Happy Sunday, Friends!  Fresh Clean Acres harvest of garden potatoes @JTAFoods&Grill delivered today!

Good morning, Friends!  We are excited to announce our first harvest of the year will be delivered to JTA Foods & Grill this morning.  Due to a late start to the growing season, we suspected that the first harvest would be mid-July, and we were right on target.  Stop by the store at 900 N. Macon Street in Bement for fresh harvested Buttercrunch lettuce!  Following Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), we remove field heat at harvest, triple wash with Fit organic vegetable wash, spin dry lettuce to remove excess water, and pack and refrigerate immediately.  Using GAP allows our produce to have optimum flavor and a longer shelf-life.  And as always, our produce is grown chemical-free ensuring that you receive fresh organically grown produce locally.  Look to our website or Facebook page for more Clean Acres updates.  Harvest season has just begun!

Hi Friends!

We were grateful to finally dig in the field this past weekend.  It was another windy day on the prairie, but the troops answered the call for help, and we were able to prep ground and plant:

• Onion
• Roma, Cherry and Big Beef Tomato
• Jalapeno
• Green, Red, Sweet, and Yellow Pepper
• Bibb Lettuce
• Cinnamon, Lemon, Aroma, and Thai Basil
• Broccoli
• Tomatillo
• Nasturtiums
• Zucchini, and
• Green Beans

We also found the row of dill and prepared it for this year’s growing season.  A huge thank you to my family for helping!

We have yet to plant:

• Cilantro
• Mustard Greens
• Swiss Chard
• Spinach
• Kale
• Pumpkins, and
• Squash

Two of the goals from the children’s board meeting this past March are also on the to-do list.  As soon as it dries up, the sunflower maze and cutting garden will be ready to plant.

Speaking of the little farmers, they had a great time helping!  Soon enough they’ll be running around the sunflower maze, picking strawberries, and getting dirty.

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This past Saturday I sent a text message to my nieces and nephew, Kate, 7, Leland, 6, and Kallie, 3.

“I would like to have a Clean Acres board meeting with the children today.  Here’s the agenda:

1. Review mission: Our passion is to help Central Illinois residents live healthier lives by providing chemical-free produce and promoting sustainable farming methods.
2. What was your favorite activity last year?
3. What do you want to plant this year?
4. What other activities should we have for kids in the garden this year (i.e. plant another sunflower maze, add a teepee to play in, etc.).”

These three kiddos love coming to Clean Acres and helping to plant and harvest.  Realizing that the answer to living a healthy lifestyle starts when you are young, we have always planned to include field days each growing season where families can visit the farm and connect to locally grown produce.

Considering Kate, Leland and Kallie’s excitement and willingness to “help” these past three years, we quickly realized that there needs to be a separate garden just for them.  Accidental tramping on the produce to be sold at market led to a dedicated children’s area on the one-acre field, and thus, the first meeting of our children’s board to plan for this year’s growing season.

It was quite hilarious collaborating with them.  I brought paper and colored pencils to take notes and so that they could draw their garden plans.  Kate and Leland were so excited and very eager to give input.  Kallie on the other hand, who is three, didn’t quite follow the meeting so well.

“What would you like to plant this year, Kallie?”, I asked.

Seeing the coloring pencils in front of her, she was so distracted that I don’t think she even heard my question.  “Ooh!  Look a purple one!”, was her response as she grabbed for a new color to draw her farm plan.

Refocusing the group, I asked, how do we accomplish our mission and help kids lead healthy lifestyles?  Leland answered with, “plant more food, like salad, tomatoes and brussels sprouts.”  Kate answered, “plant strawberries, pumpkins, apples and grapes”.  After noting that we planted grapes and strawberries last year, Leland commented that we should plant at least 5 more of each.

When asked if we should grow flowers this year, Leland became very excited.  “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!  And then we can put a sign up for how much!”

I told them we planned to plant pumpkins this year and we recounted that two years-ago our harvest was decimated by squash bugs, and so we didn’t plant any squash this past year.  Leland noted that we will need to manage the bugs, and so we decided a pest management plan is a definite need for this year.

All three were in favor of planting another sunflower maze and adding a teepee to play in as a new feature.

Kate commented that we are doing a good thing on the farm, “cause you can learn so much stuff about fruits and vegetables.”  She would also like to see field trips for kids.  “Imagine if they came out to your farm and then you could learn so much and then we could eat lunch and get on the bus when the teacher says it’s time to go.”

The consensus was to grow some of their favorite vegetables and fruits and to have more activities for kids.  We will keep you posted as the 2019 farm plan develops.  Maybe we can add some of their grand ideas this year!

