Green Hills: Meadow in a (very large) box

By Daniel Barringer, Preserve Manager

What does a meadow look like before it’s planted? In this case, bags of seeds.

We took delivery yesterday of a mixture of native meadow seeds, as well as seeds for a cover crop of oats, ready to be planted as part of a restoration of 90 acres of grasslands at Green Hills Preserve. This is one of the largest projects we’ve undertaken, and it was made possible by enrolling these acres in the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program.

The light, fluffy seed of wildflowers and warm-season grasses came on two pallets, one ton each. (This makes me think of the question we used to ask each other as kids, which is heaver: a ton of bird feathers or a ton of lead?) In any case the packages are huge, and our tractor can’t lift 2,000 pounds. So many thanks to Steve and Luke from our Building Stewardship Staff who put forks on the backhoe and made it possible to get the seed into the barn, where it will be divided into groups of bags for each of the meadows at Green Hills.

While it will take the better part of April for a couple of us to get this job done, it is a project that demonstrates the level of cooperation that takes place at Natural Lands Trust. We couldn’t do the project without the support of other preserve staff who will move the tractor and seeder to Green Hills. Thanks in advance to all those who work behind the scenes on this project.