Small family farm transforms into 5 bountiful acres

by Rachel Baruch Yackley Daily Herald 5/14/2011

Ten years ago, Tim Fuller and Beth Propst bewildered their neighbors by transforming the yard of their home into a mini farm. What began as a small effort to grow their own food flourished into Erehwon Farm, which provides healthy produce to hundreds of people. After getting things growing in their yard near St. Charles in 2001, “the neighbors were starting to comment,” said Tim Fuller. “Then (in 2005) we got in with Garfield Farm Museum (at Mongerson Farm). Last year, we got an opportunity to start over at our new location, which we are leasing and helping the owners develop.” Erehwon Farm is now at 40W248 Hughes Road in Elburn, just west of the Mill Creek subdivision. Two brothers, Hazis and Rakip Azemi, both stonemasons whose father immigrated here from Albania, own this acreage. “We have about 5 acres, here,” Fuller said. “We have a lot of trees and we're designing an edible forest garden with apple trees, peach trees, berry bushes, and lots more. We have maple trees (which were tapped this spring, yielding 5 gallons of maple syrup). “On the ground we're growing asparagus and all sorts of things. We also have an herb culinary garden. And part of our farm is designated for picking by CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) members.” From the ground up, everything is unique about this farm, starting with its name. “Erehwon,” which is “nowhere” backward, was inspired by a mythical place described in a novel with the same name, by author Samuel Butler. “What I feel is our mission is to provide affordable food to local folks around here,” Fuller stated. “I believe in small and simple and in (using) a low amount of equipment. For example, one of the things we've done is develop a low-cost portable hoop house. Part of our mission is also to educate. People can grow their own food anywhere.” Traditional growing is key on this farm, with an emphasis on “natural.” No chemicals of any kind are used. Nonetheless, this is not a certified organic farm. “We don't see the need (to become organic),” Fuller said. “We mulch our own compost which we heat in an oven per organic requirements. And we don't use any chemicals. We probably exceed organic guidelines.” The farm also accepts yard and kitchen waste for composting from its customers as a way to help the environment, as well as old newspapers and cardboard for mulching. Fuller and Propst are learning how to interplant crops and keep the beds full. They transplant into beds, and also grow starts (new plants from seeds) of their own. Erehwon offers a three-season CSA program, with this being the first year of their spring offering. About 30 subscribers (or households) are participating in the spring CSA, 100 subscribers are expected for the summer CSA, and 40 subscribers for the fall. This CSA draws subscribers from all around the western suburbs, who purchase shares of what is grown at the farm and receive the freshest possible produce, May through December. This farm's produce is also sold at two local farmers markets: Geneva Green Market (June 2 to Aug. 8), and Batavia Farmers Market (June 25 to Oct. 15). Current customers and CSA subscribers have already been able to enjoy Fuller's “spicy health mix” salad greens mix, Jerusalem artichokes, turnips, broccoli raab, scallions, garlic scapes and more. Subscribers pay in advance, thus helping with the costs of farming, and deal directly with the farmer who is growing the food. They can even volunteer to pitch in and help around the farm. Farming is not without its challenges, one of which is making a living. Some of the farming costs are offset by CSA subscriptions, which are paid at the beginning of each season. Fuller also said, “Wind has been our biggest challenge, with the hoop houses. We build it so that if it fails, it falls gently and doesn't hurt the plants. We learn by doing; we look at the last one that failed and we learn.” Erehwon continues its plans to grow, while drawing ever more customers and remaining dedicated to providing quality locally grown produce. You can find abundant recipes on the farm's website (erehwonfarm.com), such as arugula and pear salad, turkey and greens quiche, kale chips, radish tart, baked squash with apples, and more, all of which incorporate fresh locally grown produce. Plenty of opportunities exist for checking out this local farm. Coming up this week is the first open house at the new location. This free event, from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 21, is open to all, and will include an edible farm tour, cooking demonstrations, a scavenger hunt for kids, and a chance to feed and pet goats. For more information about the farm or the CSA program, call Fuller at (630) 485-9963, or visit erehwonfarm.com.

