Hello! Thank you for your interest in our Central Illinois Modern Homesteading Series Introduction Seminar on Wednesday, August 21st, from 5:00PM - 7:30PM Central Time, at the University of Illinois Extension McLean County Office, 1615 Commerce Parkway, Suite A, Bloomington IL, 61704 (or online).

If attending in-person, enter the front door of the office nearest to the "Illinois Extension" sign on Commerce Parkway, and make your first left. Doors open 15 minutes before the program. 

This will be a two-part seminar, where in Part 1, we will cover: Knowing Your "Why" (as in "Why do you want to begin your Modern Homesteading Journey?", Modern Homesteading Goals, and Time Management Tips. Maggie Ray, Local Food Systems & Small Farms Program Coordinator in Southern IL, will cover these topics remotely. She will begin her talk with a brief introduction.

Afterward, we will ask class participants to share their "why", or briefly share some of their homesteading goals for the future. 

Then, Nick Frillman (Local Food Systems and Small Farms Educator) will share a brief introduction. Finally, we will have a brief presentation on Establishing New Garden Beds for Spring Gardening with Cover Crops in the Fall. 

This class will have an in-person AND virtual attendance option. If you attend in-person, there will be an option to pay a $10 cash fee to take home enough oats and winter pea seed or cereal rye seed to establish a new 15 ft x 15 ft garden bed with cover crops, or rejuvenate an existing garden bed with cover crops over the fall, winter, and early spring.

The intended audience for this program are those who see themselves attending multiple workshops, the majority of which will be held in-person at various locations throughout Central Illinois, from Peoria to Bloomington-Normal to Champaign-Urbana, from Pontiac to Atlanta, and occasionally parts beyond. The intention is to establish a Central Illinois modern homesteading community of practice, where hands-on skills will be taught. 

Please register for in-person if you plan to attend at the office, and register for the remote option if you'd like to attend remotely. The office can only hold 30 people, and will be first-come, first-served. Please note that we will have the online participants muted except for specific times during the session, and the way to interact will be with the Chat function. Registration is required to attend this class.

Please arrive to the site 5-10 minutes prior to the start time, so we can begin and end on time. If you are attending remotely, please access the Zoom link 5-10 minutes prior. If you are new to Zoom, please get familiar with it ahead of time.

Any questions, comments, etc., please contact Nick Frillman (frillma2@illinois.edu) or Kayla Green (kgree6@illinois.edu). Or call 309-663-8306.
If this event needs to be rescheduled for any reason, the reschedule date will be Thursday, August 22nd, at the same time, same location. 

Webinar link will be emailed to all participants one week and then again one day before the seminar.

Thank you!