Sustainable Home Tour

Sustain DuPage presents a tour of Prairie Sun, the home of sustainability maverick Pat Armstrong on Sunday, March 23rd from 1:30-3:30 in Naperville, IL.

In 1983, Pat and her husband designed and built their home to harmonize with the natural ecosystems of northern Illinois. This energy-efficient home utilizes both active and passive solar energy and is landscaped with over 300 species of native trees, shrubs, prairie grasses, and wildflowers.  Click here to learn more and purchase tickets.  There is a 10% discount for Sustain DuPage Members. 

Now for something completely different...

Sustain DuPage is embarking on The Great Web Re-Pot—a fun website redesign project! Just like repotting a plant gives it space to grow, we’re giving our website a fresh start to better serve our community.

We need volunteers who are passionate about making an impact, wanting to try something new and if you have experience in websites, photography, graphic design and project management that’s a bonus but not necessary.  

The Great Web Re-Pot kicks off in March with a planned launch by June (fingers crossed) so if you interested in helping out please reach out to Rob England  roberte@sustaindupage.com  / 630-347-6214 and he can give you all the nitty gritty details. Let’s nurture this project together and watch it grow

Gearing Up For Gardening!

After "hibernating" during the winter, many of us aren't quite ready for the rigors of gardening season. Get your body prepared to take on those big tasks so you don't spend spring huffing and puffing or nursing pulled muscles! Member and Volunteer Kate will guide us through weekly, online movement and yoga classes that will focus on getting us garden-ready. Over these four classes she'll cover the following:  

• Early garden prep (strength training)
• Preparing the body before getting into the garden (stretching)
• How to properly carry, lift, bend and reach (ergonomics*)
• How to undo it when you've overdone it! (recovery)

 
Pre-Garden Yoga will take place on consecutive Fridays: March 7th,14th, 21st, 28th. The class will be live at 10 am CST @ https://www.youtube.com/@GIYoga . For those who can't make it, the exercises will be uploaded at a later date.

Usually a Member-exclusive event, we are opening this year's "Squirrel's Nest" to people who are interested in becoming Members of Sustain DuPage but would like to learn more. The usual content of a Squirrel's Nest meeting includes social time to meet other Members, a presentation of the current state of Sustain DuPage and our plans for the coming year, as well as all of the Member-exclusive benefits and content we have planned. You'll even get a transparent look at our financials and how we use our donations and funds. This is also the best time to get in touch with us to share ideas about how we can do even more for our community or ways people can step up and run their own projects or outings. Members will be issued an evite link via a separate email, but non-Members should RSVP at  info@sustaindupage.com if interested. 

This year's event is happening Sunday March 9th from 2 PM to 4 PM at the Helen Plum library in Lombard. Doors open at 1:45 PM.     

 

One Seed, One Community

 

For those participating in our One Seed, One Community project this year, it's time to think about the perfect sunny location for your Norfolk Spinach!

Spinach grows best in cool weather and should be planted in early spring for seed saving; likely the first week of April here in DuPage. 

For best yields, plan to harvest continually and make successive plantings every ten days. Keep in mind, we need to thin seedlings 8-12" apart for optimal seed saving, so make sure to allow enough space in your garden plan. 

To get an overview of the entire process of growing spinach and saving seed, read through this article from Seed Savers Exchange.   

Instructions to grow with Sustain DuPage will continue each month, but if you have any questions please email Betty here or our general email box.

NOTE: If you're growing Cherokee Trail of Tears Pole Bean with us, instructions won't start until our May newsletter.   

 

Creators

 

Join us for a fun and free Creators event this March! Creators, the SD project based on art and creativity, will be hosting one of their open meetings and group craft times on Sunday March 30th from 2-4 pm at the Wheaton Public Library.  If you have a piece you've been working on, like drawing, knitting, etc. feel free to bring it for our "chat & craft" time. We'll also have materials on hand for a fun art project if you'd like to try something new! We'll be making paint palettes out of seashells and air-dry clay that we can use later this year when we do art in the garden. Feel free to bring your own shells if you have any that have special meaning to you. This event is free, but donations for supplies are always appreciated if you feel moved to do so. We have room for 30 crafters, so please RSVP at info@sustaindupage.com  to reserve your spot! 

For the local herbalists, tea, and flower enthusiasts, the "Flower Power" planning team for the SD Garden will also be discussing ideas for our tea, medicinal, craft material, and cut flower beds during the meeting. If that interests you, please come join us!  

 

Food Security Squad

We had a great little group who volunteered at the PRC Food Pantry on 2/15.  We helped load groceries into the vehicles of over 160 families that day and also direct traffic! We have another Sustain DuPage volunteer date scheduled with the PRC on Saturday, April 12^th from 8:00 – 11:00 am.  Please let me know if you would like to join us. 

By the time this newsletter comes out, volunteers will be planting tomato seeds for seedlings we will donate the week of 5/19, to the PRC. There is still time to add your name to this volunteer list if you are interested. 