Future Peace Corps worker helps villages obtain clean water, improve health

by Rachel Baruch Yackley Daily Herald 2/22/2011

In spring, students throughout the country are pondering what college to go to, and on what path their choices will take them. St. Charles East High School graduate Elizabeth Chadwick, who attends University of Wisconsin-Madison, probably never imagined her choices would take her across the world to Africa. Chadwick, a 2007 graduate of St. Charles East, recently spent three weeks in the country of Uganda. Uganda is in the East African plateau, just south of Sudan, and just west of Kenya. While there, she was able to share her experiences with the Daily Herald, via e-mail. Q. Where exactly are you, and what are you doing in Uganda? A. “Oli Otya” (“hello” in Luganda language) from a bustling Internet cafe overlooking the chaotic streets of Kampala, Uganda! “Agande” means hello in Rukiga, a language spoken in the west, which is where I was when I e-mailed you last. I just got back to the capital city of this east African country after spending 11 days in the rural southwest part of the country. (Seventeen) undergraduate students, including myself, have come here to study international health and nutrition for three weeks, as part of a study abroad program with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Last semester we had seminars about Uganda’s health care system and general issues of public health and social issues that Uganda is currently facing. After learning about all these things “textbook” style, we finally arrived here and got to see the reality of these issues. Q. What are you doing on this trip? A. We spent the time touring public hospitals, health clinics, malnutrition clinics, and meeting traditional healers (including a bone-setter). After touring Mulago (Hospital, in Kampala), the national referral hospital, we traveled west through the highlands along the Rwandan and Congolese borders to study rural health care. Along the journey we hiked through a tropical rain forest, swam in Uganda’s deepest lake, visited the source of the Nile River, walked along the equator, helped construct a rainwater collection tank, played many games of football (soccer) with the locals, saw many wild animals (including a hippo grazing in front of my door after arriving home after a New Year’s celebration in a national park), endured frequent power outages, and slept peacefully every night under a mosquito net. Q. Why did you pick Uganda, and with whom did you go? A. At UW-Madison I have been involved with a student organization/nonprofit called the Village Health Project, which raises money for clean water and health projects in rural Uganda. Many of the projects we work on are in collaboration with this study abroad program. I knew that I needed to come here and see Uganda for myself. All of the students are from UW-Madison and a few of us have been involved with VHP. Some of the information I learned here will be used to write a grant for a new VHP project to help provide healthy food for students at a primary school. Q. What were your biggest challenges, personally, in Uganda? A. One of the biggest challenges for me was seeing malnourished children in the rural villages; it just breaks your heart. Many of these children were orphans whose grandmothers were now taking care of them, but didn’t have the means to feed them, or weren’t feeding them nutritious foods. Most of them couldn’t afford to take their children to the hospital (everything within the hospital itself is free, but transport there is too expensive for people). When you see those situations you want to empty your wallet to help, but that’s not a solution, especially when these situations are the result of much bigger, systemic problems. Why was that child orphaned in the first place? Was it AIDS? Why wasn’t the grandmother buying or growing nutritious foods? How come the hospital isn’t easily accessible? Q. What were your greatest moments? A. One of the greatest moments for me was visiting the home of a community health worker who had a rainwater collection tank in her back yard. The tank was built using funds from the Village Health Project and it was an incredible feeling to see how our fundraising work in Madison had been transformed into a life changing water system for a family in Uganda. Most people must walk great distances to get their drinking water, which is usually from very contaminated, stagnant ponds. However, the rainwater collection tank gathers water from a gutter system on the roof of the house when it rains and can last through the dry season. I was elated to hear how thankful the family was for the tank and how much it has benefited them and their neighbors. Q. How does a typical village in Uganda compare to St. Charles? And how does the city of Kampala compare to Chicago? A. It’s nearly impossible to compare any village in Uganda to a town in the U.S. If St. Charles were made up of red, dirt roads without stoplights, little electricity, thousands of bicycles, banana trees instead of oak trees, goats instead of squirrels, and outdoor fruit markets instead of restaurants, it just might look like a town in western Uganda. Kampala and Chicago are similar only in that they both have terrible traffic jams. Most of the roads in Kampala are single lanes with few functional stoplights. There aren’t many tall buildings in the city and despite its urban setting it is very green and lush. The streets are lined with markets and people. People selling newspapers and fresh fruits weave in and out of traffic looking to sell their goods to commuters. Huge Marabou storks are perched on top of every building and circle in the skies above when not busy munching on garbage. Aside from cars, there are also matatus (public mini-buses), boda-bodas (motorbikes), and bicycles. Q. Was this your first trip to Africa? A. This is my second trip to Africa. In spring 2010 I studied abroad for a semester at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. However this is my first time to Uganda. Q. What are you studying at UW-Madison? A. I’m majoring in biology and getting a certificate in global cultures. I love biology because the complexity and beauty of living organisms is fascinating to me. I chose global cultures because I think learning about other people, places, languages and cultures is important for having a balanced perspective of people and the world. Q. When will you graduate, and what are your plans? A. I’m graduating this May. I’ve already accepted a job with the Peace Corps as a secondary (high school) science teacher in French-speaking West Africa (country to be determined). After that … who knows. At this point I see myself going to medical school or getting a master’s (degree) in public health, but I expect that my Peace Corps experience will have a lot of influence on the direction I head, afterward.

