road trip next spring

[ljgeoff]

The Charleston Food Forest is located at 825 18th Street, Charleston, Illinois. Google maps tells me that it's about 370 miles from Lansing, so I'll plan a 3-4 day trip, maybe do one of their events or volunteer for a day.

All of what I know on this subject is book-learning or YouTube. I need to get out there and see it.

Comments

[elainegrey]

That looks fascinating!

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

It really is. This is my local food forest and I discovered it this time last year. :D I have visited several times to gather seeds and ripe edibles. I've got photos of it on my blog if you want to see -- here's the latest batch.

I wish that every town had a food forest like this, and a community garden growing landrace crops, so that anyone moving in could get starts of what will grow there.

Re: Yes ...

[elainegrey]

Our library system has a seed library for seed sharing -- don't know if anyone is sharing their landrace yet. And we have a destination space call The Plant htat has a meadery, brewery, distillery, native plant nursery and many other things that is also landscaped with edible plants. It's lovely. There's a local land race of pawpaws and i'm growing a few trees from seeds from those fruits. I think the ideas are catching on. It may not express in the same way everywhere, but the community growth efforts are there.

Re: Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Our library system has a seed library for seed sharing <<

That is so awesome! :D I've only encountered a few examples of seed sharing in person, but would love to find more.

>> don't know if anyone is sharing their landrace yet. <<

Landraces are very easy to start for some plants. I have various ones that just popped up on their own. The Shithouse Marigolds have been established and named for several years. I am currently working to develop a sunflower landrace and a zinnia landrace. I also saved seeds from a tiny, delicious butternut squash.

>>And we have a destination space call The Plant htat has a meadery, brewery, distillery, native plant nursery and many other things that is also landscaped with edible plants. It's lovely.<<

O.O *ENVY*

>> There's a local land race of pawpaws and i'm growing a few trees from seeds from those fruits.<<

Well, my pawpaw seedlings made it to autumn, so I'll have to see if they leaf out come spring.

>> I think the ideas are catching on. It may not express in the same way everywhere, but the community growth efforts are there.<<

I hope so. We desperately need it -- especially for native crops like pawpaws that are more resilient than overbred domestic ones.

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>I'll plan a 3-4 day trip, <<

Detroit to Charleston is doable in a day if you push it -- we've done that because my partner Doug is from there and has family in the area -- but overnighting is much easier. Lansing is a little farther north but way farther west, so you may come out ahead on that.

Effingham puts out several regional magazines of which A Day Away is a guide to central Illinois events and attractions. It comes out twice a year, Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer. The PDF is free and paper copies are offered free through various locations. Among the things they feature are local farms and orchards that have public activities, so you might find useful information there. One of our finds this summer at the Marshall Farmers Market was a biodynamic farm.

>>maybe do one of their events or volunteer for a day.<<

So far, all their events that I have seen listed were morning ones, typically around 9 AM. There are plenty of hotels in the area, so if you get in the night before and you're functional in the morning, that should work. They do tours of the Food Forest and sometimes other things like gardening days.

Worth noting is that the Food Forest is open 24 hours a day if you are not a morning person. The welcome sign usually has flyers with the map. I go in the afternoons and have never seen another person working at that time -- I suspect their folks are mostly morning larks, not night owls like me.

>>All of what I know on this subject is book-learning or YouTube. I need to get out there and see it.<<

You can learn a lot that way, I have, but there are limitations. Crucially it can't tell if you like things. I tried scarlet goumi berries when they ripened in the Food Forest and was utterly unimpressed. So now I know that I don't need to grow those. I got some crosne knotroots last year which I've grown in pots this year and am waiting for those to mature so I can taste-test them.