Photos: Seed harvesting with Johnson County Conservation

Photos from a seed harvesting outing with Johnson County Conservation at Ciha Fen Preserve in Lisbon, Iowa, on Wednesday, September 10, 2025

Savannah Blake

Sep. 10, 2025 3:54 pm, Updated: Sep. 10, 2025 8:49 pm

Johnson County Conservation naturalist Kristen Morrow holds out a milkweed pod to show people what they will be looking for while harvesting seeds Wednesday at Ciha Fen Preserve in Lisbon. The harvested seeds are processed for planting projects and used for restoration projects like the Johnson County pocket prairie program. Johnson County Conservation also partners with Pollinator Partnership for its Project Wingspan initiative that boosts native wildflower plantings on private lands. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Community members and Johnson County Conservation employees work together to look for whorled milkweed while harvesting seeds Wednesday at Ciha Fen Preserve in Lisbon. The harvested seeds are processed for planting projects and used for restoration projects like the Johnson County pocket prairie program. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Alec Johnson, of Iowa City, pulls out seeds from a whorled milkweed pod during a seed harvest Wednesday with Johnson County Conservation at Ciha Fen Preserve in Lisbon. Volunteers who took part in seed harvesting were allowed to take home a small amount of seeds to use in their own native gardens. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Dozens of milkweed bugs gather on a milkweed plant Wednesday at Ciha Fen Preserve in Lisbon. The bugs help control the milkweed population by eating the seeds. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Carol-Jean Boevers, of Iowa City, picks up a whorled milkweed pod while harvesting seeds with Johnson County Conservation on Wednesday at Ciha Fen Preserve in Lisbon. Boevers said this was her first time going on a seed harvest with Johnson County Conservation. Participants were able to learn more about wildflower species as well as pollinator insects like monarch butterflies and caterpillars. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Eric Miller, of Iowa City, looks works on harvesting whorled milkweed Wednesday with Johnson County Conservation at Ciha Fen Preserve in Lisbon. Johnson County Conservation holds several harvesting excursions throughout the month to help community members get more acquainted with wildflower species while collecting seeds that will benefit the area and local programs. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Carol-Jean Boevers, of Iowa City, flicks off fluff from a whorled milkweed pod while harvesting seeds. The fluff is attached to milkweed seeds and is helped to disperse the seeds when the wind blows. The fluff is known as a natural insulator and has been used for bedding and life-jackets. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Johnson County Conservation employees Nick Timmer (left) and Isabel Harms look for whorled milkweed while harvesting seeds Wednesday at Ciha Fen Preserve in Lisbon. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Eric Miller, of Iowa City, looks at a small milkweed plant while harvesting seeds. Johnson County Conservation holds several harvesting excursions throughout the month to help community members get more acquainted with wildflower species while collecting seeds that will benefit the area and local programs. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

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