Field Day Potluck: Eco-Home Tour and Induction Cooking Demo at Prairie Ridge
Thu, Jul 16
|Prairie Ridge
This is an opportunity for women landowners, farmers, farm workers, gardeners, and conservation professionals to connect around their shared interest in land stewardship and learn from one another. Gather to tour a carbon-neutral home and see an induction cooking demonstration!
Time & Location
Jul 16, 2026, 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Prairie Ridge, 8401 County Hwy A, Hollandale, WI 53544, USA
About the event
Join us on this unique tour of Prairie Ridge and the carbon-neutral rural home of Karen Kendrick-Hands and her husband Larry Hands. This is a new build, set on 80 acres of restored prairie and woods, that was purposely designed to be earth-nurturing and to complement the beautiful setting. Karen will also lead an induction cooking demonstration!
Through the course of the tour, Karen will share the practices they use to both manage house and land for carbon sequestration and climate healing. Learn about invasive control strategies, swales to manage extreme precipitation events, food forests, biochar, savanna restoration work, and working with agencies like USDA and conservation service providers. Karen will talk about her experience utilizing the Environmental Quality Incentives Program through the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Quercus Land Stewardship Services will lead a tour to discuss work they have done in the prairie and woods.
This gathering will be a terrific opportunity for women landowners, growers, conservation professionals, and the conservation curious to connect around land stewardship and to learn from one another.
Most WiWiC events are free. To help support the cost of this and other events, donate HERE. Your generosity keeps WiWiC events accessible for all women who want to learn how to heal and protect the land.
"With a goal of limiting average global temperature rise to no more than 1.5º C, we want to move from global theoretical constructs to the implementation of practical scalable nature-based solutions on our 80-acre property in Southwest Wisconsin’s Driftless Region. Our vision is to develop a demonstration farm that will showcase best practices of managing for carbon sequestration, climate resilience, and biodiversity. As our property evolves to a permaculture demonstration project, we anticipate tours, possibly a farm stand & honor box with produce, agritourism, and hosting farm to table or fiber events." -Karen Kendrick-Hands
Like so many of us, Karen and Larry have LOTS of land dreams. Their property was last farmed for corn, oats, and hay with some grazing and lots of soil loss. Owners in the early 2000’s restored 30 acres of prairie on the high flat ridge and created 2 DNR-style forest plantations with rows of alternating hardwoods and conifers. Today, thanks to their ongoing efforts, Karen and Larry's land is rich in diversity with multiple micro-ecosystems including:
2 acres of Oak and Hickory Savannah
30 acres of Restored Prairie
18 acres of mixed Hardwood and Conifers, with significant wild parsnip infestation, and other invasives
5 acres of mixed Red Oak, Black Walnut and Ash
8 acres North Facing Mesic Forest
10 acres of north-facing scrub and pasture, with sumac, autumn olive, wild parsnip
WiWiC Host:
Karen Kendrick-Hands is a recovering environmental attorney, former yarn shop owner, knitting designer and perpetual volunteer trying to make a difference around air quality, public transportation and climate change. She and her husband Larry, a retired environmental engineer, acquired their 80 acres of property in the Driftless late in 2018, blissfully unaware of the land stewardship commitment they were making. Neither has farming experience. Both have big land goals.
WiWiC Facilitator:
Dr. Esther Durairaj, WiWiC Project Lead and Education Director at Michael Fields Agricultural Institute
For more information about this event, please contact Dr. Esther Durairaj at eshekinah@michaelfields.org; (262) 642-3303 ext. 112
What To Expect:
To network with other local women around shared dreams, challenges, and experiences with conservation
To participate in a Learning Circle and share stories, knowledge, resources, needs, and offers
To learn about the WiWiC project and opportunities that exist for women landowners to implement conservation practices
To gather on a diverse property with many micro-ecosystems
There will be outside walking on uneven ground with uncertain weather and not much shade - dress accordingly!
Ticks are concern this year. Please cover up legs. WiWiC will provide repellant.
Event Details:
Event is free to attend but registration is required and space is limited to 30.
Women, all who identify as such, are welcome to attend – from landowners to farmers to conservationist enthusiasts – whatever your background, from beginners to experts!
Our WiWiC events follow a Learning Circle model, with ample time and a safe space for story sharing, networking and collaborative learning. We all have something to both share and learn together.
WiWiC is a family-friendly space and you are welcome to bring your children.
This will be a POTLUCK DINNER so please bring a dish to share AND A CHAIR. WiWiC will provide paper goods, cutlery, and drinks.
Photos are taken at WiWiC events to help amplify the work being done by Wisconsin's women land stewards, and to help promote future events. Your registration grants consent for your photo to be taken and used for these purposes.
You are automatically subscribed to "The Buzz" monthly WiWiC e-newsletter when you register for an event. You can unsubscribe at any time by using a button at the bottom of the newsletter.
About Wisconsin Women in Conservation
WiWiC s a state-wide collaborative effort led by the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute in partnership with state and federal conservation agencies, local organizations, and other farm advocacy groups. WiWiC brings together Wisconsin's women landowners, farmers, farm workers, urban growers, and conservation professionals to connect and share about conservation practices, resources, and funding opportunities.
About Michael Fields Agricultural Institute
MFAI is a non-profit organization that has been cultivating resiliency through research, education, and policy work since 1984. With a broad coalition of public and private partners, The Institute supports farmers, food systems and communities in the Upper Midwest and beyond through a range of programs and initiatives. We believe agriculture can sustain both human and ecosystem health, while advancing food security, independence, and justice. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news and events.
About Quercus Land Stewardship Services
Quercus Land Stewardship helps land owners and land managers improve the ecological health of their properties using Ecological Restoration. Ecological Restoration is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged or destroyed. This can be accomplished with a variety of ways including prescribed burning, controlling invasive species, removing invasive or unwanted trees and brush, and establishing native vegetation, all with minimal impact to the environment.
To facilitate MORE conservation adventures like these and help MORE women to implement their stewardship dreams, give to WiWiC's Spring Fund Drive!
