New Seed Nursery A Possibility At Orland Grassland

ORLAND PARK, IL — A seed nursery is being considered for Orland Grassland North/Marley Creek, Forest Preserves of Cook County (FPCC), at the area around the recently acquired farm and pole barn on north side of 167th Street across from the entrance to Orland Grassland Land and Water Reserve.

The seed amplification program (Program) is new for the FPCC. It’s exciting, it’s complex, it takes planning, Orland Grassland Volunteers said in a release. The big dream is to eventually have enough seed to plant an area and be able to collect it mechanically.

There will be different approaches from collecting from the wild, to growing in seed beds, to growing in wild seed gardens to hopefully have seed fields one day. It is planned to seed about 5,000 plugs of different forbs, some mesic, some wet mesic, from known source locations within FPCC. The harvested seed is hoped to be used for new projects and acquisitions. Some of the seed will be offered to Orland Grassland.

"This is all very exciting, and sometimes overwhelming," said Iza Redlinski, Deputy Director, Resource Management, FPCC. "We hope that the Orland Grassland Volunteers will take an interest in this effort and maybe be our eyes on the ground. I think this is a very exciting opportunity for producing easier to collect seed for habitat enrichment."

Native seeds are hard to come by, and very costly. Two Eagle Scout clearing projects last year, one led by Noah Tabor and another by Marwan Salem, included fundraising which brought in about $1,000 for the Orland Grassland Volunteers (OGVs) to purchase native seeds. Multiple native seed nurseries were asked if a list of desired seed was available and what the cost would be. Approximately a quarter of the species asked for could be found.

"Small but mighty, the quantity of seed purchased fits in a small child’s shoe box," said Pat Hayes, volunteer Site Steward for Orland Grassland. "We purchased savanna seed, and on the winter solstice, we seeded into two of four of our savannas, The Oasis and Deer Crest Savanna. Northwest Savanna and Secret Prairie Savanna were seeded on our prior workday. We had to stretch it so very thin, other newly cleared savannas went without."

Redlinski will speak at the OGV quarterly meeting at 7 p.m. at the Orland Park Civic Center on January 21 to introduce the program to the volunteers. The public is invited and welcome to attend.

"This project is perfect for those who would like to be involved in nurturing nature but find the interior prairie work too physical and arduous," said Hayes. For questions about the program or how you can help, contact Pat Hayes at (708)220-9596 or email ptihys@yahoo.com. Follow the OGVs at http://www.orlandgrassland.org or on Facebook at Orland Grassland Volunteers group.