FRANKLIN GROVE — For John and Lisa Ayers, making connections comes naturally.

Whether they’re connecting with each other, protecting the carefully balanced connections of their prairie’s ecosystem or helping people connect with nature, it’s what they do. It’s who they are.

The Franklin Grove couple are curators of a prairie they own north of town, where wind and wildflowers guide the rhythm of the land, and where they weave meaning into every acre.

Spanning 110 acres of protected prairie, a humming apiary and an apple orchard, the Ayers’ Nomia Meadows Farm reflects their belief that land flourishes when people pay attention to it. Bees, blossoms and native grasses form an ecosystem shaped by a love of the land and their steady stewardship, and shared with those who want to see a place where The Prairie State lives up to its name.

It’s this shared devotion to the experience that guides how the Ayers’ welcome every visitor who arrives for a tour of their paradise, which takes it name from a figure in Greek mythology and a genus of bee.

“Sharing the experience is the true gift of the whole thing,” Lisa said. “They can come out here to learn something, or learn to love something. As we say in environmental education: You only protect what you know, understand and love. Talking about honey bees is a conduit to talking about our native pollinators. Having that full-circle experience, rather than just talking about it, makes a difference.”

The Ayers’ have built much of their life around that full-circle idea. Together for more than 20 years and married in 2015, they celebrated their wedding at Nomia Meadows with a milkweed seed release, with guests tossing handfuls of silk into a prairie wind that carried it west toward the grounds for the butterflies.

But even before they had found their love for each other, the seeds had already planted that would lead to their love of the land.

Long before they bought Nomia Meadows, prairie preservation had already shaped their lives. After years living on the north edge of Naperville near woods and wetlands, they often drove west from suburbia to wander the Nachusa Grasslands. Lisa also volunteered with the Cook County Forest Preserves’ citizen science programs and, with her background in outdoor recreation and environmental education, learned to read the land with intention.

John shared that instinct from childhood. Known as the “butterfly boy,” Lisa said, he spent his days studying anything winged and carried that curiosity into adulthood as he and Lisa traveled in search of rare species, from Jamaica’s giant swallowtail butterfly to the pink Amazon river dolphin.

Their prairie now holds more than 220 species of forbs and grasses, including two not found elsewhere in Lee County: the Black footed Quillwort plant and the Eared False Foxglove herb. A series of pothole ponds (depressions in the land left behind by glaciers, found most often in the upper Midwest) rise and recede with the rain, sustaining eagles, cranes, reptiles, amphibians and whatever else their trail cameras catch moving through the grasses. No pesticides touch this ground; even neighboring farmers work to keep drift away.

“When we were looking at property, the prairie piece of it was important to us,” Lisa said. “It didn’t even have an address, it was just a piece of land there. We had looked at around 20 properties throughout northern Illinois. When we came to look at this one, I’ll never forget that John was waiting for us at the front of the driveway and had two ATVs ready, he said, ‘Just go and explore.’ We just fell in love with it.”

In 2011, a year after the Ayers began shaping what would become their prairie, they built their first two beehives. After taking classes with Jeff Ludwig at Jarrett Prairie Center in Byron, their small experiment quickly expanded into something larger, a kind of “natural alchemy,” Lisa said.

The prairie is the farm’s living canvas, blooming with wild native flowers that color the land. The bees trace those shifts, turning wildflower forage into the deep, season-shaded honey that anchors their apiary.

What began as a beekeeping experiment evolved into a mission to protect the habitats that sustain not only honeybees but a host of native pollinators.

“One of the biggest challenges for all of our pollinators is habitat loss,” Lisa said. ”If a pollinator has a source to forage through the season, they don’t have to fly the three to five miles that a honeybee would if it didn’t have enough food sources. Providing these swaths of protected areas is really important.”

Her bees, she said, are never idle. “They’re busy all the way through goldenrod season, from late summer into early fall. As early as April, they’ll start collecting the pollen from the cottonwoods and the early natives.”

Inside the lone building on the prairie, the bees’ work meets the beekeepers’. Downstairs, the extractor spins honeycomb until warm amber ribbons slide free. Upstairs, a bottling tank waits for the honey to settle before it’s poured into jars. Rendered wax becomes lotions, lip balms, and most recently, beeswax candles.

The work is practical but meditative, each motion part of an ongoing conversation between pollinators and the people who tend both.

“The beekeeping has been a great portal into conversations with visitors to the prairie,” Lisa said. “It’s a way for them to be introduced to what native plants are and why they’re important. Then the next evolution of the conversation is about the native pollinators and their importance. We really like to tell the full-circle story about the prairie.”

