Sunday, May 4, 2014

The 2014 Green Earth Fair in Naperville

There are many ecologically-focused festivals in the western suburbs these days.  The strong interest in family-oriented activities like this reveals the depth of our commitment to our regional environment.  One of the longer-lasting and genuinely enjoyable of these is the Good Earth Festival in southern Naperville, located on the grounds of the Conservation Foundation and the Green Earth Institute.  The Institute is a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) enterprise that produces organic vegetables to its customers.


This year's festival was held today on a cool May day in a beautiful rural-like farm setting within Naperville's city limits.  Various organizations and vendors were present, along with continuous live music all afternoon, good food, and a number of children's activities.

As stated in a Meet-Up event review about this year's festival, 
Just love this event. It's outdoors, with lots of environmental and sustainable groups represented. Plus, there are informative presentations - e.g., I heard one on fruit tree guilds. You can also purchase vegetable seedlings, fresh eggs, organic fertilizer, jellies, & sauerkraut. There's also a delightful children's garden area with gnomes and oversized insects. We had some very good chili, too. Always meet such interesting people.


Successful events do not happen by themselves.  They are the result of extensive planning and preparation. After coming down from clouds in the wake of the our very successful Earth Day festival at Lake Ellyn, we are already thinking about next year. Naperville is giving us some good ideas.

Saturday, May 3, 2014

May events update

May 5 (this Sunday afternoon) - Green Earth Fair in Naperville, http://greenearthinstitute.org/
 
May 7 - Wheaton Glen Ellyn book fair begins, http://wheatonglenellyn-il.aauw.net/
 
May 9 - Just Views film and discussion about health and sustainably-grown food (see article below)
 
May 10 - Lombard Pride clean-up day, Village of Lombard
 
Railroad heritage exhibit has opened at the Glen Ellyn History Center, Patch article
 
The volcano mulching scourge on parkway trees continues. Yes, you need to tell your mulching contractor how to do it right!  See Village of Glen Ellyn
 
Sign up for the SCARCE newsletter for even more information about environmental information, see upper right corner at SCARCE
 

A quick note about the Earth Day Festival at Lake Ellyn. By all accounts it was a successful , enjoyable and well-attended event.  Regretfully, we had parking problems due in part to another nearby event.  Any suggestions for future Earth Day events in Glen Ellyn are always welcomed!