Sunday seed collecting event

Our annual volunteer seed collecting workday at Pleasant Valley Conservancy and Black Earth Rettenmund Prairie went off very well. The weather was pleasantly warm (high 81 F); quite a change from last year when we had to reschedule because of rain.

At Pleasant Valley, seed collecting concentrated on Indian grass, since we need a lot for the new planting we will be doing in the East Basin. In order to maintain our local genotype, we collect our own seed. The initial stock came from a tiny prairie remnant (Unit 4) where the Indian grass flourished after an initial burn in April 1998. The seeds collected that year were used to plant Toby's Prairie, and it was there that we collected today. Also collected were round-headed bush clover and stiff goldenrod.

About 15 people participated at Pleasant Valley Conservancy and then were treated to an informal lunch. Many of the same people went to Black Earth Rettenmund Prairie after lunch, where they were joined by other volunteers. Several of the volunteers here were students or faculty from Edgewood College, a local college that likes to see their biology students get out in the field and volunteer.

We collected over a dozen species at Black Earth Rettenmund, including rough blazing star, rose hips, thimbleweed, little bluestem, Solomon's seal and false Solomon's seal, Culver's root, and dwark blazing star. The asters weren't ready to collect yet; we'll have an ad hoc seed collecting activity later this month.

The photo shows some of the Black Earth Rettenmund volunteers getting their instructions from Kathie Brock.