DuPage Forest Preserve Referendum

Illinois has an Official State Mushroom!

In August, Governor Pritzker signed SB3514, designating the Calvatia gigantea, commonly known as the “giant puffball,” as the official mushroom of the State of Illinois.

Senate Bill 3514 began as an initiative led by elementary school students from Prairie School of DuPage in Wheaton, who embarked on a civic journey to see their chosen mushroom recognized as a state symbol.

“Today we celebrate not only a new state symbol, but the hard work and dedication of our state’s young leaders,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “The giant puffball will now stand as a testament to the curiosity and determination of the bright students of Illinois, who have shown us that even the youngest among us can make a difference.”  (Read full press release here)

What an impressive accomplishment; we are grateful! Prairie School is offering their limited edition Giant Puffball T-Shirt, featuring design inspired by work of current Prairie School Upper Elementary student Dharma Bolger through mid-November. Order your t-shirt here.  

Cardboard & Garden Donations

We'd like to thank those who donated their clean cardboard to us this past season. However, with the garden project currently closed, we ask that no more cardboard donations be made to our "cardboard depot". Instead of being helpful, the overwintered cardboard will not get used in a timely manner and will become habitat for mice and other unwelcome garden pests. We'd hate to see your generosity turn into a problem instead of a gift, so we ask that you observe our "closed" sign on our drop-off area. We'll be happy to accept your cardboard donations again in the spring. The good news is that cardboard is one of the most highly recycled materials, with over 90% put into recycling getting reused and repurposed! 

If you have a donation of physical goods you are considering for us to use in our garden space, like old tools or gardening materials, please reach out to Lindsay (lindsayz@sustaindupage.com) first to make sure we can accommodate them. During our off-season, any surprise drop-offs become problematic for our volunteer staff as well as the grounds crew and have the potential to become damaged due to our not being aware of them. 

Member Market

Although the last Member Market was in October, we will be sending out a message to Members if we have any excess garden products to share before Thanksgiving. We might not have much, but if there's anything available, we will let you know. We are always looking for ways we can improve our market experience for next year too, so let us know if you have any ideas or comments! As always, thank you for your continued support as Members! 

 

Gardeners 

With the Gardeners project finishing up for the year, we'd like to invite those who worked with us this past season to send Lindsay (lindsayz@sustaindupage.com) their name and contact information so they can receive their share of our loofah harvest as thanks for their hard work. The loofah are still drying, so we don't know how large our final harvest of sponges will be, but we'll let you know when they're ready.

 

Compost Crew 

Although we advocate for leaving your leaves in place for insect habitat, we understand most people don't want them in their yards. So, if you're going to get rid of them, why pay to send them to a landfill when you can drop them off for FREE and turn them into soil that will help grow local food?

Bring your bagged leaves to our compost site and we'll take care of them for you. For the health and safety of our volunteers and our garden, we ask that you don't include any of the following:

• Large sticks or thorny branches (including rose and raspberry canes)
• Plastic garbage
• Animal droppings
• Chemically treated lawn clippings

If you'd like to save your bags, dump the leaves to the side of our bins and take the bags back with you. We take drop-offs from dawn to dusk at our garden location. Park near the green garages and follow the signs to Sustain DuPage and you'll see our composting area to the right as you come down our garden path.

Please note that the grounds are both a school as well as an arboretum, so we ask people not to drive to the compost pile and to be careful during school hours. Our volunteers can help you unload your car between 9 AM-12 PM on Saturday mornings in October if you need assistance.  

If you're interested in volunteering with our Compost Crew, please contact Stasia via email here. It's a great way to get exercise as you help the environment!

 

Food Security Squad 

Our first annual "spice drive" for World Food Day in October brought in 77 individual containers, including basil, cinnamon, pepper and many more. We know that these spices will be a welcome commodity at the local pantry! 

We have received the following suggestion for next year's FSS effort:

1.  Give a class at the food pantry on how to plant seeds/seedlings and take care of them. 
2.  Grow specific amounts/types of veggie seedlings for giveaways at the food pantries.
3.  Group volunteer opportunities at the food pantry during months outside of the SD Garden project. 

Watch for updates on the above and keep the suggestions coming! Please  email Diane here or email Betty here.  

Giving Opportunity from Ampleharvest.org

Have you ever wanted to learn how to make an edible arrangement and use your festive gatherings as an opportunity for giving? AmpleHarvest.org would like us to join them this holiday season with their “Centerpieces for Pantries” campaign.

 

Go to Centerpieces-pantries for more information about the campaign and DIY Edible Centerpieces for Pantries for ideas on how to make the arrangements.

The FSS will be at the SD garden on Saturday, November 30th from 10-11:30 to collect donations of the food items used in your holiday arrangements.  They will be donated to the Peoples Resource Center on the following Monday.

In Our Community

11/02/24 or 11/09/24 SCARCE Pumpkin Smash, many locations in DuPage

Annual effort by communities to divert pumpkins from landfills by providing locations for residents to drop-off jack-o-lanterns to be composted. Don’t Trash it, Smash it! Find the location closest to you here. 

11/07/24 7 PM DuPage Organic Garden Club - Local Foods 
From farm shares to farmers' markets, farm stands, and from our yards, local foods are important for our environment and our health! Join The Conservation Foundation's Green Earth Harvest Organic Farm Manager, Russell Cerocke, to learn about local foods, where to get them, and how to grow them, including some you can grow on your own all the way into the fall. Reserve your space here at the Carol Stream Public Library.

11/08/24 1 PM Lombard Garden Club - The Curative Powers of Tea  
Marcy Lautanen-Raleigh will discuss the difference between black tea and herb tea as well as what herbs make good tea.  Learn how to formulate your own teas and the various medicinal properties discovered throughout time of various plants. Free, public welcome! Lombard Community Building, 433 E. St. Charles Road in Lombard.   

11/20/24 7 PM Bat Conservation in Illinois Join Jeff Gahris and the River Prairie Group to learn about the bats in Illinois with the Illinois Bat Conservation Program! The talk will focus on Illinois 13 bat species, what work does a bat biologist do to help monitor bat species, and what you can do to help conserve bats right in your own yard! RSVP here: Sierra Club Illinois Chapter  

Coming up in Sustain DuPage

12/7/24 10 AM - 2 PM. Winter Gathering & Art Festival Group outing to Trickster Cultural Center in Schaumburg, established in 2005 to create a unique contemporary view of Native arts, cultural education, and awareness. It is the first Native American owned and operated arts institution in the state of Illinois. Look for more details here and in our December newsletter.    

If your organization's event falls within the mission of Sustain DuPage and you'd like to advertise it in our newsletter, please contact us at info@sustaindupage.com.