SI Events

Early July is the perfect time to get outside and smell the elderflowers! Tour Regeneration Acres to learn about elderberry varieties, best management practices and potential market possibilities for this blossoming crop. We'll end the tour with farm owner, Natasha teaching us how to make an elderflower simple syrup. 5-7 pm CDT.

After a checkered history in North America, black currants are making a strong comeback as a robust crop and nutrition-packed fruit. Visit Saturn Farm, the largest black currant farm in Illinois to learn about the history of black currants, their on-farm management, processing and marketing, ongoing variety trials and breeding, and innovative alley cropping practices. Refreshments and bathroom available onsite. This field day is accessible to those with limited mobility.

The time is right to expand black currants (Ribes nigrum) as a crop in Wisconsin. Farmers in Wisconsin that grow black currants consider them to be viable from an agronomic standpoint, citing the following attributes: extremely cold hardy, able to grow on a wide variety of soil types and a wide range of pH, less attractive to wildlife, can produce up to 6,000 pounds per acre, can be machine harvested, and they hold on the bush to allow for flexible harvest dates.
Two farms, one field day! Click here to learn more.

Tour Savanna Institute's new home farm with our farm manager and a technical service provider. We'll discuss watersheds and water quality, and you'll have the opportunity to learn how to incorporate agroforestry practices on your land. We'll lunch together on the farm then head to Spring Green to join the River Alliance of Wisconsin for a paddle down the lower Wisconsin river to continue learning about water quality.

A silvopasture-pollinator field day at Mary Dirty Face Farm, co-hosted by Moses and the Xerces Society. A silviculture expert from the Savanna Institute will evaluate recently planted tree strips and talk about species selection, installation, and weed management. Farm host Rachel Henderson and Xerces pollinator specialist Sarah Foltz Jordan will discuss habitat value both in terms of forage/shade for livestock and food/nesting for pollinators, especially specialist bees, butterflies, and moths that require certain tree and shrub species to survive.

Join the Savanna Institute and Central Illinois partners for a field day exploring alley cropping design, establishment, maintenance, and expansion at the Memorial 4H Camp Demonstration Farm. This 35 acre site features a unique partnership that illustrates annual row crop productions between paddocks of native and timber trees, as well as an innovative groundcover experiment utilizing native grasses and forbs. Come prepared to walk the site and learn the many possibilities for agroforestry and alley cropping for soil health, water quality, carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, and profit diversification!

Savanna Institute visits Lily Springs Farm to learn more about the varieties of elderberries they are trialing, and how they manage pest and diseases for this up and coming crop. Farm tour begins at 10 am and concludes at 1 pm on Saturday, August 28th. For more information on Lily Springs, visit their website at : http://www.lilyspringsfarm.com.

Tour Fields Restored's silvopasture experiment, edible riparian buffer, and fruit, nut and hay alley cropping systems.