Prairie City, Iowa

Prairie City, Iowa
Author: Douglas Bauer
Publisher: University of Iowa Press
Total Pages: 345
Release: 2008-11
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1609380266

Weary from the journalistic treadmill of "going from one assignment to the next, like an itinerant fieldworker moving to his harvests" and healing from a divorce, Douglas Bauer decided it was time to return to his hometown. Back in Prairie City, he helped on his father's farm, scooped grains at the Co-op, and tended bar at the Cardinal. The resultant memoir is a classic picture of an adult experiencing one's childhood roots as a grown-up and testing whether one can ever truly go home again. Bauer grew up "awkward with soil and with machines" in a small town east of Des Moines, As a teenager, he left the farm for college life twenty miles away and, after graduation, took a job with Better Homes and Gardens in Des Moines, writing in the junk-mail fictional persona of "Barbara Joyce,"asking millions of people to subscribe. After a few years he moved to Chicago to work as an editor and writer for Playboy and eventually as a freelance journalist. In the summer of 1975, he returned home to attend his grandmother's funeral and by autumn he moved back to Prairie City, where he stayed for the next three seasons. Bauer's book is neither a wistful nostalgia about returning to a simpler time and place nor a patronizing look at those who never leave the town in which they were born. What emerges is an unsentimental yet loving account of life in the Midwest. Not just a portrait of Prairie City, Iowa, but of everyone's small town, everywhere.

In Years Gone by

In Years Gone by
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 199?
Genre:
ISBN:

The information and anecdotes in the pages have come from Prairie City News files ...

In Years Gone by

In Years Gone by
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 199?
Genre:
ISBN:

The information and anecdotes in the pages have come from Prairie City News files ...

Reflecting a Prairie Town

Reflecting a Prairie Town
Author:
Publisher: University of Iowa Press
Total Pages: 352
Release: 1994
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9781587291128

Hokanson (writing, Lakeland College) looks at the town of Peterson, Iowa, its history, and our enduring need for a sense of place. He synthesizes geography, oral history, archaeology, science, and literature in his portrait of this small farming town. Includes bandw historical and modern photos of Peterson's faces and landscapes. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Gentlemen on the Prairie

Gentlemen on the Prairie
Author: Curtis Harnack
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
Total Pages: 276
Release: 1985
Genre: History
ISBN:

"Focuses on a remarkable episode in the settling of the American Midwest, the formation in the 1880s of a colony of upper-class British immigrants who viewed Iowa pioneering as a way of perpetuating the Victorian gentleman's code. This social history examines the premises upon which the colony was built, follows its rise and fall, and portrays some of the lives of the resident gentlemen and ladies."--Book jacket.

The Tallgrass Prairie Center Guide to Prairie Restoration in the Upper Midwest

The Tallgrass Prairie Center Guide to Prairie Restoration in the Upper Midwest
Author: Daryl Smith
Publisher: University of Iowa Press
Total Pages: 343
Release: 2010-04-15
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1587299526

"This manual, by four of the most knowledgeable prairie restorationists in the Upper Midwest, brings together absolutely everything that anyone, regardless of background, needs to know for proper tallgrass prairie restoration. In addition to chapters on everything from planning to implementing to managing a prairie, chapters on native seed production and restoring prairies in public spaces and along roadsides cover all that is necessary for successful prairie restorations. This book is an absolute must for anyone in the business of prairie restoration as well as a great read for any prairie enthusiast." -- Robert H. Mohlenbrock, distinguished professor emeritus of botany, Southern Illinois University --Book Jacket.

An Illustrated Guide to Iowa Prairie Plants

An Illustrated Guide to Iowa Prairie Plants
Author: Paul Christiansen
Publisher:
Total Pages: 264
Release: 1999
Genre: Nature
ISBN:

This guide to the prairie plants native to Iowa provides all the information necessary for identifying and distinguishing even the most similar species. Species are described from the ground up: stem, leaf, bud, flower, fruit and habitat. The time of flowering/fruiting is given for central Iowa.

A Practical Guide to Prairie Reconstruction

A Practical Guide to Prairie Reconstruction
Author: Carl Kurtz
Publisher: University of Iowa Press
Total Pages: 78
Release: 2013-08-01
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1609381734

Thirty-five years and many acres after planting his first patch of prairie flowers, Carl Kurtz is considered one of the deans of the great tallgrass prairie revival. The Prairie Enthusiast called the 2001 edition of his book a “readable and understandable introduction to prairie and the general steps in carrying out a reconstruction.” Now this second edition reflects his increased experience with reconstructing and restoring prairie grasslands. Kurtz has completely revised every chapter of the first edition, from site selection and harvest to soil preparation, seeding, postplanting mowing, burning, and growth and development. He has written new chapters on establishing prairie in old pastureland and on the judicious use of herbicides, including a table that shows particular problem species, the types of herbicides that are most effective at controlling them, and the timing and method of treatment. New photographs illustrate species and steps, and Kurtz has expanded the question-and-answer section and updated the references and the section on midwestern seed sources and services. Tallgrass prairie is critical wildlife habitat and an important element in flood control and stream water treatment. The process of reconstructing and restoring prairie grasslands has made great strides in recent decades. Carl Kurtz’s indispensable, step-by-step guide to creating a diverse and well-established prairie community provides both directions and encouragement for individual landowners as well as land managers working with government agencies and nonprofit organizations that have taken up the task of reconstructing and restoring native grasslands.

Hidden Prairie

Hidden Prairie
Author: Chris Helzer
Publisher: Bureau Oak Book
Total Pages: 129
Release: 2020
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1609386930

"Chris Helzer illustrates the beauty and diversity of prairie through an impressive series of photographs, all taken within the same meter of prairie. During his year-long project, he photographed 113 plant and animal species within that tiny plot, and capture numerous other images that document the splendor of diverse grasslands. His natural history writing tells the story of his personal journey during the project and the stories of the characters he found within his chosen square meter of prairie"--