Cliff and Al came and took the Volvo away today. Mike says we should start calling Volvo Meadow “ The Meadow Formerly Known as Volvo”.

Sorry - the weather stations are still up, but they're not sending in data, and we haven't had a chance to figure out how to fix them. I'll put a note up here if we get them working again.

These areas were cropped fields for many years. When we bought the land we began planting them into prairie. We started with Center Valley and Pine Point in the winter of 2000/2001. We rent the land to a farmer who alternates crops of corn and soybeans until we're ready to plant - that keeps the weeds down and after he harvests the fields they are fairly clean and easy to plant.

We've done all of our planting in the fall and winter. The outdoor temperatures stratify the seeds, and the freezing and thawing of the ground works the seeds into the soil.

When surveyors were marking the townships on this land in 1852 one of them described the land as "mostly covered with scattering black, burr and white oak, aspen timber. Surface nearly covered with prairie grass"

Our land still has a number of areas with remnants of this savanna landscape. Most areas were grazed at one time, and because they have been protected from fire, they are overgrown with White Birch, Aspen, Sumac, Dogwood and Prickly Ash. But prairie grasses still grow under the tangle of branches, and there are still openings in the trees where some of the prairie plants can flower.

Here are descriptions of the largest of these areas with stories about the efforts we're making to restore them. Click on the names in the sub-topics menu to hear about the different areas.

Our farm is located in Buffalo County, Wisconsin, on the western edge of the state, in what is referred to as the “Driftless Area”.

All around us, on high steep slopes of the hills, are small remnants of the prairie/savanna ecosystem that was here before European settlement. I've gotten permission from some of our neighbors to explore and take pictures of their prairies. Here are descriptions of them, with plant lists and photos - but not locations. The names are ones I've made up for convenience; they aren't real names and they have nothing to do with where they are or with their owners. I really appreciate our neighbors' generosity in allowing me to explore these wonderful places.

This section is about our travels to places other than Western Wisconsin - about the wild places we visit and the wildlife we see there.

These are stories about interesting insects that we see - mostly at the farm, but sometimes in other places too. Click on the "moths", "butterflies", or "other insects" sub-topics to see the stories.

These are stories about some of the birds we see on our farm and a few special birds that I see in other places. Click on Birds for these stories.

I'm also including the lists I keep for our property every week - to see them click on Farm Bird List.

Here are stories about interesting plants, fungi and lichens that I find - mostly at the farm but sometimes in other places.

These are lists of all the plants and animals I've found on our land. Eventually I hope to have them linked to photos I've taken.