Tours

*Please note that tours may include significant walking and in some cases walking on uneven surfaces or steps.

ALL DAY TOURS (8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.)

Tour One - Commercial composting, environmental achievement, organic farming (includes lunch)

Midwest Organics
www.compostmatters.com
Midwest Organics is certified by the U. S. Compost Council and is used by the Chicago Botanical Gardens, many roof-top gardens in Chicago, and is sold throughout the United States at Whole Foods. The composting operation is comprised of 25 acres of a 3,000 acre farm called Golden Oaks that milks 700 dairy cows three times a day. This composting operation recycles field crops, landscape waste, and cow manure into its compost.

Lake County Central Permit Facility
www.lakecountyil.gov/STORMWATER/LakeCountyWatersheds
This facility completed in 2010 is the “greenest” project in Lake County. It includes: 1) a bio-infiltration swale used to filter pollutants and stormwater runoff; 2) a green roof covered with soil and plants to absorb rainfall, reduce runoff, and moderate the temperature of the building; 3) rain gardens with wetland detention basins that emphasize native plants and prairie plants to soak up rainwater and reduce runoff.
Lunch will be provided at this site.

Tempel Farms Organics
www.tempelfarmsorganics.com
Tempel Farms practices sustainable organic agriculture that enriches its soil and provides a healthy environment for vegetables, fruits, cut flowers, pasture raised poultry, eggs, and honey. It adheres to the strict standards of organic certification using no petroleum based pesticides or fertilizers.

Tour Two - Hosta extravaganza, abundant vegetables, sesquicentennial farm (includes lunch and wine tasting)

Al’s Auto Body and Arboretum
www.alsautobodyandarboretum.com
Al’s Auto Body and Arboretum is truly an original place to visit. It is an auto body shop, but behind the shop, there are three acres of hostas growing in winding, shaded beds under a woodland canopy. There are between 400 - 500 varieties of hostas with some being hybridized and isolated to develop into new hostas. What started as a hobby has now become a fascinating passion that encourages all discerning hosta lovers to see.

Harvard Growing Together Garden- McHenry County Master Gardeners
The Harvard Growing Together Garden was first started in 2001 and has now grown to 11,000 square feet and produces 6,000 pounds of fresh vegetables each year. All produce is given to the Harvard Food Pantry that helps provide 125+ families fresh vegetables from the end of May to the middle of October.

The McEachran Homestead
www.mceachranhomestead.com
The McEachran Homestead is officially recognized by the state of Illinois as a Sesquicentennial Farm. All the buildings on the farm have been restored to circa 1910. This 150 year old farm is well worth the visit, but it is also home to an eleven acre vineyard that produces 19 different varieties of grapes that are used to make red, white, rose, and fruit wines. The tasting room in the barn is a pleasant way to spend an afternoon. Lunch will be provided at this site including wine tasting.

Tour Three- Historically Significant, Lake Michigan Estates #1 (includes lunch)

Crab Tree Farm
www.crabtreefarm.org
Crab Tree Farm is the only operating farm located on Lake Michigan in the state of Illinois. Originally a commercial dairy operation, it has had three owners in its one-hundred year history. Today Crab Tree Farm is home to cattle, horses, sheep, chickens, and turkeys. Crops have included hay, corn, and soybeans. Over the last thirty years, the farm buildings have undergone extensive renovation and now house collections of Arts and Crafts furniture and decorative arts. In 1912-13, the noted landscape architect Jens Jensen developed plans for fruit, flower, and vegetable gardens and orchards. Only parts of his plan were executed.

Forest Park Beach
www.cityoflakeforest.com
Lunch will be provided at Forest Park Beach; it is situated on a bluff along the Lake Michigan shoreline. This scenic 29+ acre park provides a beautiful vista for lunch in an enclosed pavilion. There are numerous walking paths to explore as well as the beach area to enjoy. This historic park was platted in 1896 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Craig Bergmann Home and Studio
www.craigbergmann.com
Craig Bergmann has restored and redone the country house and gardens of A. Watson Armour, a member of the Armour meat packing family. As a noted landscape architect, he is known for incorporating modern day twists on the romantic designs of the past. He has spent 25 years designing, installing, and maintaining landscapes in rural, suburban, and urban environments.

