Prairie Appreciation Week

Help with a Deer Survey Saturday, 9/28

Homestead National Monument of America will conduct its annual fall deer survey on Saturday, September 28, 2013 at 9:30 a.m. Please come and help the monument staff count deer! No experience is needed; just show up at the Homestead Education Center at 9:30 a.m. Dress for the weather and for hiking. For those who can't or don't want to walk 3/4 miles through the prairie, people are needed to watch monument boundaries and count deer as they exit. The survey will be completed by 12 p.m. This is a great way to get all of the animals moving and to see the diversity of creatures that inhabit the prairie and woodland.

Dust Bowl Program Sunday, 9/29

In honor of Public Lands Day and Prairie Appreciation Week, Homestead Historian Blake Bell will give a program about the Dust Bowl on Sunday, September 29 at 2 p.m. Learn about the historic and environmental conditions surrounding this event.

Seed Harvest Saturday, 10/5

Meet at the education center to get out and explore the tallgrass prairie!

At 9:30 a.m., help staff collect prairie seed to be used in future restoration and maintenance. You can also go on a prairie walk at 2 p.m. with Homestead Resource Manager Jesse Bolli. What better way to celebrate Prairie Appreciation Week?

Hedge Apple Festival Sunday, 10/6

How much fun can you have with hedge apples? Join park rangers at the Heritage Center on Sunday, October 6 from 2-4 p.m. to have some free, family fun with this historic tree-fruit. Come participate in a hedge apple craft contest! Play in the Hedge Apple "Olympics," a series of fun games near the Palmer-Epard Cabin and hedgerow, including a hedge apple throw, hedge apple on a spoon race, and hedge apple bowling! Prizes will be given to all participants.