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Sustain DuPage

COOKING SEASONALLY AND LOCALLY

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About �Sustain DuPage�

We are a 501C3 non profit that operates as a hub for community projects that promote sustainability in DuPage County
Our communal garden located at the Theosophical Society in Wheaton is one of our most enduring and impactful projects

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Let’s get acquainted:

David Bravos
Sustain DuPage Volunteer since 2017
Community Cooking Organizer
Protectors Organizer
Bilingual Teacher and Landscaping Consultant

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Cooking Seasonally and Locally

Part 1: The Benefits to eating Seasonally and Locally

Part 2: Resources and Techniques for growing food

Part 3: Resources for buying seasonal and local foods

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Benefits of Seasonal and Local Foods

Eating seasonally and locally can:

save you money

lower transportation costs can lead to reduced prices
Growing your own food can translate to huge savings

strengthen your local economy

Purchasing local food helps your money to get reinvested in the community.
Increasing the demand for locally produced food, will encourage more competition, and in turn help reduce food prices.

ECONOMIC BENEFITS

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Benefits of Seasonal and Local Foods

Eating seasonally and locally can:

improve your health

Fresher food has higher Vitamin C content
Local foods are typically more nutritious than industrially produced foods.
Growing your own food has been shown to increase personal nutrition and physical health

Make you feel more connected to your environment and community

A new appreciation for the seasons.
Learning opportunities

PERSONAL BENEFITS

…and it tastes better!

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Benefits of Seasonal and Local Foods

Eating seasonally and locally can:

Reducing emissions

decrease in transportation
Decrease in refrigeration

Improved Soil Heatlth

Increased demand will increase crop diversity, which in improves soil heath.
Diverse crop management can actually increase soil (Regenerative agriculture)

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS

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Resources and Techniques for Growing Food

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Growing your own food:

Most sustainable option for Seasonal and Local Food

IN GROUND BEDS

Pros

Lowest cost
No additional materials

Cons

Soil may need amendments
Soil may be polluted

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Growing your own food:

Most sustainable option for Seasonal and Local Food

RAISED BEDS

Pros

Doesn’t disturb your existing soil.
Easier to control soil quality
Can use compost and yard waste to build soil

Cons

May need to water more frequently

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Growing your own food:

Most sustainable option for Seasonal and Local Food

CONTAINER GARDENING

Pros

Movable
Allows people who don’t own land to garden
Allows for indoor gardening

Cons

Requires finished surfaces for containers to rest on.
Outdoor containers often require the most frequent watering

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Growing your own food:

Most sustainable option for Seasonal and Local Food

Hydroponics/ Aeroponics

Pros

Self watering systems
Vertical growing allows for maximizing food in smaller spaces

Cons

Most expensive option
Only used indoors

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Locally grown food: Resource

Educates on best practices for local gardening
Supports development of community gardens
Assists people with limited incomes to grow their own food
Partners local farmers to provide fresh produce to Food Pantries

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Sustain DuPage

Communal Garden

A space to learn sustainable gardening practices for growing your own food
Volunteers participate at their own convenience

Sustain DuPage gardeners volunteering

BETTER PICTURE

Seed Catalog Vocab

Take out the WHY, just say stable or not

[2 ]A seed holds all the blueprints for that plant variety

Seed varieties are made when cross pollination creates new patterns of code. In order to save seed, we must know its code is stable- and that takes time- seasons and season of growing out a type, and only saving seed where the characteristics have grown "true"

Open-Pollinated seeds have been developed over the long term. These seeds are stable
Hybrid seed are developed more aggressively over shorter time. They are not stable
GMO seeds are faster still. The work is done in a lab.

How does each group work with nature and meet your goals?

