Native Lands Restoration Collaborative

Join the Native Lands and @lawrencebirdalliance teams next weekend, in stewardship of the community garden at Hobbs Park! This space, a mixture of native and other culturally significant plants, was established several years ago after a survey of community members revealed plants of deep meaning to folks living in East Lawrence (past and present). If you have a bit of time to spare, let's come together to make this garden more accessible to all! No experience necessary. Everyone is welcome! We'll provide everything you need to engage 💚 @lprdks - Let's work together to help the community connect to this space! 🌼🌿 #StrongerTogether #HandsInTheSoil #LandConnection

Tuesday! Join us in care of the native gardens at @kansaszencenter , starting at 5:30 pm. It's a beautiful time of year - immerse yourself in spring flowers, sink your fingers into the soil, and watch the butterflies while we show the gardens some love. Come and go as you'd like! We'll provide education, bring all the tools and gloves necessary. Listen to your body - bring water & protect your skin 🌼🌿. If you have any questions, reach out to [email protected]. See you all soon! Garden stewardship days at the Kansas Zen Center: • May 12th - 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm • June 18th - 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm • August 8th - 9:00 am - 11:00 am • September 5th - 9:00 am - 11:00 am • October 8th - 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm Add these gatherings to your calendar ⏫ - plan ahead to connect with the land! #NativeGardening #CommunityStrength #LearningOutside

We’re honored to share that Native Lands has been awarded a $30,000 grant from the Douglas County Natural & Cultural Heritage grant program (@dgcoks ) to support our Strength Through Stewardship project, restoring the woodlands surrounding Burroughs Creek in East Lawrence! 🌳 If you joined us for our first invasive species removal and seeding events with @BurroughsCreekCorridor , you know how special and energizing this project is to the community — and how much care this landscape still needs. The goal of this project is to restore the banks of Burroughs Creek and it's tributaries from Haskell Indian Nations University north to 15th Street, strengthening habitat, improving water quality, and restoring a landscape that has long held ecological and cultural significance. With the added strength of community volunteers and partners, we’ll be: 🪚 Removing invasive species (goodbye, honeysuckle!) 🍓 Replanting native foods & landscapes 🌱 Co-hosting free native food educational gatherings for the community This project has been shaped through years of community visioning and partnership. This partial funding allows us to begin in a meaningful way—but it’s only part of what’s needed to fully realize the restoration of this important corridor. 💚 We’ll be sharing ways to get involved and support this work in the months ahead. Stay tuned … we look forward to seeing you out there! Learn more about the community projects supported by this funding at the link in our bio! 🔗 With deep gratitude to our partners: @HaskellGreenhouse @BurroughsCreekCorridor @FLAT_KS @TheHivetheIndigenousCollective @LPRDKS #BurroughsCreek #LandStewardship #LawrenceKansas #NativeLands #CommunityRestoration

We had a wonderful time with our dear friend Karl Ramberg sharing more of the vision for the Midco Prairie by Native Lands project with @lilyosheabecker for @kshb41 💚 This project is by Lawrence, for Lawrence—an “East Lawrence story all the way,” as Karl says—dreamt up and built with local artists and makers. We’re honored to have Karl’s partnership on this project. His connection to the prairie and to this community shows in everything he creates and will make this space even more meaningful. 🔗Link in bio to read the full article. Thank you, Midco, for supporting this dream project! Dream local, build local! @karl_ramberg @midcogobeyond @spyderart_constructs @surlandscapearchitecture @lawrence_arborists @obrien6500

We’re thrilled to invite you to our Field Botany Series, led by ecologist Courtney Masterson, at Blazing Star Prairie! 🌱 Join us for one or all four sessions throughout the year as we learn to identify plants through all of their life stages. Creative note-taking, journaling, sketching and photography to aid in learning is encouraged! First Session: Spring: Leaves & Stems 🗓 Saturday, May 17 | 🕐 1–4 pm 🌱 Open to beginners and beyond—no prior experience needed. 💚 Sliding scale: $20–$60 Please reach out for support with access or cost. We’re here to help! 📩 RSVP: [email protected] 🔗 Learn more: nativelandsks.org/field-botany #Botany #BotanyClass #BotanyWorkshop #NativePlants #Ecology NativeLands

Wanna join us in celebration of native foods and gardens but you don't have a ride?! 😫 We're making it easy to stop by each site - for free. Pick up our mini tour bus along the city bus route (in North Lawrence) the morning of May 2nd, sit back and enjoy the ride to each of these lovely landscapes! Our First Annual Mini Native Foods and Gardens Tour is completely free to the community! Each site is cared for by local land stewards working to bring native foods and gardens to our community, to our culture, to our future. Register with a simple email to get a list of addresses and instructions for your self-paced tour OR join us on the bus to keep things super simple! We've got ~ 7 seats left on the bus; reserve yours today. 🚌🚦🛑 Register for the tour by sending Courtney a quick email at [email protected]. We're excited to share this adventure with you all! #MiniNativeFoodsAndGardensTour2026 #NativePlantsFeedUsAll #WeAreAllLandStewards @haskellgreenhouse @haskellculturalcenter @mellowfieldsfarm @thelandinstitute @lawrencelibrary

