FresherTogether

10/11/2025

Would love to see you at Brunch! Imagine eating a yummy local grain brunch, surrounded by other great folks to connect and network with, lots of resources between our browsing library, community mill, grain and seed table, as well as all our new resources specifically focused on supporting growers and farmers interested in staple crops.

This brunch is not only a time to eat some yummy food and connect/network with other folks interested in staple crops, grain, bread, etc, But it's also an opportunity to get more resources and information about growing and producing staple crops  and sharing what information would be the most helpful for you over the next year as a grower, eater, baker, etc. 

Our Listening Session: Added to the social mix is also targeted opportunities to share what you need most over this next year and beyond.  Is it how-to materials on how to grow a specific staple crop in your garden or on your farm, learning more about sourdough, 1:1 support accessing USDA programming and resources, or where to buy local flour. Whatever it is, and whatever your scale of growing or production, we'd love to see you at brunch and hear your voice.

 We will have lots of take-aways available including ready to cook local grain, seeds, and educational resources. And we're hoping everyone will leave with a full belly and some new friends. 

This Listening Session is a part of a bigger project of Deepening Relationships for Staple Crops. Project Overview

This project, funded by USDA’s 2501 Program, aims to support relationship building between underserved farmers and USDA programs in three communities in the southern Lake Michigan/Upper Midwest region. Our goal is to support deep community collaboration to increase access to culturally significant staple crops for producers and consumers. 

Project partners include Fondy Food Center, Fresher Together / Chicago Bread Club, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, and Michigan Food and Farming Systems.

Do you know producers who are interested in starting or scaling their staple crop production who might like to tap into this project? If so, we'd love to get in touch with them. Please share this event with them

07/23/2025

We're super excited to invite y'all out for a community workday Saturday August 2nd on our Beaverville Farm. 10am-5pm We could really use some hands on support at this point in the season and the land could really benefit from some amazing people visiting her. Come for part of the day or the whole shift..there are great things to check out in the area and beautiful birds and wildlife and bison if you just need some nature time too. We're gonna have some yummy things to eat around and great company.

Please let us know you're coming. So we can plan for food, etc.



Slide one text:
Join us for a day of tending the land! We can’t wait to have your help and energy on the farm. And we’ll have some yummy food throughout the day too!
Please RSVP for full address. Look up Willow Slough Fish and Wildlife for approximate location. Beaverville IL 60912 ... email or text to rsvp- outreach@freshertogether.com 312-88-FRESH. 312-883-7374

Slide two text: Whether you're a seasoned grower or new to farm life, your hands and heart are welcome. Bring your own gloves and favorite tools if you have them—extra gloves and tools will be available on-site.

Bring: a water bottle and if you have a favorite folding chair, or special sunscreen. We will have some supplies as well. Food and Snacks will be available. Stop by when you can or stay with us the whole day.

We strive to create accessible environments where everyone can participate.

All Bodies, All Abilities, All Welcome. Please let us know if you have any questions, what you need, and any dietary restrictions.

07/20/2025

Fresher Together has 4 pillars that we believe come together to support our collective liberation. Build, Grow, Cook, Heal. In our build pillar we say it’s not only important to build collaborative relationships and community, but  it’s critical to build out infrastructure and systems to support our farmers. We’re super excited to support our friends over at Earth Mama’s Farm and Savanna Institute with bathroom facilities during this month’s Alley Cropping for the Market Farmer Workshop. We see this as a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate a simple, cost-effective, and accessible farm bathroom solution for small farmers who might not have the resources to build a permanent structure, afford a porta-potty service, or, like our Beaverville farm,  be in an area where it’s nearly  impossible finding a company to deliver and service a porta-potty on a regular basis.

So come check out this beautiful workshop, that we also can’t wait to learn from, and stop by our pop up bathroom while you’re there where we will have information for some options of how to create a temporary or permanent solution for your on-farm bathroom and hand washing needs. 

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Market farmers looking to diversify their crop selection and explore how perennial tree crops can benefit their production systems will benefit from this workshop. We’ll review the unique opportunities and challenges trees and shrubs provide a small scale production landscape while answering audience questions. No tractor? No problem.

