Winter Seed Planting at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
Prairie restoration workers and volunteers will plant over 10,000 pounds of seed at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in the coming months. Restoration partners and Midewin volunteers are working to plant prairie seeds on 700 acres of new restoration land. Recently, the National Forest Foundation, the Wetlands Initiative and volunteers mixed the seeds of 175 different plant species tailored to each of Midewin’s different prairie habitats. Beginning with the smaller quantities required, each seed species is meticulously weighed according to a “recipe” indicated for each habitat. Most of the larger quantities of seed will be mixed offsite and then broadcasted across the former soybean fields near Midewin’s Henslow Trail. Members of The Wetlands Initiative’s Midewin field crew – Jim Conboy, Rachel Rohde, and Matt Taber mix the prairie seeds by hand in the Horticultural Building at the USDA Forest Service’s Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, 30239 S. State...