As you plan your garden for this year, please consider planting an extra row or a few extra plants of veggies/herbs that can be donated to the FSS project, knowing it will help support our DuPage County neighbors in need.

Please send an email to dianef@sustaindupage.org or info@sustaindupage.org  with questions or to volunteer for our projects.

 

  

Gardeners

The Gardeners have spent the last month making plans for this year's garden. Exciting improvements to look forward to are new garden beds, a redesigned social area, and the start of a new wash station! Last week we covered some crop selection and finalized our overall focus for this year's garden season. We'll soon be announcing via this newsletter, our Gardeners mailing list, and the Sustain DuPage calendar when in-person garden workdays will be starting this spring.

 

Seed Cache

The Seed Cache Crew is happy to announce that we are ready to offer access to the Seed Cache to Members of Sustain DuPage!  About 100 varieties, mostly of Peas, Beans, Lettuce and Tomatoes will be on offer, so consider holding a few spots in your garden plan. Many are not available commercially but are beautiful and delicious varieties grown by our Grow Out Crew and mentors at Downers Legacy Seed Library. SD Members will receive an email soon with further information. This has been a long time coming, and we appreciate everyone's enthusiasm and patience. 

In Our Community

03/06/25 7 PM DuPage Organic Garden Club - The Making of a Rain Garden Join Joe LeCroy, from Saving Monarchs, as he explains how he used rain gardens to address flooding issues in his yard and transform his turf yard into a nature haven with native plants. RSVP here.

03/10/25 7 PM River Prairie Sierra Club - Clean & Equitable Transportation Event This is your chance to make your voice heard, learn about the future of Illinois transportation (EV's, grid, TRAILS and bike friendly streets too!). and help drive meaningful change. Free, register here. 

03/28/25 12:30 Lombard Garden Club - The Long Blooming Perennial Garden Guest Speaker Dolly Foster will review the best long blooming plants and new fabulous plants for the year. . Whether you have a new garden or a mature, established one, it can always use a little “fine tuning.” Learn about extending your garden show by adding plants to the beginning and end of the season. Review the best long blooming plants and new fabulous plants for the year. Details here.  

04/24/25 10 AM-12 PM DuPage County Farm Bureau -"Grow Where You Are" Don't miss this exciting (and FREE) collaboration between the Farm Bureau and The GardenWorks Project held at the county fairgrounds! Get hands-on experience learning about soil health and urban gardening, followed by a free lunch. All materials for the hands-on demonstration will be provided, register by April 11th to secure a limited spot! 

Coming up in Sustain DuPage

3/9//25 2 PM Squirrel Nest Annual Meeting - Sustain DuPage Members, please SAVE THE DATE. Invitation with details will be out soon. Any questions, please email our general email here.  

3/15/25 10 AM Pollinator Blitz: Bringing Conservation Home - Mayslake Peabody Estate, Oakbrook. Stop by our booth to learn more about Sustain DuPage, our mission, and how you can get involved. Event details here.      

3/23/25 1:30 PM Pat Armstrong: Prairie Sun Home Tour - Naperville. Look for details in our March 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.

Stay Up to Date With Sustain DuPage

Did you know 2025 marks Sustain DuPage's 10th anniversary? We're excited about the year ahead and have many programs and activities planned through our various mission projects. As you can see from the image above, that's a lot of projects to keep track of. We do our best to give you the highlights through our monthly newsletter, but many of our main projects also have their own mailing lists that can keep you up to date with their specific events and news.

If you'd like to receive periodic, focused information from these projects, like meeting opportunities and important updates, click on the project name to be taken to its sign-up form.

Gardeners: A living classroom for teaching sustainable practices through growing food and gardeners 

Compost Crew: Actively supporting soil health, reducing waste, and sequestering carbon through composting and education

Food Security Squad: Connecting gardeners to local food pantries in order to decrease both food waste and hunger

Seed Cache: Building food sovereignty through the practice of saving and sharing seeds.

Community Cooking: Sharing traditions through preparing meals from local, seasonal, and sustainably grown foods.

Turners Reading Group: Building community and broadening understanding through discussion of sustainability topics and literature

Creators: Using art and creativity as a tool for sharing skills and for cultural transformation

Protectors: Nurturing our landscape for the benefit and diversity of our native plants and wildlife

DOFS (DuPagers Organized For Sustainability): Amplifying sustainable practices in DuPage county through reasonable, local public policy reform

Sustain DuPage Public Calendar

Check your calendars! After a December brainstorming session, we are happy to announce that most of our major events for the 2025 calendar year are already scheduled and posted on our Google Calendar. Additional details will be added as events approach, and we will most likely be adding more workshops as the year unfolds. However, this should help all of us plan ahead for our favorite events! 

Please note: Under our calendar in the link above you will see an information box titled SD Public with the local time zone listed. This is the name of our calendar. By clicking the "Add to Google Calendar" link, our SD events will show up in your personal Google Calendar so you won't miss a thing!