This workshop is designed to bridge the gap between large scale industrial farmers and back yard gardeners by interacting with an approachable farm model at Earth Mama’s Farm located in the black oak savanna prairie biome of Pembroke Township, IL. Focusing on meeting small and midscale market farmers where they’re at in their operations, this workshop will address designing and working within diversified tree cropping systems in Midwestern U.S.A.

Check out more info and get registered over on the page!

06/05/2025

We've been working on a cool thing with some cool people! Let's talk about caregiving and farming. Whether you're taking care of children, parents or other important people in your life we've been curious about how to balance care for others, ourselves and the land.

Come to our virtual farmer discussion Monday - link in the bio to rsvp. Official invitation below.
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We would love for you to join us at a podcast pre-launch farmer discussion session next Monday June 9, which will feature podcast hosts, speakers, & content from the MVEG Network's forthcoming podcast series "Field & Family." Anyone is welcome; please share widely!

This podcast mini-series has been in the works for about a year, & is finally close to launching. It focuses on the intersection of farming & caregiving -- whatever that looks like to you. It has been produced by the Midwest Vegetable Growers Network as a collaborative effort between FairShare CSA Coalition, Fresher Together, & Land Stewardship Project, compiled from interviews from over a dozen farmers.

Please join us for an interactive conversation ahead of the podcast's launch for a "first listen" sneak peek of the audio, dig into what we learned from the farmers interviewed for the episodes, & chat about your own experiences balancing farming with family care. The event will be from 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM CT on Monday, June 9. Please feel free to share with your networks & farming friends.

05/15/2025

We have so many updates and we have been busy behind the scenes, but we can't wait to share all the happenings with y'all soon. One thing we're super excited about is Fresher Together is in Residency at this year and we need your help!

This Sunday we're having a workday to connect with community, the land, and get so many plants in the ground, beds prepped and more.

Join us for a day of connection, cultivation, and community as we get plants in the ground, return to the land, and celebrate with yummy pizzas and snacks! Stop by when you can, or stay with us the whole day!

All experience levels welcome. All bodies, all abilities, all welcome. We have all types of tasks that we could really use help with. So whether you want to get sweaty and feel like you got a workout, or you want to sit in the shade to pot up , or engage in some meditative weeding, cleaning and planting, we really really need it all.

If you have been wanting to come work with us, but haven't had the capacity to trek all the way to Beaverville, Monee is much closer to Chicago and the farm is less than a 10 min drive from the University Park metra strop.

Bring your favorite tools and gloves, or use ours. Stop by just for a few mins or stay the whole day. However you can help and spread the word is great. We're so excited to have your help and experience your presence at this location. Let us know you're coming if you can so we have an ideal about how much food and supplies we need. Thanks

10/05/2024

Please come out and join us. So many exciting plans

Only one week away! Join us next Saturday, October 12, 2024, from 11 AM to 5 PM CT at FresherTogether Farm in Beaverville, Illinois, forQ***r Harvest Hang – a family-friendly farm field trip celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community! 🌾🍎

Expect fun games for all ages, interactive programming, great music, free food and treats, and pop-up education sessions on LGBTQIA+ health, featuring the latest research from All of Us Research Program and The PRIDE Study!

Learn more at: tinyurl.com/RSVPQHH

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09/13/2024

Please come!

We’re thrilled to invite you to the Q***r Harvest Hang – a family-friendly farm field trip celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community! 🌾🍎

Join us on Saturday, October 12, 2024, from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm CT at FresherTogether Farm in Beaverville, Illinois, for a day of connection, joy, and wellness.

Expect fun games for all ages, interactive programming, great music, free food and treats, and pop-up education sessions on LGBTQIA+ health, featuring the latest research from All of Us Research Program and The PRIDE Study!

Learn more at: tinyurl.com/RSVPQHH

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09/12/2024

🌈✨ We’re thrilled to invite you to the Q***r Harvest Hang – a family-friendly farm field trip celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community! 🌾🍎

Join us on Saturday, October 12, 2024, from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm CT at Fresher Together Farm, + and in Beaverville, Illinois, for a day of connection, joy, and wellness.

