Geneva Green Market: Geneva, Illinois - A Local Food Green Farmers Market

What do you get when you combine the fabulous style and artisan flare of Moveable Feast with a glorious summertime evening surrounded by the sights, songs and fragrances of the Heritage Prairie Farm gardens? A supper club experience you won’t want to miss!

The menu:

• Peppery arugula & potato soup with soft pretzel “croutons
• Shredded beet spread served with homemade crackers
• Grilled sausages, roasted onions, & fennel with cranberry jalepeno jam
• Tangy autumn greens with roasted squash, honeyed walnuts, dried cherries & blue cheese in a cider dressing
• Roasted apple sauce
• Hearty dark breads & Bron’s Bees honey butter
• Cranberry pumpkin bread pudding with carmel sauce & whipped cream garnished with carmel corn

When: Thursday October 16
Where: Heritage Prairie Farm
2N308 Brundige Road, Elburn, IL 60119
Time: 6:30 PM reception, dinner at 7:00 PM
BYOB:  Fresh apple cider will be served. Feel free to bring your favorite beverage to enjoy.
Price: $60 per ticket or $55 per ticket when paying for 4 or more tickets

A credit card number holds your reservation. Payment due at time of dinner. Tax and gratuity not included. Arrangements will be made for inclement weather. Limited seating is available so make your reservation today by calling (630) 443-8253.

Come shop for your Thanksgiving dinner ingredients, pick up pre-ordered grass fed turkeys from Caveny Farms and crafts that make great Christmas gifts. There will be locally grown, organic food and craft vendors.

Enjoy a locavore brunch before or after you shop!

Sunday, November 23, 2008
Hosted by Inglenook Pantry
11 N 5th Street
Geneva, IL 60134

Thanksgiving Market: 9:00 a.m. thru 3:00 p.m. Localvore Brunch served 9:30 am to 2:00 pm.

Note: We are also still looking for craft vendors. If you would like to participate in this market contact Karen at (630) 208-9321.

Rediscover Thrift That Made America at Garfield Farm Museum’s Harvest Days

Making do and prospering are traditional values that are reflected at Garfield Farm Museum’s Harvest Days on Sunday October 5 from 11:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.  As the economic lifestyle of America is changing, now is the time to teach children the traditional values of thrift and saving for tomorrow. Harvest Days at Garfield Farm Museum demonstrates the basic concepts of conserving one’s resources to prepare for the future.

Harvest Days features historic household and farm skill demonstrations reflecting the economic reality of 1840s Illinois. Hard work and success went hand in hand and the flailing and winnowing of wheat is just such an example. This demonstration is just one part of the entire process of making a living on an 1840s Illinois farm. Wheat was the main cash crop and to prepare it for market, the kernels had to be knocked from the stalks, separated from the leaves or chaff before it could be bagged and sent to the grist mill or to the Chicago Port. Visitors to Harvest Days can try their hand at striking a stack of wheat with a flail, an attached stick and club, and discover how much work it took to produce enough flour for just one loaf of bread.

Pigs were raised for Read More…

Many farms offer produce subscriptions, where buyers receive a weekly or monthly basket of produce, flowers, fruits, eggs, milk, meats, or any sort of different farm products.

A CSA, (for Community Supported Agriculture) is a way for the food buying public to create a relationship with a farm and to receive a weekly basket of produce. By making a financial commitment to a farm, people become “members” (”shareholders” or “subscribers”) of the CSA. Most CSA farmers prefer that members pay for the season up-front, but some farmers will accept weekly or monthly payments. Some CSAs also require that members work a small number of hours on the farm during the growing season. A CSA season typically runs from late spring through early fall. The number of CSAs in the United States was estimated at 50 in 1990, and has since grown to over 2000.

Here in Geneva Illinois, and the Fox Valley, we have many choices with CSAs. Some continue into the fall.

Erehwon Farms:
Seven weeks of wonderful fall produce such as winter squash, pie pumpkins, carrots, radishes, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, spinach, Swiss chard, lettuce, parsnips, tatsoi, Read More…

About three years ago, Mark and Connie Weaver decided to extend their commitment to feeding their family with locally grown, organic foods to Inglenook Pantry patrons. They believe that good quality, healthy foods should be as readily available when dining out as they are when choosing what to eat at home. Inglenook offers this standard of quality in a variety of venues from concession stands to deluxe catering. Each week at the Geneva Green Market, NFP, Inglenook Pantry offers a variety of foods made from locally grown foods including quiche made from local vegetables and Rob Murphy’s cheeses and pies made from Hillside Orchards’ fruit.

Mark and Connie are continuously active members of their community. They support local farms and businesses by not only purchasing local products for their restaurant, but also providing a space and running the Geneva Winter Market, co-running the Geneva Green Market, NFP and supporting the Geneva schools in numerous ways. The Inglenook Pantry is truly the definition of a sustainable restaurant.

INGLENOOK PANTRY
Connie & Mark Weaver
N 5th Street
Geneva IL 60134
630.377.0373

Fresh at the Market:
beets, blackberries, fall flowers, greens, heirlooms (portland), honey crisps, lamb, macintosh apples, peppers, pork, potatoes, raspberries, squash (summer), squash (winter), sweet corn, swiss chard… and much more!

