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Edible Forest Garden Dedication May 7th

The Resiliency Institute invites you to join us in CELEBRATING the dedication of the Whole Foods Market Edible Forest Garden, the FIRST public forest garden and Growing Food Security project in Naperville!

Come out to the dedication on May 7th of the Whole Foods Market Edible Forest Garden and take a tour where you can learn how to begin incorporating permaculture design into your own life and landscape. Meet the many volunteers, boy scouts, organizations and businesses who made this project possible and join us in extending our appreciation. Buy some plants to begin transforming your own landscape and sample some wild edible treats. Everyone is invited to attend to see what the power of community can build!

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Growing Food Security Program

edible-forest-garden-grandpa-child-pear

feedingamerica-foodbank-illinois-northernillinoisfoodbank-2012Food security is achieved when "all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life," according to the World Health Organization. With 1 in 8 families facing hunger in Northern Illinois, our suburban communities are not food secure. The current food system's dependency on cheap fossil fuels and transportation infrastructure cannot be sustained as resources become constrained, not to mention the impacts their practices have on soil, air, water, and human health. If food delivery trucks stop coming into your community, how long do you think you will be able to feed your family with the food you have access to in your home and from your land? Most communities are said to have only about three days worth of food in their local grocery stores.

It is imperative that we begin growing a new food system that places food security as the primary goal. With more than half of the U.S. population living in the suburbs and an abundance of land, the suburbs can become food producing communities able to feed themselves and support neighboring urban and rural communities.

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Building a Permaculture

McDonald Farm Edible Forest Garden, Fall 2013

The McDonald Farm Edible Forest Garden project is beginning to take shape thanks to all of the Permablitz volunteers and sponsors!
Permablitz Volunteers

Jane, Charlotte, Kyle, Jean, Paul, Dennis, Sarah, Justin, Jan, Joe, Casey, Phil, Karen, Dan, Dave, Beth, Emilee, Chris, Margaret, Carrie, Donna, Aidan, Colin, Mary, Bill, Mike, Jeff, Chuck and Dan.

Sponsors

T & M Tree Service
Colorblends
Evergreens of Elwood
City of Naperville

 

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Forest Garden on McDonald Farm

TCF McDonald Farm signWe are designing and installing the FIRST FOREST GARDEN  in Naperville, IL on The Conservation Foundation McDonald Farm!

A forest garden is a gardening technique or land management system that mimics a woodland ecosystem but substitutes in plants which can include edible, medicinal, fiber, dye, and fuel  producing trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals.  Companions or beneficial plants are included as insectaries, pest confusers, dynamic accumulators, nitrogen fixers, and mulch plants. Together they create relationships to form a perennial forest garden ecosystem able to produce high yields of food for human consumption, ultimately with minimal maintenance.

The McDonald Farm forest garden will be a demonstration design for people to interact with and learn from and serve as an inspiration for transforming suburban lawns.   We will also be using this project as a hands-on learning opportunity for our upcoming Permaculture Design Course, Food Forest Workshop, and Homestead Design Workshops.

We welcome volunteers who are interested in supporting this project and are available to donate skills and labor between August and October.

Enjoy the many photos Jodi and Karen took as they were collecting information for the site assessment.

Treeline that will become the forest garden
Treeline that will become the forest garden

Jodi identifying xxx
Jodi identifying goatsbeard

Thistle
Nodding Thistle

Bluebird
Barn Swallow

Treeline from another angle
Treeline from another angle

Rain barrel and rain garden at Clow House
Rain barrel and rain garden at Clow House

Mound of prairie dirt needing to be incorporated into treeline.
Mound of prairie dirt needing to be incorporated into treeline.

Rocks to move and find uses for
Rocks to move and find uses for

Area to be cleared once we get rid of the poison ivy.
Area to be cleared once we get rid of the poison ivy.

Iris growing in the treeline
Iris growing in the treeline

Thistle
Nodding Thistle. Beautiful, but still a THISTLE
Look what Karen found!
Karen found one of the farm residents:  Bufo Americanus