Mettawa Manor
The centerpiece of this estate is a walled English-style garden with forty-foot perennial borders on either side of a sunken lawn that leads to a spring walk and rose room centered on an old fountain. The sixty-five-acre property has two ponds, a fifteen-acre prairie, a parkland of specimen trees and is surrounded by a newly reclaimed oak-hickory forest. The most recent additions include a silver garden, a bronze garden, an ornamental lily pool, aqua-theatre, a three-tiered mound, a grass labyrinth with central fire pit, with a tree house overlook, and a shrubbery with island beds.

Tour Four- Historically significant, Lake Michigan estates #2 (includes lunch)

Posy Krehbiel Estate
The ivy-covered brick Georgian home was designed in 1904 by architect Benjamin H. Marshall, an influential Chicago architect. It reflects the Prairie School of architecture, with low, wide windows and a portico overlooking the landscape. Created in the 1920s by Rose Standish Nichols, the landscape features a series of outdoor “rooms,” including an impressive walled garden.

Mettawa Manor
The centerpiece of this estate is a walled English-style garden with forty-foot perennial borders on either side of a sunken lawn that leads to a spring walk and rose room centered on an old fountain. The sixty-five-acre property has two ponds, a fifteen-acre prairie, a parkland of specimen trees and is surrounded by a newly reclaimed oak-hickory forest. The most recent additions include a silver garden, a bronze garden, an ornamental lily pool, aqua-theatre, a three-tiered mound, a grass labyrinth with central fire pit, with a tree house overlook, and a shrubbery with island beds.

Forest Park Beach
www.cityoflakeforest.com
Lunch will be provided at Forest Park Beach; it is situated on a bluff along the Lake Michigan shoreline. This scenic 29+ acre park provides a beautiful vista for lunch in an enclosed pavilion. There are numerous walking paths to explore as well as the beach area to enjoy. This historic park was platted in 1896 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Craig Bergmann Home and Studio
www.craigbergmann.com
Craig Bergmann has restored and redone the country house and gardens of A. Watson Armour, a member of the Armour meat packing family. As a noted landscape architect, he is known for incorporating modern day twists on the romantic designs of the past. He has spent 25 years designing, installing, and maintaining landscapes in rural, suburban, and urban environments.

 

HALF DAY TOURS

Tour Five (8:00 - 11:30 A.M.) - Market Day founder, wholesale nursery

Cherry Lane Farm
Trudi Temple is the founder of Market Day, author of Trudi’s Garden, and owner of Cherry Lane Farm. The 73 acre farm has a herd of grass-fed beef cows that produces calves for the ever-growing market for sustainable foods with no chemicals or additives. Trudi has restored a red dairy barn that is filled with antique tools and furniture that is used for special events, including weddings. Her grounds around her buildings contain innumerable beds for perennials, vegetables, roses, conifers, fruit trees, and natives. Trudi has installed a series of solar panels and a wind turbine that has decreased her monthly electric bill from $1000 to $83 a month.

Hoffie Nursery
www.hoffienursery.com
Hoffie Nursery is a wholesale business that offers over 600 different varieties of perennials, ornamental grasses, groundcovers, ferns, bulbs, herbs, and natives. Its plants can be seen at many locations from Millennium Park to Morton Arboretum to Lincoln Park Zoo. Hoffie plants are used by landscapers and architects to beautify the Midwest.

Tour Six (8:00 - 11:30 A.M.) - Quaking bog, stunning flowers

Volo Bog State Park
www.dnr.state.il.us
Volo Bog is the only “quaking” bog in Illinois to have an open water center. The 47.4 acre bog is surrounded by 1100 acres of marshes, prairie restoration, woodlands, and two other bogs. There are many hiking trails to enjoy while observing the abundant wildlife at the park. Bird watching is a must. A naturalist led tour will enhance your visit.

