Includes stories and photos by Greene County women; brown bag lunch seminar Thursday
“River Stories: Views from an Iowa Watershed,” a community photo exhibit, is on exhibit at Reiman Gardens on the Iowa State University campus in Ames, IA now through end of March.
Des Moines and Raccoon River watershed landowners Courtney Turnis, Chris Henning, Jan Kaiser, Danielle Wirth, Patti Edwardson, and Colleen Radebaugh took part in a participatory project documenting their experiences in the watershed through photographs and short narratives, or “photostories” over the past year.
On Thursday, Feb. 9, project leader Danielle Wirth of Woodward will lead a brown bag lunch seminar about the exhibit that is free for Reiman Gardens members and ISU students, and open with admission for the general public.
“One of the side benefits of the project, beyond spreading the word about issues affecting the watershed, is the opportunity to meet some like-minded women who are willing to roll up their sleeves and make a difference. As a fifth-generation female farm owner, I was surprised to learn how many Iowa farms are owned by women, with the numbers predicted to grow even higher in the next 20 years. Working with these women has inspired me to spend time learning more about the importance of crop rotation, cover crops, and protecting our water sources, “ said project leader Jan Kaiser.
The project was co-sponsored by Women, Food and Agriculture Network and the Raccoon River Watershed Association with funding from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University.
