Common Ground Gathering, June 8, 6:30pm-8:30pm

[Jen Miller]

Are you a sustainable farmer looking for land in McHenry County or the counties that surround it? Are you a landowner looking for a sustainable farmer to steward your land in keeping with your values?

If so, then you’ll want to attend the Common Ground Gathering being organized by the six partner organizations. This will be a fun, casual social event where you’ll have the chance to learn and connect with sustainable farmers and landowners.

Registration for the event is required as space is limited. The registration deadline is June 1st. The admission fee, which will help us cover food and drink expenses, is $10/person. 

Event Page: http://libertyprairie.org/calendar/common-ground-gathering/

Facebook Event: https://goo.gl/u9FqMZ

LEARN
The event will begin with the brief sharing of real-world experiences and lessons related to the sustainable farmer/landowner relationship. We’ll have three different speakers:

Nick Choate-Batchelder and Becky Stark: Nick and Becky own and operate Midnight Sun Farm in Harvard, Illinois. They grow over 40 different kinds of vegetables and herbs while also raising pastured laying hens and turkeys. Nick and Becky follow farming practices that preserve the ecological integrity of our farmland and the areas surrounding their farmland. Their produce is currently Certified Naturally Grown, and they are working towards organic certification in 2018.

Tom Perry: Tom and his wife made possible Nick and Becky’s access to the 53-acre farm that they farm on today. Tom is also a hands-on investor in a direct-to-consumer farm business in Kane County that provides raw milk, 100% grass-fed beef, and pastured pork, poultry and eggs. He has farming in his blood as he was born and raised in Indiana rural farmland. Tom’s professional career immersed him in global accounting and finance as he worked first for a large public accounting firm and then a large multinational bank. Things came full circle when Tom served as the COO for 3 ½ years for a sustainable farmland investment company, focusing on using capital to make farmland properties available the sustainable farmers that wanted them.

Kirsten Jurcek: After a career as a hydrogeologist, Kirsten Jurcek returned to her family farm in Jefferson, Wisconsin, to combine her passion for the environment, healthy food, family farms and opportunities for beginning farmers. Through the farm transition process she converted the farm to a rotational beef grazing farm; placed a conservation easement on the property; and arranged a long-term lease for a beginning farmer to incorporate a silvoculture planting of nut and fruit trees. Kirsten also works as a grazing educator and planner for the non-profit organization Glacierland RC&D and a regional woman’s outreach coordinator for Renewing The Countryside.

CONNECT
Much of the event will feature the opportunity for you to meet and chat with landowners and farmers who are also attending the event. We’ll try to make it as efficient and comfortable as possible for you to connect with the people who might help you make a good farmer-landowner partnership happen.

ENJOY
You’ll enjoy tasty appetizers and cool liquid refreshments, including locally brewed beer.

QUESTIONS?
Please contact:
Nathan Aaberg (Liberty Prairie Foundation) – nathan@libertyprairie.org/847-507-5989
Linda Balek (The Land Conservancy of McHenry County) – lbalek@conservemc.org/815-337-9502

[climate]

This is such an important event but I can't attend. Please tell me another will be organized in the near future.