A Prairie Gardener

摘要

Mark Lefebvre was raised on a farm near Otsego and spent his first few decades tilling soil, sowing seed, and waiting for the harvest. This has come in handy over the past eight years. Mark is restoring almost 2 acres of Central Minnesota prairie at his home near Clear Lake that he shares with his wife, Jan, and their two 14-year-olds, Jackson and Emma. "The main reason was to have a low-maintenance area with season-long color," says Mark. "It's also wise use of the land." He had attended a Field Dayat the Sand Plain Research Farm in Becker, and the county Soil and Water Conservation District officers were singing the virtues of prairie restoration and even offering assistance. "I said, that's what I want to do," he recalls. (Every county in the state has a district, and a few have two. Go to www.maswcd.org for help finding yours.)