Demonstration Garden -McHenry County Master Gardeners
The Demonstration Garden was started in 1988 to educate the public concerning new annuals, perennials, and landscaping trends. The Demonstration Garden is a display garden that changes every year. The 8,000 square foot garden has numerous beds that focus upon sun gardens, shade gardens, butterfly gardens, rose gardens, and even contemplative gardens. All of these beds are designed to reflect new ideas and new approaches to gardening. Take time to walk the winding paths and sit on a park bench to enjoy the view.

Tour Seven (1:00 - 4:30 P.M.) - Unrivaled conifers, community garden, ecology campus

Rich’s Foxwillow Pines Nursery, Inc.
www.richsfoxwillowpines.com
Rich Eyre is an avid collector who has over 2500 cultivars on his six acre nursery and 30 acre farm. He has 1,000 different woody plants, 500 varieties of hostas, 100 varieties of day lilies, and over 170 varieties of Blue Spruce. Rich has been the subject of innumerable television, magazine, and newspaper articles.

Rotary Garden-McHenry County Master Gardeners
The Rotary Garden was first started in 2004 and consists of 17 raised beds 8 feet by 4 feet. Sixteen beds are used for vegetables, and one is used for cut flowers. This community-sponsored garden has eight different organizations ranging from local garden clubs to 4-H clubs to the Farm Bureau women to the Noon Rotary all working to plant, weed, and harvest vegetables for both the Woodstock Food Pantry and the Walden Oaks Retirement Home. The Rotary Garden produces approximately 2,000 pounds of produce each year.

Loyola University Retreat and Ecology Campus
www.luc.edu/retreatcampus
This 98 acre ecology campus features a wide variety of habitats including ponds, wetlands, oak woods, and prairie. It provides a unique chance to experience and to explore local biodiversity. There are continual on-going restoration projects.

Tour Eight (1:00 - 4:30 P.M.) - restoration projects, bird watching

Citizens for Conservation (CFC)
This not-for-profit conservation organization was founded in 1971, with the mission of: “Saving Living Spaces for Living Things.” CFC owns eleven preserves, which encompass 367 acres. In addition they contribute volunteer work for another 2200 acres. CFC’s primary goal is to restore this land to the full biodiversity which once covered Northeastern Illinois. This year, Lake and McHenry County Master Gardeners will have the opportunity to partner with CFC and the Chicago Botanic Garden in projects which support the propagation of rare native species.  Master Gardeners will adopt CFC plants for the growing season and return seeds from the plants for distribution in the fall. During this tour, you will visit prairies, savannas, wetlands, woodlands, and a seed nursery.

Baker Lake
At this lake you will have the opportunity to observe the CFC Rookery, which is the summer home to Great Blue Herons, great Egrets and Double Crested Cormorants, among other species.  The tour is a must for avid bird watchers.

 

OPTIONAL INDEPENDENT PRE OR POST CONFERENCE TOUR

Nippersink Creek Kayaking Tour

Serene kayaking and habitat restoration

Wednesday September 5, 2012 OR Sunday September 9, 2012
(no transportation provided)

Glacial Park

Lost Valley Visitors Center
6316 Harts Road
Ringwood, IL 60072
815-678-4532
Glacial Park is the “Crown Jewel” of the McHenry County Parks. The park is 3400 acres and includes Nippersink Creek which has been rated one of the cleanest waterways in Illinois. The creek has been re-meandered to follow its original path and is home to innumerable plants and animals. This naturalist-led tour will begin at Keystone Landing where participants will board individual kayaks and paddle downstream for seven miles with stops for discussion about restoration work, habitats for endangered species, and other places of interest.

September 5, 2012 (1:00 to 5:00 P.M.) OR September 9, 2012 (8:00 to Noon)

Kayaking rental fee: $40 - includes paddle, life jacket, light snack and water

NOTE: This tour will not be given in case of heavy rainstorm with lightning; however, the tours will be held in light rain.

Tour maximum: 25 participants