Prairie Preserve

By Kathleen Mckenzie Winn
Published on June 15, 2009
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The rare Mead's Milkweed started the move toward stewardship on South Fork Prairie.
The rare Mead's Milkweed started the move toward stewardship on South Fork Prairie.
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Orange Butterfly Milkweed draws winged insects.
Orange Butterfly Milkweed draws winged insects.
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Big Blue Stem grass waves in the Missouri breeze.
Big Blue Stem grass waves in the Missouri breeze.
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Cream Indigo shows off its great color.
Cream Indigo shows off its great color.
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Bright Prairie Phlox shows up easily in the grass.
Bright Prairie Phlox shows up easily in the grass.
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Monarch butterflies take their time exploring a Tall Boneset (Eupatorium altissimum) plant on South Fork Prairie.
Monarch butterflies take their time exploring a Tall Boneset (Eupatorium altissimum) plant on South Fork Prairie.
SIDEBARS:
Burning Field for Pasture Health
Pasture Grass Should be Mowed

When my husband David and I hit our 40s, we didn’t experience a midlife crisis, but we did hear the siren song of country life. We started to dream of owning land. And that dream led us to purchase a most lovely patch of Missouri prairie that fulfilled our dream and so much more.

I can’t say what it was that finally pushed us into making the decision that forever changed our lives. Maybe it was being bumped a little too hard in a crowded mall, or sitting in a cloud of exhaust fumes during rush hour. We wondered what it would be like to replace police sirens and booming car stereos with birdsongs and breezes whistling through the trees.

A dream realized

For more than 20 years we’d lived in a suburb of Kansas City. We raised two daughters there, enjoyed the parks, the giant oak trees that lined our streets and the convenient location. I worked in the legal department of a bank at the time, and David was a systems analyst for a telecommunications company.

After months of searching, we found our land, a 105-acre tract in Cass County, Missouri. We fell in love with its wild beauty, towering oak trees, fragrant cedar groves and wildflower-filled meadows.

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