Elgin-bound Poundstone chats about cats, comedy and webcams

by Rachel Baruch Yackley Daily Herald 11/30/2010 “My show is largely autobiographical,” said Paula Poundstone, during a recent phone interview about her upcoming performance in Elgin. “Kids, animals, current events, myself and my experiences. I try to keep it informal, and I love talking with people in the audience.” One of the most enjoyable interviews I can remember, this wasn't all jokes, but a lot of conversation with a warm, witty, spontaneous woman, about what makes her so good at what she does. There was an incredibly funny moment when, while talking with Poundstone, I checked out her website (www.paulapoundstone.com) to check out what she calls her “Diner Cam.” Sure enough, there was a streaming video from a Webcam aimed at her cats' food and water dishes. Yes, that's plural: Poundstone's household boasts 16 cats, as well as a rabbit, a lizard, and a dog. Oh, and three teenagers. I was watching a couple of cats eat while we talked, and in popped Poundstone's smiling face, right by the dining felines. “Here I am,” she said, and waved at me. In essence, I saw her live, but it was like only getting a tiny bite of chocolate; I'd really like more. Her Elgin performance is set for 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3, at the Hemmens. Details and tickets are available at hemmens.org. Improvisation is a big part of Poundstone's show, although she does make a few notes, especially about current events, which she reviews before going onstage, to help her remember “what's on the forefront of what I want to talk about.” During a weekend of performances in Bozeman, Montana, Poundstone experienced one of the reasons why she loves doing stand-up comedy. “This was three nights away from home; I rarely do that, as it's really, really hard on my family, and on me. Then I got some difficult family news, and I had to go to the theater. I wasn't feeling good, but I was marshaling my forces,” she said. “I went onstage and had such an incredibly good time. The crowd was so good. While onstage, I kept thinking to myself, ‘I am the luckiest person in the world.' I get to go to work and I feel uplifted. I really appreciate how lucky I am.” Performing onstage, in front of a live audience, is truly what inspires and drives this comedian. “There's something really important about being together with people. I talk to the crowd a lot. And I believe it has to do with the people who come to the show,” she said. Growing up in Massachusetts, Poundstone wasn't the class clown, but exhibited the ability to make facetious observations from a young age. She still treasures a report card note made by her kindergarten teacher, who said she enjoyed Paula's “humorous comments about our activities.” “I like the sound of laughter,” said Poundstone, “but it truly is in the eyes of the beholder.” In 1979 Poundstone began working on her comedy at open mic nights, while busing tables. She was 19 and still living in New England. “A lot of what I learned, I learned by watching others who didn't do it well. You kind of watch others' mistakes,” she said. “When I started, it was hard to get work. So I took a Greyhound bus around the country to see what people were doing in other cities. I'd get off the bus someplace like Denver. I'd spend the day there, go to clubs, and talk with comics.” Eventually she settled in California, where she made a home, a family, and continued to pursue her comedic passion. Not everything Poundstone does is for the purpose of making others laugh. A National spokesperson for The Association of Library Trustees Advocates Friends and Foundations, Poundstone said, “I do stuff with Friends of the Library. I help them promote and fundraise. Libraries are often one of the things on the economic chopping block, but they're really one of the best deals in town. Socioeconomically, they are a really important link.” An avid reader herself, she mentioned that books on tape have been a staple, shared with her family especially while driving. “My kids listen to ‘Harry Potter,' read by Jim Dale, over and over again,” she said. “My kids don't watch TV, but I wish I could tell you that made them voracious readers. They're just so busy, with homework, (school) orchestra, and more.” Poundstone is also a writer; her first book, “There's Nothing in This Book That I Meant to Say,” was published by Random House, and she is working on her second book. She also co-authored three math books in the “Math With a Laugh” series with Faye Nisonoff Ruopp, and “A Prairie Home Companion's Pretty Good Jokes,” with Garrison Keillor. Her first comedy CD, “I Heart Jokes: Paula Tells Them in Maine,” is also available. In addition, she is a frequent writer for the Huffington Post. Poundstone can be heard regularly on the NPR weekly news quiz show, “Wait Wait …Don't Tell Me,” as well as on NPR's “Morning Edition.” Although she doesn't watch TV, she has appeared on Letterman, Leno, and Craig Ferguson. A panelist on “Wait Wait” for the past 10 years, Poundstone enjoys the spontaneity of this radio show. “We all know, going in, that it's based on the world's news, but I don't have jokes prepared ahead. I love that feeling, like being a batter in the batter's cage,” she said. The recipient of several honors, Poundstone was the first woman to win an ACE (the cable EMMY) for Best Standup Comedy performance, and was the first woman invited to perform at the White House correspondents' dinner. Earlier this year, she was invited to serve as judge in the humor category of the 2010 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, the largest recognition and scholarship program for teenage artists and writers. Adults and kids are welcome to her show, but like many comedians, Poundstone said, “It depends on what offends people. I curse occasionally; I don't limit myself.”