Expect:
🍂 Fun games for all ages
🍏 interactive programming
🎶 Great music
🍽️ Free food and treats

Plus, we’ll be hosting pop-up education sessions on LGBTQIA+ health, featuring the latest research from All of Us Research Program and The PRIDE Study.

Bring your friends, family, and good vibes to help us cultivate community and well-being at the beautiful Fresher Together Farm! 🌻

Alt text: Rainbow gradient background with pink, blue, and white flowers. Small icons of leaves, a caramel apple, pumpkin, and warm beverage sprinkled between the text, “Q***r Harvest Hang, October 12, 11-5 CT Fresher Together Farm Beaverville, IL, an LGBTQIA+ family friendly event cultivating community and wellbeing! Free food, music, games, and fall activities! Learn more at tinyurl.com/rsvpqhh” photos of smiling people on the Fresher Together farm and the Fresher Together logo are prominently featured.

07/06/2024

Grateful for these cuties who were magic and helped us move the fence and cut back all the green growth that was trying to zap our electric fence. This type of support might seem small but makes such a big difference for us. Our fence gets to continue to work hard and keep out the bunnies and deer and critters who just want so desperately to eat all of the crops we're growing for folks.

Shout out to Susan Carlotta Ellis , Forrest, Xavier, Danie!

If you wanna come through and help please don't hesitate to reach out. We have tasks for all bodies, whether you want to sit or stand or move and sweat. We can really use the help and will be posting some work days soon but welcome you to schedule to come when it works for you! FresherTogether

06/04/2023

This Saturday 10am to 8pm .

We want so very much for you to join us this Saturday for our Farm Warming at the future rural farm site. We can't wait to share music, food, play games, share our future visioning and dreams for the site and get your support, blessings and good energy on the land of the new space.

This is a part of our dream to both be able to scale up in our work of providing food, fiber, and supporting our South Side community, but also making space for folks to come out and immerse in nature, escape some urban fatigue, connect with the land and restore. We think the stewardship of both rural and urban land is the connection we need.

Even if you can't be there in person, we know it's a busy season, please spread the word and our Farm Warming Year Fundraiser. And let us know when we can have your energy on the land in the future.

Links are in our bio. You can follow everything on the website.
www.Freshertogether.com/farmwarming

***rsWhoFarm

06/02/2023

We're honored to have a
Fellow with us this year. Cathy is about half way through her fellowship and will be learning more about post harvest handling, soilless medium growing, food security, grain storage, project planning, and more during her time with us. Check out her intro blog post here ( https://www.freshertogether.com/fellow-intro-2023) and what she shared with us below. We can't wait to share more from her over the next several weeks.

Drop a question in the comments or tell her where she must get a cup.of coffee while she's here.

Fellow Friday
Name: Catherine Geluwa (she/her)

My Personal values: Compassion, Selfless and Empathy

Favorite Farm Tool: Fork, it penetrates the soil easier than spade.

What lead Cathy to Fresher Together

Through the Community Engagement Exchange Program (CEEP), I am one of the fellow selected from Papua New Guinea under the thematic area Resilience and Sustainable Development.

Some info about Cathy:

I am an agriculture officer working with the Food Security Office of the Division of Agriculture and Livestock at Simbu Province, Papua New Guinea. I am passionate about agriculture and advocate on the importance of stimulating youth interest and supporting women's participation in agriculture. I am a foodie and love my locally brewed coffee with smoked sweet potato.

06/02/2023

We're getting a hoop house on the rural future farm land and we need your help to get it built!!
One week from today we are doing it classic barn raising style! You know how we feel and how we do... We're dope alone but we're Fresher Together and we can't wait to have our community support on this.

So is leading us in our build. We'll be at it all day, and would love your help. If you happen to be free next Thursday and want to have some hands on this build reach out and let us know we can count on you and we will tell you where to show up.

If you wanna support and come out but can't climb a ladder let us know. We have some other support we need and we can leave the ladder climbing for those who can. And don't forget the Farm Warming is just two days later on the 10th so we would love to see you there!

Fyi-
Distance info. We are very north in Beaverville, near Pembroke Township. It takes us an hour and 15 mins to get there from where we are on the south side.