ST. CHARLES, Ill. – University of Illinois Extension will host an Extension Connection Community Day on Sunday, Aug. 30 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Kane County Idea Garden in St. Charles. This FREE open house will feature activities for all ages highlighting the environment, gardening, food, wellness, and more.
Extension Connection visitors can choose to:
- Tour the Master Gardener Idea Garden, rain garden, and prairie to enjoy flowers, vegetables, herbs, native plants, and pollinators. Each garden plot focuses on a specific educational element or innovative idea that visitors can learn from or replicate at home.
- Stroll our Book Walk featuring Giraffes Can’t Dance written by Giles Andreae. Explore themes of self-confidence, perseverance, and the celebration of individual strengths while reading together and moving like the story’s characters!
- Meet Herman the Worm and his friends, while learning how worms can turn kitchen scraps into garden fertilizer! A worm bin, also known as vermicomposting, is a great way to create compost at home and reduce waste. Learn what should (and should not) go into a worm bin, how composting works, and get an up-close look at these wiggly workers.
- Experience Monarchs on the Move to learn about the Monarch Butterfly, the challenges it faces to survive, and its unique lifecycle. Youth will have the opportunity to explore hands-on activities and take home a paper butterfly that flutters!
- Create a flower bouquet from the Master Gardener cutting garden, which is full of colorful blooms to brighten a room or give as a gift.
- Explore the Master Gardener Artisan Market, featuring hand-crafted items to purchase, including honey, pottery, textile and fiber arts, nature photography, and more.
“We’re excited to connect with community members through engaging, hands-on activities that make learning both fun and meaningful,” said County Director Deanna Roby-Vorgias. “That’s what Illinois Extension is all about, helping people access trusted knowledge and practical tools that strengthen families, communities, economies, and the environment.”
The local Extension team will be joined by Master Gardeners, Master Naturalists, and 4-H volunteers at the Kane County Master Gardener Idea Garden. It is located on the northwest corner of Illinois Route 38 and Peck Road, at 3480 Lincoln Highway, St. Charles.
Learn more about this free event. No registration is required. Participants are welcome to bring non-perishable food or personal care items to be donated to a local food access partner.
If you need reasonable accommodation to participate, call our office at 630-584-6166 or email uie-dkk@illinois.edu. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time for meeting access needs.
University of Illinois Extension develops educational programs, extends knowledge, and builds partnerships to support people, communities, and their environments as part of the state's land-grant institution. Extension serves as the leading public outreach effort for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences in all 102 Illinois counties through a network of 27 multi-county units and over 500 staff statewide. Extension’s mission is responsive to eight strategic priorities — community, economy, environment, food and agriculture, health, partnerships, technology and discovery, and workforce excellence — that are served through five program areas — 4-H youth development, agriculture and agribusiness, community and economic development, health and community wellness, and natural resources, environment, and energy.