Welcome to the St. John's Blog!

St. John's Episcopal Church is located on the northwest side of Chicago, in the Old Irving Park neighborhood. You can learn more about us at our official web site. We hope you'll join us!

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Showing posts with label CSA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CSA. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

St. John's Earth Festival

At the end of September, the Genesis Group hosted an Earth Festival in the garden. {Thank you Tim & Holt for the poster design.}

It was a casual gathering on a cool and cloudy day. Luckily, there was no area-wide flooding like last year's festival- ha! Our goal was to make green products available to our neighbors, educate people on environmental issues, and have a good time.

Our CSA farmer graciously donated the tasty fruits and vegetables & colorful gladiolus. {Thank you Vicki} A neighborhood cat joined in on the festivities and at one point, decided the CSA box looked cozy.

Part of the funds raised at the Earth Festival will go to buying organic vegetable shares for our local CEDA/WIC office, which provides assistance for needy families and nutritional education.


Susan (a St. John's parishioner) set up an informative table showcasing her EarthBox. It seemed to be a nice tie-in to St. John's compost bin and rain barrel (not pictured). Thank you, Sarah, for coordinating the live folk music. It was a nice group gathered beneath the towering cottonwood tree.


The festival food was delicious; we had some wonderful vendors. First Slice pies and salads...

Homemade tamales...
Gelato & apple cider sorbet from Black Dog Gelato...
Even "Photographer Bob" sampled some gelato- as did the soccer boys.

The Genesis Group sold beverages and other "green" items at the welcome table. The apple cider from Seedling and hot, Bishops Blend coffee seemed to be hit! {Thanks to everyone that helped coordinate the drinks- buying, selling and biodegradable cups purchase}

The eco-bags in the trees are supposed to be "green" festival balloons/ hanging lanterns.

St. John's Episcopal Church is a member congregation with the organization Faith In Place. We greatly appreciated their participation!


The Genesis Group was fortunate enough to gather several talented vendors. My apologies for not getting photographs of everyone. Thank you for participating in our Earth Festival!

Revamped & upcycled housewares from Revamp Boutique...

Eco-friendly candle products from Bright Endeavors...

Patrick's inventive artwork (St. John's parishioner)...

Leslye's handmade jewelry (St. John's parishioner). All proceeds went to our church partnership in SE Mexico...

In addition to the food, music and products for sale, we also held a bike drive in partnership with the Working Bikes Cooperative.


Thank you to those that helped with planning, set-up, clean-up, advertising, etc. and for supporting St. John's. And I'd like to extend an extra special THANK YOU!! to the Genesis Group- some of whom are pictured below.

Monday, June 29, 2009

A visit to Genesis Growers Farm

{Group from St. John's}

Yesterday, we had the opportunity to visit Genesis Growers for a farm party. I would estimate that 60+ people attended. Farmer Vicki kindly gave a tour around the grounds and then we gathered for a bountiful potluck. Sorry, no pictures of the amazing food... I was too busy eating. It was a great afternoon!
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A little background: The Genesis Group has partnered with Genesis Growers, a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm south of Chicago. St. John's is a three season drop-off site (April-December). The weekly drop-offs include local, farm fresh vegetable and fruit shares, eggs shares and on occasion, chicken shares. If you'd like more information on our CSA partnership, please leave a comment.
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Psalm 24:1 (NIV)
1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;

Monday, May 25, 2009

Farm Tour

The Genesis Group has partnered with a community supported agriculture (CSA) farm south of Chicago. St. John's is a three season drop-off site (April-December). Farmer Vicki will be hosting a farm tour at Genesis Growers Farm on Sunday, June 28th from 1:00-5:00pm.

Genesis Growers Farm is located in St. Anne, IL (near Kankakee). The tour is open to everyone. Please bring a dish to share- Farmer Vicki will supply the drinks. Please contact Leanne if you think you might be attending; we'd like to organize a carpool. Hope to see you there!