~ February 11, 2025

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of attending the Everything Local Conference, Illinois’ largest gathering dedicated to local food systems and specialty crops. Growers, producers, and food advocates came together to explore new ideas, network, and celebrate the vibrant agricultural landscape across the state. I had never attended this conference before, but since many of the trees we grow at Spring Grove Nursery are specialty crops, I thought it would be worthwhile to check out! 

The conference offered a diverse lineup of educational sessions, covering specialty crop production, business development, agritourism, financing opportunities, and more. Walking through the tradeshow I got to see some familiar faces from the Green Industry, like our friends Brian Aaron at National Nursery Products and Sarah and Chris from Little Ducky Flower Farm in Barrington, and the folks at Compeer Financial who work with our family’s farm and so many others in our industry. 

The highlight of the conference was getting to connect with creative entrepreneurs and organizers who are thinking outside of the box when it comes to specialty crops and agriculture. I got to talk with a speech therapist who owns Little Cottage on the Farm in Elburn, a horse therapy farm during the week and Airbnb destination on the weekends, as well as a team at Northern Illinois University working on turning their campus green space into a thriving community garden and food forest, and chatted with the owner of Delight Flower Farm, a sustainable flower farm in Champaign that I loved buying bouquets from when I went to school at University of Illinois! I had so many inspiring conversations with some truly revolutionary thinkers – it’s always great to be around growers who are challenging the status quo and creating new paths forward. 

Whether you’re a grower or simply passionate about food, the conference emphasized one key takeaway: collaboration is essential to reimagining our agricultural systems in Illinois for the betterment of our communities. I left feeling energized and full of new ideas, eager to connect with others and contribute to the growing movement supporting local, sustainable agriculture for all!

~ Maggie Thomas Harper