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EBEY'S PRAIRIE WAYSIDE A CLOSE LOOK AT CROPLAND |
The cropland you see from this wayside occupies one of Whidbey Island's prairies. These naturally occuring open areas formed on the sites of ancient lakebeds. When the water level receded thousands of years ago, areas of extremely fertile soil were left behind. The prairies have been used to grow food since prehistoric times. American Indians used seasonal burning to keep them open. Farming has pushed the native vegetation higher up onto the ridges, but the overall pattern of wooded and open land is the same as it was when the Salish people first began to use this area.
The prairies are now divided by fences and hedgerows. Farmers built fences to keep cattle out of their fields. In many places hedgerows have grown up around old fencelines, the result of birds perching on the fences and dropping seed, and of the fences themselves providing shelter for young seedlings. The pattern of roads, fences, and hedgerows gives the Reserve some of its special character, and helps tell the story of the prairies and the people who have lived here.
WHILE YOU ARE HERE . . .
- Follow the short trail from the parking area along the edge of the wayside for a closer look at the prairie and views across it to the surrounding ridge lines and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
As you leave the wayside, turn right onto Engle Road, then right again onto Hill Road. You will pass two squash storage barns built in the 1930s and 40s. The Sherman Barn on Engle Road, on the left, was built with lumber from the old Grade School in Prairie Center after that building was razed. Such storage barns are built in the fields for ease of use. They are close to the road so the produce can easily be loaded onto the trucks.
The long red barn at the edge of the prairie on Hill Road is another example of the large functional structures that distinguish this landscape. Originally built as a hog house, it is now used for storage and as a loafing shed for cows. Uses changed as people's needs changed. Buildings like these reflect the interaction between people and their environment, creating the cultural landscape you see today.
