[To see photos and stories of this prairie in other years, go to the links on the main Western Prairie page.]

This year the field was planted in soybeans again. After the harvest, I got ready to plant prairie.

Since the field is so large I divided it into thirds. I’ll plant one third – about 19 acres – in each of the next three years.

Here is the area I planted this year – the south end of the field closest to Big View Prairie. This picture was taken in November, just after the soybeans were harvested.

This is the same area, looking north from the Dugway Trail.

I staked it in November, just after harvesting, and just before the ground froze. I made the sections smaller than I have before, so it took longer to stake but it was easier to plant. The deer like to rub against the stakes, so every time I go up the hill there are stakes that have fallen down.

On December 15th, I drove the gator up the hill with the seeds packed up in metal garbage cans, and started planting.

These are the cans of seeds waiting to be planted.