On April 28th, local food consumers, farmers and advocates from across the state will come together in Springfield to encourage their legislators to support local food and sustainable agriculture. Illinois Stewardship Alliance would like to invite you to join us for our annual local food and sustainable agriculture lobby day and legislative reception, on April 28th, 2010.

Local Food Awareness Day will consist of a legislative update and lobbying training (includes a catered box lunch), an opportunity to educate legislators about the importance of local food and sustainable agriculture, and a legislative reception at the Pasfield House following the day's lobbying activities.

Training: On the morning of April 28th we will review recent legislative activity on local food related bills at 11 a.m. in rooms 403 and 404 of the Illinois State Library (check-in is at 10:30a.m.) where we will go over any issues surrounding the legislation we will be lobbying for, teach you how to navigate the Capitol complex, and train you how to lobby and interact with your legislator. (Prior to lobby day we will host a conference call for participants to learn and ask questions about lobby day, TBA)

Lunch: Following the training at 12 p.m. a catered boxed lunch will be available for all lobby day participants, and then we will walk to the Capitol to begin advocating for local food and sustainable agriculture.

Lobbying: We will begin lobbying after lunch. Starting at 1:00 p.m. we will begin our visits to the Capitol Complex to ask legislators for their support of local food and farm issues. We will lobby until around 3:45 p.m., then we will re-convene as a group for a de-briefing session at the Pasfield House. To help promote the importance of locally grown produce, the University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) is providing tomato plants for attendees to deliver to members of the General Assembly.

Legislative Reception: Following the de-briefing session there will be a legislative reception at the Pasfield House with hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar. Champion legislators will be invited to the reception, making it an excellent opportunity to meet with legislators and ask for their support.

Cost: The cost for attending the lobbying training, lunch and lobby day is only $10. There is a separate and additional cost for the legislative reception of an additional $10. Please note: ISA members are invited to attend the legislative reception free of charge, organizational members can send two representatives to the legislative reception free of charge.

Registration: You can register online at http://localfoodday2010.eventbrite.com. Registration deadline is April 19th.

The spring series of University of Illinois Extension's Four Seasons Gardening program gets underway this month. The first session of the series is titled Vegetable Gardening in Small Yard Spaces. The program is offered on April 13 at 1 p.m. and will be presented via teleconference at the Adams County Extension office in Quincy.

Learn how to have a vegetable garden even if you don't have large areas of sunshine. Discussion will include using raised beds, square foot gardens, containers, Earthboxes^® and vertical gardening. The program features a color slide presentation accompanied by the voice of the instructor as people from throughout the state participate.

Other topics in the spring series include Don't Fear the Shade Garden set for April 27 and The Bountiful Flower Garden on May 11.

Cost per session is $5. Advance registration is required. Phone or email the local U of I Extension office for more details at 217-223-8380 or register online at www.extension.uiuc.edu/adams.

The Adams/Brown 4-H program in partnership with Star E Ranch will host a Meat Goat Clinic on Saturday, April 10^th from 1:00 to 5:00 pm. This clinic is open to any individual wanting to learn more information about raising and showing meat type goats. Randy and Beth Ellerbrock will host the clinic at the Star E Ranch, 2745 N 1850^th, Clayton, Illinois. Pre-registration is required by April 7^th and can be made by contacting the Extension office at 217-223-8380 or cmorey@illinois.edu. Youth under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

Clinic topics will include; animal selection for breeding and showing, proper feeding, and grooming for show. Information will also be given on meat goat health facts and herd management.

According to Christine Morey, 4-H Program Coordinator, "Participation by 4-H members in the goat project area has doubled in the last 4 years." "We are seeing the number of meat type goats being exhibited increase in each of the last few years at the Adams/Brown 4-H Fair. This clinic is a great opportunity to continue to build interest in the meat goat industry," stated Morey. Contact the Extension Office at 217-223-8380 to register and/or for more information concerning 4-H or click here to register online. The clinic is limited to the first 30 registrants, so early registration is recommended.

A new podcast has been added to the U of I Extension website. It is Local Foods and is being produced by staff in the Northwest Region.

You can listen to the podcast at http://web.extension.illinois.edu/podcasts/localfoods/