GMO's are not available to us as gardeners, but you get to decide about them at the store
Hybrid cannot be saved for seed. but has a place- especially in crops you will not save seed from- perhaps a cucumber with stronger pest resistance
Open Pollinated seeds- heirloom and landrace are sub categories here, keep your options open for saving seed

~~~

T[4]his set of terms describes ways seed varieties evolve

Now, think about these terms and decide how they fit into the goals of your garden planning.

“how much do I want these in my life/ on my plate”
can they be a part of my seed saving.

Traditional seeds develop over the long term, humans sometimes guiding the process. These are stable seeds that we can predict the seed will grow as its mother did
Hybrid varieties were developed more aggressively, selecting several plant varieties, cross- pollinating and selecting for traits over a shorter term. These seeds are NOT stable/ predictable. It won't grow true to type- it is likely you will instead get traits of the parents and grandparents.
Humans took this process into the lab, where sequences of genetic code are cut and pasted to create a variety. maybe NOT: [This can mean DNA from that crop family, and even outside of the plant kingdom. The edits are glued together with virus.(botulism is used) }

GMO- not a concern for home gardeners- not commercially available to us, but we face that choice at the store
Hybrid- has its place- especially in crops you will not save seed from- perhaps a cucumber with stronger pest resistance

But they are not save-able

“open-source/ open pollinated, Landrace, heirloom,

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Sustain DuPage

Community Cooking

Seasonal meals based on locally grown vegetables
Foraging and food preservation workshops

BETTER PICTURE

Seed Catalog Vocab

Take out the WHY, just say stable or not

[2 ]A seed holds all the blueprints for that plant variety

Seed varieties are made when cross pollination creates new patterns of code. In order to save seed, we must know its code is stable- and that takes time- seasons and season of growing out a type, and only saving seed where the characteristics have grown "true"

Open-Pollinated seeds have been developed over the long term. These seeds are stable
Hybrid seed are developed more aggressively over shorter time. They are not stable
GMO seeds are faster still. The work is done in a lab.

How does each group work with nature and meet your goals?

GMO's are not available to us as gardeners, but you get to decide about them at the store
Hybrid cannot be saved for seed. but has a place- especially in crops you will not save seed from- perhaps a cucumber with stronger pest resistance
Open Pollinated seeds- heirloom and landrace are sub categories here, keep your options open for saving seed

~~~

T[4]his set of terms describes ways seed varieties evolve

Now, think about these terms and decide how they fit into the goals of your garden planning.

“how much do I want these in my life/ on my plate”
can they be a part of my seed saving.

Traditional seeds develop over the long term, humans sometimes guiding the process. These are stable seeds that we can predict the seed will grow as its mother did
Hybrid varieties were developed more aggressively, selecting several plant varieties, cross- pollinating and selecting for traits over a shorter term. These seeds are NOT stable/ predictable. It won't grow true to type- it is likely you will instead get traits of the parents and grandparents.
Humans took this process into the lab, where sequences of genetic code are cut and pasted to create a variety. maybe NOT: [This can mean DNA from that crop family, and even outside of the plant kingdom. The edits are glued together with virus.(botulism is used) }

GMO- not a concern for home gardeners- not commercially available to us, but we face that choice at the store
Hybrid- has its place- especially in crops you will not save seed from- perhaps a cucumber with stronger pest resistance

But they are not save-able

“open-source/ open pollinated, Landrace, heirloom,

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Sustain DuPage:

One Seed,

One Community

To encourage people to share in the process of growing their own food and practicing seed saving
Betty will sign up anyone interested at the end of this presentation

Last years harvest:

Cherokee trail of tears beans

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DuPage County

Community Gardens

Most DuPage municipalities have community garden plots
These typically have an annual fee of $25 to $50
There is typically a waiting list / lottery to reserve a plot.

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Hen keeping

Sign up NOW and take home your FREE pack of seeds.
One of easiest and most sustainable ways for homeowners looking to raise their own animal protein
Ordinances in DuPage County allow hen keeping in10 cities and unincorporated areas
Chicken manure and litter can make excellent fertilizer for soil and compost

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Resources for Purchasing Local and Seasonal Foods

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Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Sign up NOW and take home your FREE pack of seeds.
Investing directly into local farmers, in return for boxes of produce to be delivered throughout the growing season

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Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

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Prairie Food Co-Op

Sign up NOW and take home your FREE pack of seeds.
DuPage county’s first community owned grocery store!
Committed to selling local and sustainably sourced foods
Currently under construction at 837 S Westmore-Meyers Rd, Lombard

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Farmstands

and Farmer’s Markets

Sign up NOW and take home your FREE pack of seeds.
Farmstands allow you to buy produce freshly harvested from a local farm
Farmer’s Markets feature produce from many farms, usually within a few hours of driving distance
Most are only open during the growing season (May to October)

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Digital Resources:

LocalHarvest.org

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Digital Resources: Sustain DuPage Life Atlas

Sign up NOW and take home your FREE pack of seeds.

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Seasonal Fruit and

Vegetable Chart

Sign up NOW and take home your FREE pack of seeds.

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Thanks for joining us!

Visit Our Website and social media pages to learn more about us, as well as volunteer and membership opportunities.

Davidb@sustaindupage.com

sustaindupage.com

Sign up for our newsletter on our website
Join our Facebook Group: Sustain DuPage Community
Visit our Facebook page: Sustain DuPage
Follow us on Meetup and Instagram
Contact us by email:

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Sustain DuPage:

One Seed,

One Community

This year’s seed:

The Provider Heirloom bean

Sign up NOW and take home your FREE pack of seeds.
Sustain DuPage will provide instructions via email.
Plant anytime May-July. Water and watch them grow.
In less than 60 days, green beans are ready to harvest!
Eat some, freeze or can some; known for excellent flavor!
Leave a few pods on the vine to harvest later as seeds.
Donate 20 seeds back to Sustain DuPage this fall. If you can, attend our Seed Savin’ Social in September