Friday, November 13, 2015

Tasty and Healthy

Thanks to Mario Olivi from the Olive Tap for joining our November meeting and enlightening us about the history and use of olive oil. We really enjoyed the tasting, especially after Mario showed us what to pay attention to when we taste.

Sunday, November 8, 2015

November Meeting

The Downers Grove Organic Gardeners is meeting this month on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 7 PM at the Downers Grove Public Library. This is a special meeting night due to a schedule conflict at the library for our regular third week.

Mario Olivi from the Olive Tap in Downers Grove will talk about the history of olive oil, how olives are grown, oil production, and the differences between EVOO and other olive oils, as well as how to use flavor-infused oils and balsamic vinegar. There will be samples and products available for purchase.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

October Meeting

Join us on Oct. 21 at 7 PM when Paula Fraser from the The Gardenworks Project will be our speaker. This volunteer-led nonprofit organization provides families in need with home vegetable gardens and educational resources. 

We meet at the Downers Grove Public Library, 1050 Curtiss Street. See you there!

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Harvest Fest Tomorrow

Our annual Harvest Fest starts at 7 PM tomorrow, September 16. This is a time to talk about how our gardens performed this year, ask questions and seek advice, and meet other gardeners. If you have harvest goodness to share, bring an appetizer-type dish. We will provide plates, drinks, and napkins.

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Members Open Their Gardens to Visitors

Thanks to Quin Filipowicz and Kathy Olson for opening their gardens to us on August 19. Here are a few photos.

Kathy's prairie meadow.

St. Joseph Creek behind Kathy's house.

Quin shared homegrown garlic with visitors.

Quin's tomato garden.

Thursday, August 13, 2015

August 19 Garden Visits

The August meeting is a garden walk to two of our members' gardens: Quin Filipowicz  and Kathy Olson.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a tour-only event; we will share food and other goodies at our Harvest Fest on September 16. You also might want to bring bug spray.

Quin Filipowicz
5812 Main Street
Quin has raised beds for his vegetable garden and for milkweed and coneflowers. His four rain barrels are connected in series, and he can explain how he uses them. He can also talk about his pondless water fountain that he built this year. While his garlic garden is done for the season, he can talk about how he grows it and offer samples to the first visitors. You’ll also see an Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus that survives our winters.

Look for a house with both American and Blackhawks flags. It is suggested that you park on 59th street, but the driveway is available for people who have a harder time walking or need close access. There are two gates – both will take you to his backyard.

Kathy Olson
5138 Lee Avenue
The Olsen house backs up to St. Joseph’s creek and features a small meadow/prairie in the back. Kathy reports that the house came with a huge infestation of Japanese Knotweed, but that the invasive plant is now under control, and new plantings are taking hold where the Knotweed once ruled. Kathy also has a vegetable garden and she composts, and is happy to see many bees and butterflies.


Please RSVP to Carol Morency at midway117@gmail.com so she can give Quin and Kathy an idea of attendance.

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

From Trash to...Pretty Much Everything!

Thanks to Kay and Carrie from SCARCE (School and Community Assistance for Composting and Recycling Education) for visiting us in June and amazing us with the many, many projects the organization has going on with YOUR trash! Here is Kay with her magic eco-cape, made out of old ties.

To find out more about what SCARCE does with the things we throw out, visit www.scarceecoed.org.

Monday, June 15, 2015

June Meeting

Join us at 7 p.m., Wednesday, June 17 at the Downers Grove Public Library to hear Kay McKeen talk about SCARCE (School & Community Assistance for Recycling and Composting Education), an organization that has been working since 1990 to help schools and other groups preserve the earth and live sustainably. Kay will also give some tips for composting.


The Downers Grove Organic Gardeners are committed to raising the awareness of organic gardening in our community and educating members about the benefits and methods of organic gardening and other environmentally sound practices. We meet on the third Wednesday of the month in January, February, March, April, June, September, October and November at 7 p.m. in the Downers Grove Public Library. The board meets at 6:30 p.m. and you are welcome to come early to attend the board meeting. Membership is $20 for individuals and $30 for families.

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Plant Sale Report: Many Kinds of Success!

Our plant sale on May 9 is usually a success, as our community is always looking for organic vegetables and perennials at great prices. This year was no exception. Not only did we make money (this is our only fundraiser, except for club dues) but we extended the reach of organic plants in our area.

However, this year, there is one more success to report, and this one has many facets. We ended the sale with leftover plants, and while we had many customers buy from us after May 9, we were also able to help fulfill our mission and donate (or sell at reduced cost) plants to local organizations, including the St. Mary of Gostyn teen ministry and for an Eagle Scout project.

