Genocide

This week I've been maintaining a newly-restored prairie on the Rochester IBM site as part of a group that got the site its Wildlife Habitat Certification last year. I'm proud to say that I've been intensively involved in a dramatic prairie genocide and I take my job very seriously.

The Sweet White & Yellow Clover are native to Europe & Asia, but have since made it over here to wreak havoc on our prairies - most of which have already been destroyed by us. Each year until we're able to exterminate them, we need to become shovel-wielding warriors, systematically extinguishing the weed lest it overcrowd much prettier native species like these Black-Eyed Susans.

Black-Eyed Susans with Big Blue in the background

I was a little nervous when my friend, Rebecca, recruited me for the task this week, having flashbacks to the 14 days straight of hiking I did in tick-infested North Dakota. However, I LOVED trudging through the prairie. I don't know what it was - being closer to nature, knowing I was doing something good for the environment, finally discovering my inner gardener, or just making sure that my hiking boots got a little dirtier (there's nothing worse than a clean pair of hiking boots!). Who knows! All I know is that killing that Sweet White Clover was the highlight of my week!

Scene of the Crime...and you thought Civics were too small to haul anything!