Prairie Restoration

Our prairie dogs, Teddy and Lady, enjoy an early morning run.  The rubble pile behind the dogs will soon be gone, replaced by our pond.  Stay tuned for updates as the pond progresses.
     
History of our Prairie


One of our dreams when we moved to the farm in 1996 was to restore part of our pasture into a prairie.  It seemed like a daunting task for 2 women from Milwaukee.  We bought books and went to look at other prairies.  In 2001 we discovered that the US Fish and Wildlife Service might have resources available to private citizens for demonstration plots.  When we called, we got bad news:  all the money was gone, but they would keep our name.  We figured that this door was closed for good.

Fast forward to Spring 2004 when our dream maker, Tim Loose, came into our lives.  It seems that the government really did keep our name and now they had money. 
So, in 2004, we began our project.  Tim came out and walked our land.  We began with Tim’s help to cut out hundreds of small cherry and elm trees to open up the oak savannah. 
Later, in the Fall, Tim broadcast and drill seeded approximately 5 acres of degraded pasture land with prairie seed collected from an Iowa prairie.  The drill seeding helped certain seeds make good contact with the soil so we would not have to remove the pasture sod. 

In 2005, we had to keep the seeded area mowed short so the new seed could get light and heat.  The area didn’t look big until we had to mow it every other week!
In 2006, we mowed it a few times, but each time we moved the cutter higher so that the new plants could get a good start.  And, that’s where we are today. 
Next spring, we will burn the prairie mimicking the natural fires that kept the prairies of the past alive and well.


The Transitional Prairie


This prairie garden is located between the barn and the pole shed.  We have started all of the prairie plants in this garden over the last two years.  You can see how quick they can take hold when given good growing conditions.  The best part of this garden is that we get to practice our plant identification skills before we go out and look for plants in the seeded prairie.