by John Besser, Nature Areas Committee

October Workdays at CANS Prairie

We need volunteers on two workdays in Early October to help prepare for a prescribed burn on the CANS prairie:

• Saturday October 7 — Seed Collection. We will collect native grass seed from the established prairie planting. This seed will be used to over- seed portions of the existing prairie that have been invaded by no-native Kentucky bluegrass. The planned burn will produce a good soil surface for introducing seed from desirable prairie grasses into areas currently dominated by cool-season turf grass. This work will require volunteers to walk through the tall prairie vegetation. We will provide tips for identifying grass species targeted for collection. [Leader: John Besser; jbesser1 at gmail.com]
• Saturday October 14 — Rake Fire Lines. We have established fire lines with weed-whacker, but to keep fire from escaping the planned burn area, we need to remove flammable debris from the fire lines, using rakes or leaf blowers. This work will require moderate physical labor on level and sloping ground. [Leader: Bill Mees; jandbmees at mchsi.com] On both days, we’ll meet at the CANS parking area 9 AM. Depending on how many volunteers show up, these tasks shouldn’t take more than a couple hours to complete. Bring work gloves, rakes (garden rake or leaf rake), or a leaf blower.