Get Growing!

The Ohio Prairie Story

These educational and often hands-on weekly gardening programs are held every Thursday throughout the summer and feature guest speakers and a variety of gardening topics.  The programs are held from 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. at the Train Station unless otherwise noted. Programs are free of charge and registration is not required.

John Blakeman, will explain the unique and interesting history and biology of Ohio’s native grasslands — including the ones in our local region. Lakeside now has a wonderful prairie restoration, and visitors and residents will learn of the historical and ecological importance of the beautiful prairie plants — which can also be planted as beautiful natural elements in your own landscapes.

John Blakeman is a retired biology instructor with 30-years science teaching experience at Perkins Schools near Sandusky, and is an experienced Ohio prairie researcher and is an Ohio Certified Prescribed Fire Manager and as an Environmental Specialist consultant who conducts several hundred acres of prairie and meadow burns at NASA’s Armstrong Test Facility each year. As proprietor of Meadow Environments LLC, he professionally designs, installs, and maintains prairie restorations and landscapes. He is conducting research that will show that strips of prairie planted along field edges will filter out phosphorus from runoff flows, thereby reducing phosphorus in Lake Erie, obviating harmful algal blooms.