Learn about healthy soil at Citizens for Conservation program

Plants are only as healthy as the soil in which they grow.

"Living Soils," the second program in Citizens for Conservation's 2017 Community Education program series, will examine the importance of healthy soil to native plants and vegetable gardens.

The program will be Saturday, Feb. 11, at Barrington Village Hall, 200 S. Hough St., Barrington.

Restoration ecologist Jeff Weiss will discuss soil types, soil identification, beneficial microorganisms, and actions to conserve and restore land and soils. Weiss teaches ecological restoration and horticulture at the College of Lake County and the Morton Arboretum and works at sites in Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. He founded the Buffalo Grove Environmental Action Team and the Buffalo Creek Clean Water Partnership. He is president of Living Lands Conservation Company.

The program will begin at 10 a.m.; come for coffee, conversation and handouts at 9:30 a.m. Program is free for CFC members; $10 for nonmembers. Parking is available in the lot behind Village Hall.

Please RSVP to (847) 382-SAVE (7283) or to communityed@citizensforconservation.org. Provide your name, phone number and the program name.

Upcoming programs in the series include:

• "Native Shrubs as Habitat and Host Plants," Saturday, March 11. Connor Shaw, owner of Possibility Place Nursery, will discuss how indigenous creatures use native shrubs for food, shelter and reproduction.

• "Personal Land Restoration," Saturday, April 8. Ders Anderson, greenways director at Openlands, will tell the story of the prairie that he and his family began in 1981.