Listen and ask questions of our panel of local homesteaders, and learn how you can live a self-sufficient life that is sustainable and ecologically friendly - even in the suburbs.
This will be a conversational format, but if you wish to submit a question ahead of time, please include it with your registration. It will help our panelists prepare.
About our panelists:
Katie Maas is a Holistic Gardener, Herbalist, and Suburban Homesteader. Over the past 10 years, along with her husband and children, she has consciously pursued a more self-sufficient and sustainable lifestyle. On their acre of land in unincorporated Wheaton, they have planted over 150 trees and bushes, as well as native plants and flowers, to create a Certified Wildlife Habitat. She also has cultivated a forest garden filled with fruit trees and berry bushes, a medicinal herb spiral, and a vegetable garden. These plants work together in a symbiotic relationship to benefit people, wildlife, and the environment. With the plants grown and foraged from her yard, she enjoys making delicious recipes, herbal remedies and body care products for family and friends. Katie believes that growing our own plants, foraging ethically, and eating seasonally can help us connect to the earth. She invites others to learn about the healing nature of plants by visiting her yard for a Wild Edible Nature Immersion. During these hands-on experiences, she teaches others to identify and connect with the wisdom of plants and herbs that flourish throughout the year. The group then forages and harvests what is in season, prepares herbal remedies and recipes, and enjoys a meal together.
Connie Kollmeyer is an adjunct faculty at College of Dupage teaching Sustainable Urban Agriculture & leading Study Abroad programs, Co-Director, Permaculture Design & Gardening Instructor at The Resiliency Institute, and an Environmental Educator at The Conservation Foundation. She has been an organic gardener for more than twenty years and was learning about gardening and foraging well before that from her parents and grandparents. She completed Master Urban Farmer training through the University of IL Cook County extension and started her own suburban farm, Copper Fox Farm, to provide fresh, nutritious, and interesting foods to the local community. She also provides fresh, organic produce to the community through her volunteer work at a local Pantry Garden that grows ninety raised beds of produce specifically for the food pantry. Connie is also a Master Naturalist and believes strongly in growing with nature and not working against it.
She also owns and operates her own organic farm.
Contact the Ask Us Desk at askus@dglibrary.org or call (630) 960-1200 with questions.
AGE GROUP: | Seniors | High School | Adults |
EVENT TYPE: | Workshops & Discussion Groups | Registration Required | In-Person Program |