Just down the road from the institute is the Danky-Schelshorn Prairie. Until 2003, this land was under agricultural cultivation, but Jim and Christine decided to turn it back into a prairie habitat. The Danky-Schelshorn Prairie was established when Christine took a workshop at the UW Arboretum. Through their friendship with Steve Glass, they accelerated the restoration work and today have a quite mature prairie to share with others. In 2019, they donated the prairie to the Historic Cooksville Trust and, in conjunction with the Low Technology Institute in Cooksville, are hosting it’s first public event.
Christine and Jim will be on hand to talk about the history and maintenance of the prairie, as well as answering questions about our solar installation.
Workshop Details
In this workshop, we’ll spend time on the prairie collecting seeds and exploring prairie ecology. You’ll learn to collect seeds from various species and will go home with your own samples!
Please wear clothing appropriate for the weather and activity: mask, close-toed shoes, gloves, long shirt and pants, etc. Please bring your own beverage and snack, as we cannot provide them due to the current pandemic. We will be outside, but in case of inclement weather, we may find a rain date. Please bring along hand pruners or clippers if you have them (we’ll have some on hand, too).
The workshop will take place at the Danky-Schelshorn Prairie (261 Wisconsin 138, Stoughton, Wisconsin) (25 min south of Madison) on October 18, from 1:00–4:00 p.m. It is free, but please RSVP by sending an email to [email protected]. Space is limited and we will keep a waiting list. Also, participants must fill out this liability waiver. Your RSVP is only complete when the waiver is filled out.
Donations are always welcome to help defray the cost of our workshops and programming. We are a member-supported organization.
∇ COVID-19 CONSIDERATIONS ∇
Due to the ongoing pandemic, we will be taking precautions against spreading the virus among ourselves. First, this event will be entirely outside. “Outdoor restroom visits” will be the only available facilities. Masks are required of all participants. Hand sanitizer, etc. will be available, and tools will be cleaned between users. We’ll be encouraging folks to spread out and avoid clumping together. This event may be cancelled if the state’s conditions worsen or stay-at-home orders are changed. Bring your own snacks and beverages and please consume them at an appropriate distance from others.
Instructor
Stephen Glass is a certified ecological restoration practitioner at the Restoration Ecology Lab and coauthor of the textbook Introduction to Restoration Ecology. He led the development of the UW-Arboretum’s long-term restoration master plan. Much of his work is centered on developing methods to remove invasive species from native habitats and restored areas. He is a certified fire-management burner and is especially interested in the challenge of restoring disturbed lands in urban environments.
Resources
Here are some links that may be worth reading through from the Tall Grass Prairie Center.
Seed Collecting Guide
Drying and Cleaning Seeds
Propagating Seeds
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