But our outreach to People's Resource Center in Wheaton is even more exciting. Not only did we give plants to a PRC volunteer to grow vegetables for the center's food pantry, we donated plants to the pantry itself.

This means that many families in need who visited the pantry for food also took home plants to grow their own food.

Thanks to everyone who made the Plant Sale happen, especially committee chair Nancy Carlson. Thanks to everyone who worked that day to set up, check out, or just rearrange plants as shoppers selected their purchases.

And thanks to Mary Ann Badke and Roberta Muehlhaus who "babysat" the leftover plants and helped get them to customers and to organizations. We all worked together to increase the amount of homegrown organic food in the DuPage County area!


Monday, May 4, 2015

Plant Sale is this Saturday!


Email Carol at midway117@gmail.com if you would like flyers to hand out to friends.

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Westmont Garden Update


Hydroponic tower at the
Westmont High School garden.
Some of you may remember when we were visited by Lisa Hootman and her environmental studies class at Westmont High School to talk about their garden. Carol Morency recently checked in with Lisa to hear about their progress. It turns out we can help them win a Seeds of Change grant:

"Our WHS garden is expanding!  Our students built 4 new raised beds (16’x4’) and we just filled them with soil this past Monday.  Today we will be planting our potatoes and the onions. 

If you are able to vote for our WHS garden through this website, we would really appreciate it.  Vote at www.seedsofchangegrant.com. You can type in Westmont High School, 60559 and click search and our school garden picture will come up.  Then all you have to do is click vote and type in a security number and you are all set.  You can vote once each day up to the 27th. We need to be in the top 50 gardens (based on votes) in order to move into the next stage of the grant process. 

We started a hydroponic vegetable growing system at the school.  If you are ever interested in coming to see our four towers, please let me know.  We are growing peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, and cucumbers.  Hydroponics is a great way to teach about water quality and plant growth in Biology, Chemistry and Environmental Science.  Our students are enjoying the experience.  

We are interested in expanding and donating food to The People’s Resource Center next year.  Hope you are well and happy Spring!"


Monday, April 13, 2015

April Meeting: Birds and Beans

The coffee we will be sampling on April 15.
Ron Skleney will visit the Downers Grove Organic Gardeners at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 15 at the Downers Grove Public Library, 1050 Curtiss Street, to tell us about "bird-friendly" coffee and how we can preserve bird habitats with our coffee choices. 

His presentation is based on the work of Dr. Bridget Stutchbury, a professor and author of the book Silence of The Songbirds. We will be sampling coffee from www.birdsandbeans.com. For more information about birds and coffee, visit www.coffeehabitat.com.


Please note that this will be the last meeting before the May 9 Plant Sale. If you haven't already, come prepared to sign up for a shift to help on that day.

Monday, March 2, 2015

March Meeting

Join other Downers Grove Organic Gardeners members at 7 PM Wednesday, March 18 at the Downers Grove Fire Station, 5420 Main Street, for a planning and brainstorming discussion. Bring ideas for programs or field trips or other activities you would like DGOG to offer. 

Don't forget to visit the Wannemaker's Spring Garden Show on March 7 and March 8. Our own Roberta Muehlhaus will speak about Gardening the Natural Way at 3 PM Saturday, March 7. See wannemakers.com/spring-garden-show for more information.

And...it's always a great time to join DGOG! Membership forms are on the right side of this page, or you can get one at the meeting. Grab one for a friend!

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Tea Time at Spice Merchants

Thanks to Diane at the Spice Merchants in downtown Downers Grove for our interesting “tea class” in March.  We learned the history of tea as it moved around the world, characteristics of different teas, and about organic vs. non organic teas, etc.  We also tasted teas and took two samples home. 



Sunday, January 25, 2015

Our Plant Sale Wish List

The Plant Sale Committee started working in December to plan the event and order vegetables, herbs, annuals, and perennials. Because of the wonderful response last year, we have ordered more for 2015.

Here is a link to the list of the varieties the Committee has ordered. Remember that plant availability is always subject to spring weather, grower conditions, etc.

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

January Meeting

Join the Downers Grove Organic Gardeners for our January meeting at the Downers Grove Public Library, 1050 Curtiss Street, at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, January 21.

Kevin Hovey, urban farm and horticulture consultant, will present a program on Mushroom Cultivation. He will provide tips for growing mushrooms, such as Shitake, Oyster, and Wine Cap, at home. Kevin will also be selling dried mushrooms and kits for getting started with home mushroom cultivation.

This meeting is free and open to the public. You can join DGOG for $20 per year for individuals and $30 per year for families.