Prairie des Femmes
Our farm is located on one of the Bayou Teche river scour grasslands called Prairie des Femme, a prairie that is in between the Cajun Prairie and the Atchafalaya Basin. This prairie is part of the larger coastal prairie region that once stretched across the Gulf Coast from Texas to Mississippi, characterized by its flat, grassy landscapes.
The name "Prairie des Femmes" has many possible origins... One theory suggests that it was named by French settlers who observed Native American women gathering medicinal herbs and plants in the area. Another explanation is that it was named after a group of Acadian women who sought refuge in the prairie.
Prairie des Femmes was once home to vast herds of bison and supported diverse communities of Native American tribes, the Attakapa and Chitimacha peoples to name a few. European settlers later established farms and ranches on the prairie utilizing its soils for agriculture and grazing.
Much of the original prairie landscape has been altered or lost, making the remaining remnants of this once-expansive ecosystem all the more valuable. The stretch of land between our crawfish ponds and Bayou Bourbeaux has a few robust prairie populations that exhibit a small glimpse at the beauty that the prairie once possessed.
In the springtime, we have thousands of Baptisia alba in bloom at our nursery in Arnaudville.
Crawfish Ponds
Our farm sits on a 60-acre crawfish farm that has been out of production for many years. The ponds are dense with native irises, grasses, rushes, and other aquatic plant life. Many whitetail deer, owls, red hawks, ducks, geese, herons, frogs, and snapping turtles visit and inhabit the ponds.
Traditional crawfish farming in Louisiana has historically favored intensive chemical use, wetland drainage, monoculture farming, and heavy machinery usage. These practices are aimed at maximizing production and profits and are standard agricultural practices here in south Louisiana.
It is common for farmers to alternate between rice and crawfish production in the same fields due to similarities in their farming methods. This rotational farming practice is known as "rice-crawfish farming" and involves flooding fields to cultivate rice paddies during the rice-growing season, followed by draining the water to allow for crawfish farming during the off-season.
We are working to preserve our ponds natural habitats, minimize disturbance, and find a balance between agricultural production and wetland conservation.
Bayou Bourbeaux
Our farm is also located along the banks of Bayou Bourbeaux. The backswamps of our property are abundant in old-growth Cypress, Oaks, and Tupelo alongside many varieties of native wildflower, grass, sedge, and rush species of special interest to us.
For centuries Native American tribes such as the Opelousas, Choctaw, Chitimatcha, and Tunica-Biloxi relied on Bourbeaux’s waters for sustenance and transportation. The bayou connected communities and facilitated trade among early Louisiana peoples.
Bayou Bourbeaux was settled by the Acadians in the 18th century seeking refuge from persecution. The Cajuns established homesteads along its banks, built levees, fished its waters, and cultivated the fertile lands nearby for farming.
We harvest seed from the banks of our portion of Bayou Bourbeaux to grow out in our nursery. These species are adapted to the cyclical rhythm of drought and flood. We fortify our restoration projects against environmental uncertainty by prioritizing species like these with proven resilience.
Ashlee harvesting Iris fulva and Saururus cernuus for propegating.
Steve harvesting Carex cherokeensis seed.