It's a bit damp at Blazing Star Prairie today! 🌀 Over 4" of rain fell in the last 24 hours and the land will soak it all up soon. Thankfully, the deep native roots held most of the soil (except in the spaces we disturb often). After cleaning up a few wind torn tree limbs and checking all the out buildings (hoop houses, seed vault, etc.), we're feeling lucky to have weathered the storms well. We hope you all did, too! Observations from the prairies, woodlands, and wetlands of Blazing Star - Nysa's Pond is full for the first time in years! The muskrats & snapping turtles are celebrating the squishy conditions. The tree frogs are smiling 💚. And the snails are seeking higher ground! Walk lightly on the earth today, friends! This rain is a gift - the droughts always come. Remember the lush growth of this season! #SpringGrowth #AprilShowers #DeepRootsProtectSoil

Really fun start to the day, sharing the future park site with @lilyosheabecker of KSHB 41 News! We're really grateful she was able to meet with local @midcogobeyond Store Manager, Vivian, and @karl_ramberg to discuss the collaboration and talk about next steps. And we were all treated to a visit to Karl's workshop! Magical! 🤩 The @spyderart_constructs team are working hard to clear the piles of asphalt, concrete and polluted soil from the site. The foundation of the park is starting to take shape! #MidcoPrairie #CommunityStrength #UnPavedParkingLot

This morning I noticed some demo work happening on the corner of 7th & Rhode Island. I later learned it was @spyderart_constructs taking out a parking lot. You might be wondering why the post? Well- here’s the scoop: Midco owns the lot and they are turning into a “healthy ecosystem.” Put another way, it will soon be a pocket park. @nativelandsks is leading the charge along with the help of @surlandscapearchitecture @lawrence_arborists @karl_ramberg @laurarambergart This is the OPPOSITE of @jonimitchell 1970 song Big Yellow Taxi with the lyrics, “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.” & “Don’t it always seem to go / That you don’t know what you’ve got / til it’s gone.” The native prairie park should be completed by October. I’d imagine the park will need community support to maintain the space (pull weeds / water etc)?

More noises us conservation folks rarely hear! Thanks to everyone for your patience with the beep, crunch, zooms that come along with removing a parking lot to plant a prairie. 💚 We promise, this noise will soon be replaced with bird song, the joyous voices of community visitors, the soft sound of rain on native stone. The @spyderart_constructs team started demolishing the parking lot this morning - it's really happening!! Our gratitude to everyone making this project possible for the community. We're humbled to lead this work, a long lasting gift of prairie in Downtown Lawrence. 🌼🌿 @midcogobeyond @surlandscapearchitecture @lawrence_arborists @spyderart_constructs @karl_ramberg @laurarambergart @obrien6500 #HealthyLandscapesForUsAll #StrongerTogether #CommunityPower

Hands in soil make magic, especially where we work together! The next stop along our Mini Native Foods and Gardens Tour are the Haskell Cultural Center & Museum gardens, stewarded by the @haskellgreenhouse team. This land has come a long way in a short time! A few years ago, the Haskell Greenhouse team, Native Lands staff and volunteers worked together to peel thick black plastic away from the earth surrounding the Cultural Center to allow for the return of native plants. That was a BIG job but truly worthwhile! Today, the Haskell Greenhouse staff collaborate with the community to care for diverse native gardens, reconnect with native foods and medicines, and practice skills that translate to healthier landscapes for us all. We are so grateful for their care of the land, friendship and partnership. 🌼🌿 Stop by the gardens on May 2, between 10 am - 2 pm, to learn more about Haskell Greenhouse projects and the native gardens they steward. ALSO - Visit the @haskellculturalcenter during their operating hours for a truly meaningful experience immersed in the stories of past and present Indigenous people on this land, through the university's many identities. Check out the gallery space featuring Haskell student's artwork! @aiyanna_spring 😁 ✨ Register for the tour by sending Courtney a quick email at [email protected]. We're excited to share this adventure with you all! ✨ #MiniNativeFoodsAndGardensTour2026 #NativePlantsFeedUsAll #WeAreAllLandStewards @haskellgreenhouse @haskellculturalcenter @mellowfieldsfarm @thelandinstitute @lawrencelibrary

We spent a beautiful morning planting native foods alongside the farming family at @theburningbarrel in Lecompton today! Our gratitude to each of them for the time they shared learning alongside our team and for the snacks they shared from the land. We truly appreciated the sweet introductions to the animals who work alongside them. 🐖 Helping farms increase biodiversity, adapt to climate change, and return native foods to our local food system is truly meaningful work for us. Each of our farm partners will have unique relationships with these important plant species, bringing native flavors to the community with love. Be sure to join us for our First Annual Mini Native Foods and Gardens Tour on May 2nd to meet some of the amazing land stewards in our community committed to returning native foods to our plates. Register for the free tour with a quick email to Courtney at [email protected]! #NativePlantsAreFood #SustainableFoodSystems #DiversifyingFarms