Restore prairie for Earth Day
Volunteers who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty are invited to join the effort to restore prairie land at Fischer Farm in Bensenville as part of the Bensenville Park District's Earth Day celebration.
"The Bensenville Park District has implemented an ecological restoration program," museum supervisor Jonathan Sebastian said. "We are working on removing buckthorn. Invasive species have really taken over a lot of the grounds."
Sebastian said volunteers on Saturday, April 22, will work on clearing buckthorn from a portion of the Fischer Farm land on Grand Avenue that is surrounded by wetlands and prairie.
"You have to cut it to really get rid of it. And then you have to treat it with an herbicide," he said.
The herbicide application will be handled later by a licensed specialist, he said.
The park district will supply bow saws, loppers, gloves and goggles for volunteers interested in uprooting and destroying the invasive species. Sebastian said he is hoping for a strong turnout.
"I want as many people as possible to come out," he said. "The more I take on at Fischer Farm, the more hands I need to help. We see a great potential for Fischer Farm."
This is the first Earth Day celebration at Fischer Farm.
"I hope to make this an annual event," Sebastian said.
The park district, which leases the land from the DuPage County Forest Preserve District, maintains the farmstead museum on a little more than five acres of land adjacent to the Fischer Woods Forest Preserve.
While helping improve the environment, visitors also will have an opportunity to explore the 19th century farm.
"Christian Fischer made the land claim in 1834," Sebastian said. It operated as a dairy farm and stayed in the Fischer family for several generations, operating until the 1990s.
The park district opened the museum to the public in 2011. The site includes a farmhouse, the original log house, two barns, a granary, a chicken coop and several other small structures, Sebastian said.
Sebastian said the Fischer family grew a "kitchen garden" just outside the house, where they grew vegetables and herbs.
"That would be used by the farm family for their own consumption," he said.
Earth Day visitors are invited work in the farm's gardens, cleaning up the flower beds and turning the soil in preparation for spring planting.
Gardeners also can learn about how to use vines to grow plants in a vertical space, such as on a trellis. A representative from the University of Illinois Master Gardeners Extension program will offer tips during a talk titled "Viva la Vines," Sebastian said.
For kids, Earth Day at Fischer Farm will offer a chance to make pine cone bird feeders, participate in scavenger hunts and see live chickens, bees and sheep.
If you go
What: Bensenville Park District Earth Day celebration
Where: Fischer Farm, 16W680 Grand Ave., Bensenville
When: 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, April 22
Admission: Free
Info: bensenvilleparkdistrict.org