The Talking Farm

10/05/2026

10/01/2026

On 9/24, The Talking Farm welcomed about 20 participants to the Howard Street Farm for a Flower Cutting Class with U of I Extension’s Local Foods Small Farms Program. Led by Jesse Schaffer with support from Sarah Batka of the Extension, and Jack Phillips and Camille Walker of The Talking Farm, attendees learned expert techniques and took home freshly cut blooms. The flowers were grown at the farm using sustainable methods.

10/01/2026

Come one, come all, to our garlic planting Community Day on Saturday, October 17th! This is our chance to give you, as community members, a chance to walk the farm, engage with friends and family, say hello to the farm cats, and get your hands dirty in the process. The event runs from 10am-3pm, and guests are welcome come and go as they please.

Participants will take home some of their very own garlic cloves to plant for next season, and any kiddos are welcome to partake in a self-lead scavenger hunt. We hope to see you there!

09/22/2026

Celebrate the season with us at a festive fall picnic at the Howard Street Farm, featuring the toe-tapping folk and bluegrass sounds of The Sullivan Sisters! For more information and to snag tickets, click the link in our bio.

09/17/2026

50% sold! Join us for a one night only farm dinner collaboration with Flour Power celebrating the delicious intersection of food, farming and sustainability. This special evening highlights peak produce at its freshest, honoring the care nutrients and flavor built into every ingredient. For tickets and more information, click the link in bio.

09/04/2026

Today we want to give a huge shout out to the Skokie Park District for helping us clear the “wildlands” that lay beyond our fence line!

Last year they cleared over an acre of buckthorn that had established, and this year they’ve cleared the new invasive plants that were taking over.

Restoration efforts often times can look like this- a multi year process in which progress is made in increments. We couldn’t do it without them!

08/21/2026

Today’s a great day to spotlight the most effective pest control the farm has ever seen- our farm cats PawPaw and Nightshade! 🐾

Their combined love of chasing small critters has all but eliminated pest damage on our crops from animals like rabbits and squirrels. We’ve even seen them hunting grasshoppers away from our fields.

08/07/2026

A few snapshots of our recent CSA bundles. There’s still time to sign up for our Farm 2 membership!

Visit https://www.thetalkingfarm.org for details.

07/30/2026

Some highlights from our spring CSA. There is still time to sign up for the second round of our season!

Subscribe online at https://www.thetalkingfarm.org

07/21/2026

Last week our team harvested what many consider their favorite crops to grow- garlic! Around 400 of these massive garlic heads will be saved for seed, and the rest will find their way to CSA shares and our farmers markets. Each individual clove of garlic will produce its own head after nine months in the soil!

Our cold winter and colder, wetter, spring, are the perfect conditions for growing large heads of garlic. We’re so excited for the curing process to finish so these lovely heads can find their way into your shopping bins.