Westfield Cooperative Preschool Tours Prairie Nursery

Mother's Day gifts for all

Sixteen preschoolers, eight adults, one baby and three Prairie Nursery (PN) employees enjoyed an outing one morning in May.

Father of three, and manager of PN's Seed Division, Kirk Shillinglaw, led the way to a test plot with sandy soil. He handed some of the children stems of "Cat's Foot" (Antennaria neglecta) so they could feel the soft blossom,

and Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum), with its graceful pink flowers.

He explained that these six-inch-high native plants bloom early in the season, and the tall ones bloom later. "Feel the soil," he urged the youngsters. "It feels light, doesn't it? These are plants that like to grow in sand."

A short walk downhill to one of the oldest plots on the farm led to the Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon meadia) and

Prairie Trillium (Trillium recurvatum), one to two feet tall and in full bloom. Kirk picked a few Shooting Star blossoms to let the children look closely at the star-like flower, then scooped up a handful of the darker, heavier soil, saying, "See how dark this is? Feel it; it's heavier than the sandy soil, isn't it?" These plants need more organic matter than the ones in the first plot.

The fortunate children were allowed to walk through the seeding shed and the propagation house, not ordinarily part of a PN tour. They saw tiny trays where seeds are sown to begin the plants that are sold here.

In the propagation house, the tiny plants grow in a warm, sunny environment until they're sent to the greenhouses where they're transplanted into larger tall pots.

Crossing the driveway and another test plot, Kirk led the group into a field of Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus hererolepsis). "What is the color you see under the green grass?" he asked. "Black!" came a chorus of voices. "Why? Because we burn the fields to get rid of the dead gras and weeds," Kirk explained. "This field was on fire a couple of weeks ago."

Here is where Kirk presented to the group of budding naturalists the real purpose of PN's existence.

In the old days, the prairies burned naturally from lightning strikes, or because Native Americans started them on fire to drive game in a big hunt. That's what kept the grasses and flowers as prairies, instead of the land becoming wooded by a succession of shrubs and trees.

"There used to be lots of prairies, but now there aren't very many, so we sell seed mixes and plants to re-make some of them. That way, the animals, birds and insects that depend on them can have a home," he said. "All these plants are perennials. Can you say 'perennial?'"

Again the chorus of voices: "Perennial!"

Westfield Cooperative Preschool walking through field of Prairie Dropseed.

"Their roots stay alive under the ground all winter, and re-sprout in the spring," Kirk explained. Then, he took them into a greenhouse of plants, which are for sale, pointed out the Black Eyed Susans, and said "I'm going to bring some of these plants to your school, so each of you can give one to someone for Mother's Day."

With that, they all lined up for a group photo. Kirk invited the children to come back when they're a little older to pull weeds as a member of his crew of seasonal laborers. Then he handed out seed packets to each, and was rewarded with cries of "Thank you!" and "Now I can plant seeds!"

The End