Description
Book SynopsisIn 2003 Fred Delcomyn imagined his backyard of two and a half acres, farmed for corn and soybeans for generations, restored to tallgrass prairie. Over the next seventeen years, Delcomyn, with help from his friend James Ellis scored, seeded, monitored, reseeded, and burned these acres into prairie. This book documents their journey.
Trade Review“Cultivating and learning about the rich life of the prairies, grasslands that once occupied most of the Midwest, inspired in Fred Delcomyn and James L. Ellis a love and appreciation that they transmit beautifully through the pages of this lovely book. Their adventures come alive here, providing a model for others eager to understand the plants and animals, the original inhabitants of the lands where we live and farm today.”—
Peter H. Raven, coauthor,
Biology of Plants “For anyone even remotely interested in nature,
A Backyard Prairie provides a wide-ranging view of prairies and prairie ecology. More important, it includes the very personal experience of creating from scratch a landscape that once dominated Illinois. Delcomyn and Ellis are to be applauded for providing readers with an intimate glimpse into the wild heart of the state.”—
Michael R. Jeffords, coauthor of
Illinois Wilds “What a terrific documentation of the joy, wonder, consternation, and eventual gratification that come from a personal prairie restoration project! This book is a great read for anyone who is considering restoring a prairie, has already done so, or is just prairie-restoration curious.”—
Chris Helzer, Nebraska director of science, The Nature Conservancy
“
A Backyard Prairie is more than a well-written story about how two people planted a diverse prairie on a small piece of land in northern Illinois. It is also a rich accounting of where North American prairies came from, what comprises them, how they change through the seasons, and what their destruction has meant to biodiversity and to us.
A Backyard Prairie is meant to be inspirational—and it succeeds!”—
Doug Tallamy, author of
Bringing Nature Home and
Nature's Best Hope Table of Contents
- Contents
-
- Forward
- Introduction
- 1. Glimpses of the Past, Reality of the Present
- 2. Farmland to Prairie
- 3. Fire
- 4. A Rainbow Landscape
- 5. Six Legs and Eight
- 6. Feathers and Fur
- 7. Seasons
- 8. Open Sky
- Appendix
- Credits and Sources
