of their life cycle in the water and freshwater mussels.   Fish We have over 70 species of fish in the Lower DuPage River/Lower Des Plaines River watersheds. T ..read more

Did you know other local growers visit Green Earth’s farmshare pickups so participants can take home farm-fresh eggs, milk, meat, fruit, oats, grains, beans, sourdough breads and flowers, in addition to our certified organic veggies? To learn more about our Farm Family Partners and their farmshare add-ons, scroll below!                       The post Meet Green Earth Harvest’s Farm Family Partners first appeared on The Conservation Foundation. The post Meet Green Earth Harvest’s Farm Family Partners appeared first on The Conservation ..read more

By Russ Cerocke, Farm Manager   Bonafide and certified with no herbicide! At Green Earth Harvest, we grow food that is certified organic because we want our community to know that we do our best to provide responsibly grown food, and we can prove it! In order to maintain this certification, there are several guidelines to follow and costs that we incur. These guidelines, and the backing of the USDA, are what make ‘USDA Organic’ certification the most verifiable of food certifications. I’d first like to speak to some of the rules we must follow. One requirement most are familiar with is th ..read more