Elderberry & Black Currants! Monthly Farm Tour

Think you’ve seen it all after one farm tour? Think again!

Join us monthly as we dive into the seasonal highlights of the Savanna Institute Illinois Demonstration Farms. Every first Saturday of the month, MJ Oviatt or Kaitie Adams will guide you on a walking tour of Savanna Institute Demonstration Farm (Urbana) or 4-H Memorial Camp Farm (Monticello), spotlighting certain aspects of these dynamic demonstration sites.

First hour: walking tour of the farm

Second hour: interactive activity on the farm

June Focus

Elderberry & Black Currants!

• What is elderberry?
• What is black currant?
• Establishment and propagation techniques
• Best management practices
• Pest and disease issues
• Cultivars, breeding program
• Harvesting and processing
• Market opportunities
• Benefits to wildlife, ecosystem services

June Interactive Activity:

• properly pick elderberries and elderflowers
• learn how to process elderberries and elderflowers

The Savanna Institute Illinois Demonstration Farms grow on the unceded lands of the Peoria, Kaskaskia, Piankashaw, Wea, Miami, Mascoutin, Odawa, Sauk, Meskwaki, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Chickasaw peoples. The soil we work with and the nourishment it provides are rich only because of generations of knowledge, wisdom, and care. This land continues to carry stories, fight for survival and identity, and celebrations of resilience and joy. It is our obligation as agroforesters not only to acknowledge this past, but actively support, listen to, and amplify the rights and demands of Indigenous communities, now and into the future.