Poop and more: Eco fun expo new event at Swedish Days

Annette and Craig MacLean sell poop.

They keep it in their home and love to spread it on their garden.

In fact, if it wasn't for the animal waste they use, they say their garden would not flourish like it does. They use it as natural fertilizer.

"Your soil has microorganisms that are alive and beneficial to your plants," Annette said. "When you use artificial fertilizers, you don't create that live microenvironment."

The MacLeans, owners of The PURE Gardener, 502 W. State St., will take part in Swedish Days' "Green Geneva - an Eco-Fun Expo" from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in downtown Geneva at the corner of Campbell and Third streets.

Along with a stationary bike that will measure expended energy, a chance to talk to a master gardener from the University of Illinois Kane County Extension in St. Charles and a green market, Swedish Days attendees will be able to speak with the MacLeans about organic gardening.

They will have several products from their store available, including natural fertilizers, natural pesticides and all-natural soaps.

Ladybugs and praying mantis serve as natural pesticides and eat bugs that kill plants, such as aphids or whitefly.

Craig said one goal of the eco-fest is to educate and inform those interested in organic gardening because it is not as complicated as it might seem at first glance.

"You can uncover the good from the bad pretty quickly," he said. "For the average person, it's hard."

Sandy Portincaso, public relations and events coordinator for the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber fields frequent questions from local residents about organic and environmentally friendly products. Because of this, they decided to include the Eco-Fest Expo for the first time in Swedish Days, which continues through Sunday along Third Street in Geneva.

"We know that this is an important topic in the community," she said. "There are a lot of groups working to go green. We thought it was important to reflect that."

She said they made sure to include attractions that appealed to all ages because "kids nowadays are especially interested in the environment and issues surrounding that."

Bubba's Art Bus, a bus that promotes fine arts and recycling for children, will be at the event as will jugglers and artwork from Swedish Days' "Save the Environment" kids poster contest.

The MacLeans have owned The PURE Gardener since November 2006. As a child, Annette grew up on a farm in Missouri. They supplied their own meat, eggs and vegetables, and did so all naturally.

She said there is a huge difference in the taste of an organic, homegrown fruit and one that is shipped across states and sprayed with preservatives.

"It's like steroids versus actually lifting weights," she said.

Craig said using organic fertilizer enriches the soil to a level the natural activity goes along unfettered.

"That's the most important thing you can do for your plants and your soil," he said. "Synthetics don't at all encourage any microbiological activity."

For the MacLeans, it will be a matter of teaching others what they have learned in decades of experience.

And the more educated people become in organic gardening, the better behaved their gardens will be.

"A happy plant is a good plant," he said. "When their roots hit this stuff, I swear you can see them smile."