EMPIRE-SAUK WORK PARTY
Schurch-Thomson Prairie Planting Wild Strawberry Roots Workday
Saturday, September 28 – 9:30 a.m. to Noon
Location: Schurch-Thomson Prairie
Help is needed in out-planting 250 root plugs of wild strawberry into various prairie restoration areas at Mounds View Grassland Preserve. In the original mesic and wet-mesic prairies of Wisconsin, strawberry was very common under the taller vegetation. So much so, that early travelers on the prairie in mid-June described wagon wheels and horse’s hoofs becoming red from the berries.
In our efforts to bring back the full prairie ecosystem at Mounds View, we are working towards reestablishing strawberries on a large scale by planting nursery-reared growing points, which then readily spread vegetatively. After a few years, each plug we plant develops into patches up to 12 feet across. Help us fill this dream of having hundreds of acres of prairie once again filled with strawberries.
WHAT TO BRING:
Be prepared for digging in the ground. Tools will be provided, but if you have a favorite hand shovel or trowel, bring it along.
WORK PARTY LEADER:
Please contact Rich Henderson via EMAIL or phone.
(h) 608.845.7065 (c) 608.235.4165
DIRECTIONS:
(8624 Reilly Road, Barneveld, WI) From the intersection of US Hwy 18-151 and County F (south of Blue Mounds in western Dane County), take F approximately 5 miles south. Turn right onto Reilly Road and proceed to parking lot and kiosks at the end of the road (past the barn). (Note: A half mile down F from 18-151, pay close attention to the road signs, as F turns to the right & the straight-ahead road becomes County Z. Stay on F.)