In our continued quest to explore the many nonprofit organizations strengthening Lake County’s economy and benefitting the local community, we have invited our friends at Liberty Prairie to share information on their strategic endeavors to fuel sustainable agriculture and environmental stewardship. Read on to see how they are engaging local students, while enhancing access to fresh food, instilling a love of Lake County’s natural landscape, and leveraging Lake County’s vibrant landscape of farmers and artisans.
Liberty Prairie (formerly Liberty Prairie Foundation) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Grayslake, Illinois. Located halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee, the organization’s work focuses on sustainable agriculture and environmental stewardship at the urban edge. For over 30 years, Liberty Prairie has worked to strengthen the local food system and enhance the natural landscape.
Liberty Prairie’s 95-acre holistically managed farm uses regenerative farming best practices, grows USDA-certified organic produce, and supports people, plants, and animals thriving together.
Liberty Prairie’s legacy is characterized by collaboration, and the team acts on its beliefs each day. One example is the Spring Plant Sale and Farm Festival, their annual spring fundraiser. This event celebrates a strong partnership with Grayslake High School District 127. This unique collaboration allows D127 students to explore a wide range of hands-on agricultural experiences—from planting and harvesting to understanding sustainable farming practices—giving them valuable skills beyond the classroom.
The farm is part of a diverse ecosystem that supports immersive, engaging, and educational experiences, and serves as an outdoor classroom. This classroom or Living Laboratory is home of a Summer Farm Camp for younger students ages 5-12.
This science-forward four-week camp engages campers in hands-on learning activities to build problem-solving confidence, teamwork, and a sense of responsibility. Campers tend a communal garden and learn about different approaches to growing food at home and on a farm. Campers also care for the farm’s sheep, goats, and chickens, learn about their rotational grazing systems, and gain hands-on experience with spinning wool, weaving, and dying cloth. By exposing campers to real-world challenges, they solve problems considering how animals and natural systems work together.
Liberty Prairie celebrates curiosity and lifelong learning and creates community through local food. The Liberty Prairie Farm Store features sustainable products from over 40 local farmers grown or made within 300 miles of the store and offers ways to engage with the farm and local farmers, grazers, and makers. Their popular Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program feeds over 250 subscribing families with fresh organic vegetables, locally grown fruit, and pasture-raised eggs for 28 weeks of the year.
Liberty Prairie’s powerful vision of the future imagines people, plants, and animals thriving together. You are welcome to visit the Spring Plant Sale, consider Summer Farm Camp for your children, and shop the Farm Store for local food. Click here to learn more about Liberty Prairie’s upcoming Summer Camp, and click here to learn more about the Spring Plant Sale and Farm Festival on May 10th.