Since its humble beginnings in 1975 processing prairie seed in an old dairy barn, Applied Ecological Services (AES) has blossomed into a diversifıed company, carrying on its commitment to science-based ecological restoration and land stewardship. Founder and owner Steve Apfelbaum began this endeavor as a way of putting into practice Aldo Leopold’s “land ethic.” Today, […]
Willow Lake Farm
Learning to See Tony Thompson has lived on his family’s Willow Lake Farm near Windom, Minnesota all of his life. Although he holds a bachelor’s degree in agronomy and has nearly completed his Master’s degree in Plant Community Ecology from the University of Montana, at Bozeman, he never really left home for school. “I went […]
Viking Valley Hunt Club
From Harvesting to Hunting Les Bensch, a former computer company executive, and his wife, Bette, a technical writer, operate Viking Valley Hunt Club on 400 acres of pastureland in Ashby, located in central Minnesota. Les and Bette have turned a marginal farm into a hunting and shooting business they say earns five times the revenue […]
Prairie Restoration, Inc.
Urban Artistry Ron Bowen, Prairie Restoration‘s founder, restores native prairie in unusual places. Bowen’s artistry is evident in plantings he created for State Farm’s headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota. In the traditional corporate arrangement, more conventional landscaping and turf grass would be what casual visitors would see. At State Farm, employees and visitors are greeted […]