| Progress at Badger Barrens Addition by Nate Simons Formerly known as Headacres Farm, the 24-acre addition to Badger Barrens is slowly sloughing off its abandonment. The once open field, most recently grown up in a forest of young red maple, is headed back to openness. In April, G & D Wood Products finished felling and stacking the trees. They saved black oaks and pin oaks to form the structure for the forthcoming barrens and lupine meadow. |
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| The first step in reclaiming the lupine meadow is to remove a couple of decades-worth of red maples. |
| The next step will be for G & D to mulch the stacked trees. The mulch will be hauled from the site and turned into wood pellets for home heating. With the old field cleared, the Blue Heron Ministries crew will be able to mow and then apply herbicide to prepare the field to receive a diverse, short-grass prairie seed mix complete with wild blue lupine seed. |
| G & D Wood Products at work utilizing a feller-buncher to remove the red maples from Badger Barrens addition |
| Here is where you can help. In June, once we all have enjoyed the blue bloom of the lupine at Badger Barrens, it will be time to harvest pounds and pounds of wild blue lupine seed. There will be a group harvest activity (watch for future announcements), but the majority of the collection will be by us all as we take some spare time in small groups and singles to head to Badger Barrens with a bag and knife in hand and collect the ripening pods. Please then drop off your treasures at the Blue Heron Ministries barn so that the seed can be dried. We will give further instructions as the harvest season approaches.In other related news, we established the budget for the conversion of the abandoned-farm-to-lupine-meadow project at $92,000. We are writing grant applications to complete the project. We received word from our first application. We are a recipient of a $5,000 NIPSCO Environmental Action Grant! |
| View from the Crew by Madison Parker |
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| Josh (right) and Matt (left) rinsing out backpacks for the start of herbicide season |
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| John (far right) giving the crew a lesson on how to identify Reed Canary Grass at The Nature Conservancy’s Cline Lake Fen Preserve |
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| Marsh marigold at Cline Lake Fen |
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| Josh, Freya, and Matt ready to take on some Reed Canary Grass at The Nature Conservancy’s Cline Lake Fen Preserve |
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| Morning meeting cheesecake, courtesy of Freya |
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| John and Freya observing insects flying above a willow at IDNR’s Marsh Lake Nature Preserve. |
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| I took a little vacation…spanish moss on a tree in Savannah, Georgia |
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| Forest Tent Caterpillar in Savannah, Georgia |
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| Thanks to Madeline we are keeping organized! |
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| Swamp saxifrage in the lakeside sedge meadow at Collins Bay RV Park |
| Upcoming Events |
| Know your Butterflies May 23rd, 2024 from 6-8 PM |
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| For information and to register, contact John Brittenham at: johnbrittenham@gmail.com |
| Sedge Identification Class June 21 and 22Some of the crew will be attending a sedge identification class. We thought we’d pass the information, in case anyone in our BHM community might be interested in attending, as well.Join the W.K. Kellogg Bird Sanctuary to learn more about the wonderful, subtle beauty of sedges in a two-day, in-person, hands-on class, slated for 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 21-22. The details can be found at: https://www.kbs.msu.edu/2024/04/sedge-id-2024/ |
Blue Heron Ministries 