Wetland – 2018 | Prairie Haven

[To see stories and photos from other years, see the links on the main Wetland page.]

We didn’t have any big floods this year. The biggest project we did was to work on Wild Parsnip in the area around the old farmhouse for the first time. Mike mowed parsnip wherever it was flat enough to mow, and I pulled the rest.

Otherwise, I continued to pull parsnip in areas I’ve worked on before – there’s less every year, but still enough to keep me busy for most of July.

1/1/2018

1/6/2018

1/23/2018

2/26/2018

2/26/2018 Hoarfrost on willow

4/23/2018

6/10/2018

7/4/2018 Mowing to control Wild Parsnip. I sprayed Crown Vetch in the mowed area, and pulled all the parsnip in the unmowed areas between the creek and the road.

7/13/2018 This is near the site of the old farmhouse. It’s very wet and weedy, and there’s lots of Wild Parsnip. This year, for the first time, I pulled all this parsnip, and Mike took bucketloads of it away with the tractor.

7/18/2018 Mike hauling parsnip to the compost pile

7/18/2018 Wet field east of the driveway

7/18/2018 Water Hemlock

7/23/2018 We don’t usually explore very far east of the driveway. It’s very wet and weedy, the creek winds through it, and there are numerous springs and small streams. This is one of the beaver dams in the creek.

7/23/2018 Sensitive Fern, Joe Pye Weed, and Willow east of the driveway

8/9/2018 Planted wetland west of the driveway. I call this Parsnip Meadow, because it used to be almost entirely Wild Parsnip. Mike mowed, and I pulled parsnip. We had it sprayed once, and then I planted with wet prairie seeds. This shows Joe Pye Weed, Common Milkweed, and Cup Plant.