Chef’s Demo:
Chef Jeremy Lycan of Niche

Kids Corner:
Homemade applesauce
Dianne Peterson - talking about water … will have stainless steel water bottles for sale from Klean Kanteen

Special Guest:
Dave Coulter - Arborist for the city of Geneva
If you have question on Ash Borer in Geneva check out the city’s info
http://www.geneva.il.us/BulletinBoard/emeraldashborer.htm

Winner of the Wine and Local food basket:
B.J. German of Geneva

Garbage: The Revolution starts at Home

A documentary film screening on the hard-truth facts about of the global impact of one family’s waste…

How much garbage does an average family generate in three months?
What is the effect on the environment?
Find out the first weekend in September at a screening of “Garbage: the Revolution Starts at Home.”
Geneva Green Market, NFP and Geneva Film Festival will present the film at 7:15 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6, at River Park in Geneva. Admission is free.

“Garbage,” a film by Andrew Nisker details the global impact of local waste. Concerned for the future of his new baby boy, Sebastian, Nisker takes an average urban family, the McDonalds, and asks them to keep every scrap of garbage that they create for three months. He then takes them on a journey to find out where it all goes and what it’s doing to the world.
From organic waste to plastic bags and water bottles to the waste they create carting their kids around town, the McDonalds discover that for every action there is a reaction that affects them and the entire planet.

The park is located at 75 River Lane, just north of Riverside Receptions. Movie-goers are encouraged to bring blankets, flashlights and chairs.

Locally made root beer floats, apple cobbler, or 3 large cookies will be available for purchase for $5 at the screening. Pre-dessert tickets will be sold at Geneva Green Market (5 desserts for $20) from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursdays. All proceeds will benefit the Geneva Green Market, NFP.

Rain location will be the Geneva History Center, 113 S. Third St.

“We hope the documentary screening of ‘Garbage!’ will get people excited about attending Geneva’s upcoming film festival,” said Vic Portincaso, event chair. Sponsored by the Geneva Cultural Arts Commission, the Geneva Film Festival, now in its second year, will be held Saturday, Nov. 8. The festival will feature morning workshops by film producers, writers and directors. Movie screenings of the finalist movies from the contest will be held throughout the day. All ages are welcome.

The activities will culminate that evening at an awards ceremony at the history center, where the winners will be announced in the seven categories of films: Feature Films, Short Film; Short Documentary; Animation; Music video; Student film (College/University); and High School.
Submissions to enter the contest must be postmarked by Monday, Sept. 15. For more information, visit www.genevafilmfestival.org. Read More…

In celebration of Geneva’s annual Festival of the Vine, the Geneva Green Market will hold a “Local Food Gift Basket” give-a-way containing the best of Local Wine, Local Food and Cheese!

Come sign-up at the Geneva Green Market, one entry per Thursday, with a drawing on September 11, 2008.

Festival of the Vine
September 12 - 14, 2008

The autumn harvest is celebrated with food and wine tasting, flower markets, antique carriage rides and family games. Reap the best of Geneva cuisine from a smorgasbord of specialties from Italy, Mexico and France. Whether it’s fine dining or a deli you crave, you’ll find it all under a huge outdoor tent in downtown Geneva.

Other events include crowd-pleasing music & live entertainment, our renowned Fine Arts & Crafts Show.

Curds and Whey Cheese Company owner, Rob Murphy, works directly with cheese makers to bring outstanding regional, artisan and select international cheeses and butter to Geneva. One submission to vitalinfo at AOL raves, “Curds and Whey is as well stocked as any cheese stand I know. Rob is passionate and extraordinarily knowledgeable. His stock is not wholly focused on local cheeses, but is almost entirely focused on artisan and farmhouse cheeses. As such he has several local cheeses.” For this Oak Park resident Curds and Whey was well worth the hour drive.

Murphy’s commitment to quality cheeses has led him to value dairy products that have come from grass-fed, hormone-free cows. He now carries Sassy Cow Creamery Farmstead Organic Milk, which is a small family-owned dairy farm and creamery located right outside of Madison, Wisconsin. Log on to sassycowcreamery.com to read how this up-and-coming organic dairy farm meets Murphy’s high standards. Curds and Whey is Geneva’s own trustworthy dairy supplier. To find out just how much of a genuine asset that is log on to cornucopia.org, where you will find accurate and detailed information on many of the organic dairy suppliers in the nation.

The Chicago Tribune featured a cover story with Chef Jeremy Lycan, of Niche Restaurant and vendor Heritage Prairie entitled “Support Your Local Farmer - Movement to eat food grown within 100 miles of home is gaining traction” in the July 6, 2008 issue:

Growing concern about such “food miles” has inspired many consumers to become locavores.

Betsy Zinser, 44, of Batavia began her pursuit of locally grown food two years ago after finding that a bag of broccoli in her freezer was produced in China.

Deri Gray, 47, a dedicated locavore in Geneva, said the ability to trace her food to its origin has given her peace of mind, particularly while health officials have been focused on tomatoes as they probe a nationwide salmonella outbreak.

“I knew right away the tomatoes I got here wouldn’t be tainted,” Gray said outside the Heritage Prairie Market in Elburn. “It hasn’t been touched commercially, so there’s nobody in between contaminating it with any disease.”

Many locavores cite a different reason for their dietary decision: Locally grown food is fresher, more nutritious and tastes better. That may explain why many chefs in the Chicago area’s trendiest restaurants feature locally grown ingredients.

“We’re finally getting back to craving the flavor and textures of produce that’s extremely fresh,” said Jeremy Lycan, chef at Niche Restaurant in Geneva.

Lycan gets his rib-eye from Dietzler Farms, a 750-acre farm in Walworth County, Wis., about 65 miles from his restaurant. And he gets garlic and beets from Heritage Prairie Market.