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News from Garfield Farm |
The reality of global warming is all the more
reason to attend on Saturday, February 24, from 8:30 am - 3:30 pm, the
21st annual Prairie, Woods, and Wetlands Management Seminar at Garfield
Farm Museum, 5 miles west of Geneva, IL off Illinois Rt. 38 on Garfield
Road.
According to Associate Professor Mike Konen,
soil scientist in Northern Illinois University’s Department of
Geography, soil is the third largest storage reservoir of carbon. The
soils of the American Midwest are only second to the Artic Tundra for
storing carbon. The nature of the native plants adapted to survive the
extremes of climate here, is to grow deep in the ground. As the plant
grows it takes up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to build cells and
tissue. When deep rooted prairie plants die, all that organic carbon is
left deep in the soil.
“Twenty five years ago when we first
considered nature at Garfield Farm, we knew the environment was
important for human survival but not to what degree. With the onslaught
of global warming and the need to trap or limit carbon dioxide
production, every effort is critical for our children’s future.
We are proud of having educated hundreds of property owners and
interested individuals in the methods of growing these deep rooted
plants without realizing how important such efforts have come to
be,” stated Jerome Johnson, museum biologist.
Although there are many more native plant
experts today, Roy Diblik and Conner Shaw long ago took the approach to
reach people, you must create a market and provide a product.
Using the pragmatic business model that often does not translate ivory
tower ideals of environmentalism very well, Diblik and Shaw
independently, over 25 years ago, established commercial native plant
and tree production.
Diblik and the late Craig Sensor founded
Natural Gardens in St.Charles, IL with Diblik developing methods of
growing native plants from seed. Fifteen years ago, Diblik established
Northwind Perennial Farm in Springfield, Wisconsin, providing native
plant material, designs and installations for private and commercial
customers. His credits include Millennium Park in Chicago to estates in
Lake Forest, IL and Lake Geneva, WI.
Conner Shaw of Possibilities Place Nursery in
Monee, Illinois, started by collecting native tree seeds and growing
what most commercial nurseries ignored. His knowledge both in seed
collecting, germinating, and growing a marketable tree or shrub is
extensive. His son Kelsey also participates in the firm and has added
native grasses and flowers to their sales.
Conversations with Roy or Conner reveal deep
commitments to nature shaped by their first hand experiences. Their
business perspective reveals a sharp understanding of economics that
include not just the traditional dollars and cents but also the costs
and benefits of working with living systems. Most economic models leave
out this component just as now is the economic impact of global warming
even being considered.
The seminar is a chance for property owners,
natural area volunteers and backyard gardeners to learn the key basics
to working with native plants and their environment. Shaw and Diblik
were pioneers ahead of their time and participants will gain much from
their accumulated knowledge.
Jerome Johnson of Garfield Farm Museum will
share experiences of starting from scratch a small prairie garden to
now managing over 55 acres of natural areas on a producing farm and
cultural institution.
There is a $45 fee for the seminar and lunch
to be held at Garfield Farm Museum, five miles west of Geneva, IL off
ILL Rt. 38 on Garfield Road. Reservations can be made by calling (630)
584-8485 or email info@garfieldfarm.org. Garfield Farm Museum is a 370
acre historically intact former 1840s prairie farmstead and teamster
inn being restored by donors and volunteers from 37 states as an 1840s
working farm museum.