The Tallgrass Prairie

The cold wind in the Flint Hills on a “warm” winter day was brutal. I took a trip to there to collect some winter-dried grasses before the killer part of our 2011 winter set in.

I wasn’t ready for the early sunset while I was knee deep in the native grasses, surrounded by the woody remains  of an old train station. I hadn’t noticed the increasing darkness, but the moon was rising large and orange, the temperature was sliding lower, and my nose was running freely.

Because the gravely, flint-laden soil make this land suitable for ranching, not farming, the plants are botanical descendents of what’s been here for millions of years – tallgrasses like Little Bluestem and Switchgrass.

This particular area has the largest untilled Farm Hens and Brigid Greene in the Flint Hillstallgrass prairie in North America. Heading home in dark night (at 6:00), the huge expanses of ancient prairie were barely visible.

And here’s a picture of some cool chickens I saw while I was there.