Gardens rule at Green Earth Fair

Four-year-old Arianna Rodriguez held a paper cup in her left hand and reached for the largest garden spade she could handle with her right.

Her mother Ilda watched as she scooped some rich brown, loamy earth into the cup. Next, Arianna reached for a sunflower seed and pushed it, pointy end down, into the soil, as instructed by volunteer worker Bethanne Portala.

Given plenty of sun and some water, the cup should soon hold the beginnings of a sunflower plant, Portala said.

Ilda and Arianna, joined by Arianna's 10-year-old brother, Fernando, and their father, Oracio, were at McDonald Farm in Naperville Sunday where the Green Earth Institute presented its 7th annual Green Earth Fair.

The nonprofit institute leases land at the farm, which is owned by The Conservation Foundation and grows organic produce there each summer. The harvest is sold to member families, such as the Rodriguez family of Naperville.

"For the past two years, I've been getting things, fresh vegetables, in the summer," said Ilda, adding that the first pickup, which usually includes herbs, is right around the end of May.

The produce, grown organically, is tasty and fresh, she said.

To complement what she buys through the Green Earth Institute, she said, she also grows her own tomatoes at home.

"I can never have enough tomatoes - or onions," she said.

The joys of gardening and eating well were among the hot topics at the fair, which was expected to draw about 2,000 people this year.

"It's really grown over the years," said Steve Tiwald, founder and executive director of the Green Earth Institute, who described the fair as "a combination of educational activities and festival fun."

While children planted flowers and vegetables and petted livestock, adults crowded into the barn and the granary to hear experts talk about organic gardening, beekeeping, alternative fuel sources and using rain barrels to conserve water.

How to combat the presence of toxins in commonly consumed foods and oft-used products was addressed by Dr. Philippa Norman. He explained how repeated exposure to some toxins can cause them to build up in the human body.

"The solution is to enhance our diet and think of food like medicine," she said, offering examples of foods that help internal organs cleanse and detoxify. "We've lost a lot of the good foods we used to have. Now we have to work a little harder."

The day also included live music, food, tours of the farm provided by Tiwald and sales of organic watermelon, herb, peppers and tomato seedlings, landscaping plants and rain barrels.