Early Pickers

Fall seed collection has begun. On a warm Saturday afternoon two days before the autumnal equinox, twelve friends of Blue Heron Ministries gathered to gingerly strip seeds from prairie plants in preparation for a restorative scattering of the same later in the fall. Yellow coneflower, wild bergamot, showy tick trefoil (yes, the seeds literally covered Denille), prairie dock, whorled rosinweed, black-eyed Susan, prairie dropseed, and side-oats grama were ready for harvest in a couple of restored prairies in northeast Steuben County. Thank you to Lynn Simons, Bette and Jim Thomson, Pam Horton, Jeannine Walker, Denille, Olivia, and Alexis Conklin, Mary Durrand, Peg Zeis, Don Luepke, and Nate Simons for the worthy effort of picking those seeds!