Should I Feel Sheepish That I Didn't Know About This Use for Wool?
Sheep Shearing Exhibition at Liberty Prairie Event Turned Learning Experience
The Liberty Prairie non-profit on Saturday (May 10) held a Plant Sale and Farm Festival at their Prairie Crossing Farm in outer suburban Grayslake. Barb and I took a leisurely drive up from Chicago with the expectation of a few pleasant hours in the country.
What we didn't expect was that we'd learn — while watching our first-ever sheep shearing — of an important agricultural use for wool about which we were not previously aware.
Read this article on the Local Food Forum website to see if you’ve heard about it before. Only hint: It has to do with soil health.
Farmers Market, CSAs, Farm Stand: Local Food Three Ways
So Many Ways to Support Local Farmers
There are so many ways to support local farmers, including farmers markets, CSA subscriptions and farm stores. I don't often hit all three in one day, but that's how this past Saturday (and Monday) played out.
This Local Food Forum article tells the story of my local sourcing adventures that took me from The Lincoln Park Farmers Market on Chicago's North Side to a produce CSA pickup at Just Roots Chicago on the South Side to the Liberty Prairie Farm Store near Illinois' northeast corner, and finally to a meat CSA pickup from Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm outside Chicago's Begyle Brewing.
Now, admittedly, this is almost certainly more dedication to local food sourcing than most people practice. But no one can say that the publisher of Local Food Forum doesn't walk the walk.