Exploring Wild Places, Cultivating One of Our Own

Wandering Oaks Blog follows our adventures exploring wild places, restoring five acres of prairie and oak savanna, and learning from the natural world close to home. Along the way, I’ll share field notes, foraged foods, museum visits, diorama projects, pond discoveries, and the everyday work of living as a curious steward of the land.

Looking for Little Fishes and Exploring Potato Creek State Park

We had intended to head down south and check out the new trails at Fall Creek Gorge and some…
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In Search of Green Black Walnuts

In which we forage for black walnuts in LaSalle Fish and Wildlife and encounter the ghost of the old…
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Naturalist Notebook: How do milkweed pods form?

I’ve always loved milkweeds. I remember stands of them along the Glen Elder Reservoir, spilling their fluff out into…
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Book Notes: Windows on Nature

I found Windows on Nature: The Great Habitat Dioramas of the American Museum of Natural History by Stephen Christopher…
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