Partnering with Nature

We thought we would give you a sense of the variety of plants and animals that make their home at Pinestead or at least pass through it. While we see nature's abundance throughout the year, much of it is buried under snow or has migrated away by the time you visit us during the Christmas season. 

We recall a study which stated there are roughly five times more species of wildlife on a Christmas tree farm then on a conventional row crop farm. While we don't have the study to reference, we can do some survey work of our own. We do consider ourselves as stewards of our land and while we can't claim to be trained naturalists, we don't have to have formal training to have a love for the land and the plants and animals that make it their home. 

What we have started on these pages is to attempt to identify nature's diversity right here at Pinestead. We will continue to add photos and descriptions as we get the opportunity to do so. Stay with us as we add to it over time. We will never find and identify everything, but, hopefully, we'll eventually get most, and this undertaking will make us even more aware of the mystery and beauty of nature around us.

Partially as an outgrowth of this effort, but primarily because of our love of the outdoors and nature, Phil has become a Minnesota Master Naturalist.  For more information on the naturalist program see  www.miinnesotamasternasturalist.org or call or email us at the farm.

Please visit the following pages to see what we have identified to date and check back occasionally for additions. We started this undertaking in Fall, 2010, but there will never be an end date. There will always be something new if we just keep our eyes and ears open.. Again, only subjects identified in the wild at Isanti Pinestead are included. All photos are also taken only at Isanti Pinestead. Nothing that we have planted and are growing to sell is included on these pages. 

Animal residents and visitors (16 identified, 4 photographed) 

Bird residents and visitors 

We have photographed 48 different birds to date and add a couple more each year.  High resolution/full screen photos can be viewed at our Birds around the Pinestead (opens in a separate window)

Insect residents and visitors. ( 21 identified, 8 photographed) 

Trees growing on the farm. (6 identified, 6 photographed) 

Bushes, shrubs and vines growing on the farm. (11 identified, 11 photographed)

Plants growing on the farm (58 identified, 51 photographed) 

Flora (plant life) observed in the wild on the farm include (especially) Wildflowers, plus trees, bushes, shrubs, vines, fungi, lichen, and just plain weeds (why we photograph the latter, we don't know).  Maybe something to do with compulsiveness.  High resolution/full screen photos of 59 different varieties can be viewed at Pinestead Floria (opens in a separate window).  Nothing that we plant or grow ourselves is included.

Amphibians and Reptiles (3 identified, 1 photographed) 

There are two additional categories for which we have not created pages. One is fish--we actually have seen minnows in our creek! The other is fungus--we have had needlecast fungus outbreaks which we have to control. 

We are using the following reference guides--all in our personal library--as aids. While we are trying to be as accurate as possible, we're sure glad it's not a test; or at least that it's an open book test. 

This reference list is growing! It didn't take us long to realize that no one book is complete and that factors such as light and shadows, and time of season can make a photo in one book look considerably different than in another book.

The best field guides we have come across, and the most relevant to our needs, are the series by Stan Tekiela, a Minnesota native living in Victoria, MN, and published by Adventure Publications in nearby Cambridge, MN. There are more, but the one's we are using are: 

• Mammals of Minnesota

• Birds of Minnesota 

• Trees of Minnesota 

• Wild Flowers of Minnesota 

Adventure Publications also publishes Wild Berries & Fruits by Teresa Marrone. 

A second great series of reference books is published by Kollath & Stensaas Publishing in Duluth, MN. Several of which we are using:

• Insects of the North Woods by Jeffrey Hahn

• Spiders of the North Woods by Larry Weber

• Dragonflies of the North Woods by Kurt Mead
• Butterflies of the North Woods by Larry Weber
• Ferns of the North Woods by Joe Walewski
• Lichens of the North Woods by Joe Walewski
• Moths and Caterpillars of the North Woods by Jim Sogaard
• Amphibians & Reptiles of the North Woods by Allen Blake Sheldon
• And the one we wish we could use but no luck yet: Orchids of the North Woods by Kim & Cindy Risen

By far, the best reference site for wildflowers is Minnesota Wildflowers.  This site was started by a Master Naturalist and a Botanist in the Twin Cities and has grown to become the premier reference site on wildflowers in Minnesota and perhaps the entire north central portion of the United States. It covers a number of categories of plant life beyond just wildflowers.

Perhaps our best single reference book for wildflowers is the 1996 edition of: Wildflowers, Northeastern/North-central North America by Rogher Peterson & Margaret McKenny. It's many illustrations are often more helpful then actual photos. 

A close runner-up for wild flowers is the 3rd edition of What's Doin' the Bloomin'? by Clayton Oslund, published by Plant Pics, LLC in Duluth. 

In addition, we are using:

   Birds of North America, A Guide to Field Identification. Golden Press, New York, 1966. 

   Field Guide to Wildflowers of North America by David M. Brandenburg, Sterling Publishing, New York, 2010 

   Trees of North America, A Guide to Field Identification  Golden Press, New York, 1968. 

   Weeds of the West, Published by The Western Society of Weed Science through the University of Wyoming, 1996. 

And as we watch them, they watch us.