Every spring vibrant pink flowering crab-apple trees line the main road through town.  Proud American flags wave at passers-by in between each of the beautiful flowering trees, impressing on residents and visitors that this is a patriotic small town.  A town that respects its American heritage and history.  A town that is welcoming, and lovely, and a great place to live.

On sunny days, families enjoy a city park with an impressive Veterans Memorial, state-of-the-art playground equipment, a band shell, and accessible sidewalks which blend in with many established and well-maintained trees that provide respite and joy.  At the north edge of town, a community recreation park is home to a pool, baseball field, basketball court and tennis court.  On the eastern edge of town, a pond and large Forest Preserve park provide additional recreational enjoyment opportunities for residents and visitors alike.

Every item just mentioned – the trees, the American flags, and the parks – are in existence because of local businesses, local organizations, and tax revenue dollars.  When you shop local, the amount of tax you pay stays in the community, allowing the local government to distribute those tax dollars in a way that is best for the entire community.  At the very foundation of this ideal, rural community are its many businesses who not only provide tax revenue dollars, but also support the local organizations, school, fire departments, and tax-payers.

This small-town community I am referring to is Bement, Illinois.  We are lucky to have more than 20 locally owned and operated businesses in a town of 1,800.  Our local businesses provide a variety of services to consumers far greater than what chain stores can provide.

To get a better understanding of the quality of service, let’s look at the impact that local businesses have on a community.  Say you spend $100 at a local business.  That $100 is taxed at nearly 1% and $1 goes to the local government to support residential programs.  The remaining $99 goes to the local business to keep product on hand for consumers, to provide paychecks for their employees, and to donate back to the community.  Those dollars also help local homeowners to pay for homes, vehicles, and other needs.  This impact of locally owned businesses is often referred to as “the multiplier effect”.  This impact is indirect and is not easily recognized, and so we must educate ourselves and understand the importance of using and supporting local.  Dollars spent locally re-circulate into the local community.  According to the American Independent Business Alliance, local re-circulation of chain business revenue is 34.5%, where local re-circulation of locally owned businesses is double that at 65.4%.  It is important to understand that when we spend dollars outside of our own community, we are supporting that other town’s parks, programs, and schools.  When we spend dollars outside of our community, our own community loses an opportunity to support our own fire districts, schools, organizations, and programs.

Local businesses also impact local real estate.  One of the key factors that drive the real estate market is the local economy.  A healthy local economy translates into a healthy real estate market.  Essentially, when we spend money outside of our own community, we are supporting another community’s real estate market, allowing their property values to increase.

The Bement Village board is considering permission for a chain store, Dollar General, to open its doors.  According to Huffington Post, “once or twice every month, someone from a small town reaches out to ILSR (Institute for Local Self-Reliance) for help confronting a dollar store development.”  Dollar stores and other chains have the power and funding to keep their doors open in small towns for multiple years.  They bide their time until they have pushed smaller businesses to close their doors, leaving the chain store as the only option for small town residents.  ILSR has also noticed a trend that “if the town already has a grocery, that store will lose roughly 30 percent of its business.”  In the community of Bement, local supporters understand that the opening of a dollar store in Bement will not only negatively affect our local grocery store, but other local business owners as well.  If local owners lose business, that will turn in to less money that will circulate in the Bement community – less dollars to help support the schools, fire districts, organizations, and community programs.

Let’s remember how the patriotic rural town with blossoming crab-apple trees and community parks came to be.  It did not develop overnight, but over many years and many generations of a community that supports local.  We all have the power to influence your community with your dollars and decisions.  Use your power and make decisions that benefit the greater good.

Sources:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dollar-stores-small-town-businesses_us_5beefe6ae4b0f7192ca9342e

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/mortages-real-estate/11/factors-affecting-real-estate-market.asp

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dollar-stores-small-town-businesses_us_5beefe6ae4b0f7192ca9342e

Happy Fall from Clean Acres!  The fall greens are looking great.  We are growing Buttercrunch Lettuce, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Giant Green Mustard, and Kale.  The sweet potatoes are not quite ready but are growing.  A post will be made when the crops are harvested and delivered to JTA Foods & Grill, 900 N. Macon St., Bement.  Have a great weekend!

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On this Labor Day Monday, we are prepping ground for our fall planting of Spinach, Swiss Chard, Kale and Buttercrunch Lettuce. Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend!

Beautiful day today!  We have a fresh harvest of tomatoes and sunflowers available for sale at JTA Foods & Grill, 900 N. Macon Street in Bement.  There are still green pepper and green bean available for purchase as well.

We are hoping to have field day dates and information out soon….stay tuned!