That story begins each spring when temperatures pass 50 degrees and the bees take flight, a process that took a little longer to get off the ground with this year’s cold stretch. Their honey has found a loyal following, bottled under labels Lisa designs herself. It can be found at Pfeiffer Farms Fresh Market in Ashton, Oliver’s Corner Market in Dixon, Cypress House and Benny’s, both in Rochelle, and Aframe Family Greenhouse in Oregon. Palmyra Pub and Eatery in Dixon has infused her honey to create a hot variety for its chicken sandwiches.

“We’ve had phenomenal support from local small businesses that sell our honey,” Lisa said. “Supporting small businesses is at the heart of our values. It’s really important – creating a quality product that people feel good about, and the concept of knowing your farmer and knowing your beekeeper.”

When the bees have done their work, the Ayers turn to the orchard beyond the prairie’s edge. The same pollinators that move through wildflowers sweep through the apple blossoms each spring, carrying their quiet industry from prairie to fruit tree.

Fruit growing requires its own patience.

The Ayers began planting their orchard in 2012 with guidance from longtime orchardist Noel Miller of Gays Mills, Wis., a friend and mentor who helped them choose varieties and learn the rhythm of the rows of trees.

“We had been researching the best place to get the trees, and which trees and varieties to grow,” Lisa said. “Noel came out to talk with us about how to put them in, where to put them, and which varieties to have. We’ve remained the closest of friends, so much that I also work for him.”

Their older trees today stand as testaments to that friendship and the couple’s care of the orchard’s life cycle. A tree planted today won’t hit its stride for 3 years, and by 15, its best seasons are fading. Some of their oldest trees are nearing that cycle’s end.

Apple season concluded in November, and this year tallied a slightly smaller crop than the year before, as long dry spells stressed the trees and Japanese beetles arrived in higher numbers. Still, the orchard came through.

Among the rows is a variety with a name that’s like a passage through the past. The Whitney crabapple is large and golden-tinged, with a sweetness that defies its tiny kin — a local fruit with a lineage that’s never truly left home. The variety traces back to Franklin Grove itself, to Col. Nathan Whitney, a War of 1812 veteran who settled south of the village in 1836 and founded one of the region’s first successful nurseries. His son, A.R. Whitney, is credited with developing the Whitney crabapple around 1865.

“People really love it for making apple jelly,” Lisa said. “Historically, people really, really loved it for that reason. We still have a few customers who buy them for that specifically. It’s really cool that it was created right here.”

Other trees carry their own, deeper histories. The Malus sieversii, for instance, grows gnarled and defiant at the edge of the orchard; it’s an ancestor of all modern apples, native to the wild forests of Kazakhstan. The apples themselves are tart and tough-skinned. They’re not the kind you’d reach for on a picnic, but ideal for baking or cider, Lisa said.

“It’s the original spirit tree, as my husband calls it,” Lisa said. “It’s a cool tree. It’s gnarly, not tiny, no matter how you prune them. We’d love to go to Kazakhstan one day and see the original apple forests.”

Then there’s the Spitzenberg, an heirloom apple said to have been one of Thomas Jefferson’s favorites. “It makes phenomenal caramel apples,” Lisa said.

Early August brings the first Red Free apples, followed by Zestar, Pink Pearls, and Autumn Crisp. September delivers Honeycrisp, Crimson Crisp, Jonathan, Whitney crabapples, Cortland, Liberty, and Malus sieversii. By October, late-season fruits such as Crimson Topaz, Sun Crisp, Wine Crisp, and Spitzenberg take their turn.

The Snow apple — Lisa’s mother’s favorite — is small, tender, and faintly floral, like a memory that lingers on the tongue. That, as well as gold rush, ambrosia and wolf river, recently have been planted and are awaiting their first crop.

Those expecting a roadside stand or farm store on their farm won’t find one. Visitors come by appointment and walk the rows quietly with bags in hand, picking what the trees offer that day. They can also peruse the honey while they’re visiting, which comes in a variety of sizes: two- or eight-ounce jars, one- or three-pound containers, or one gallon jugs.

In addition to running Nomia Meadows, the Ayers own Lincoln Way: A Destination Stay, a carriage-house bed-and-breakfast within Franklin Grove’s village limits. However, they recently scaled back operations and put it up for sale, though they still host guests and offer add-on experiences like beekeeping for a day or orchard picking at the farm.

Lisa has noticed that when guests stand near the hives, a calm settles in with the hum of the bees.

“A lot of people have never seen a honey frame straight from the hive,” Lisa said. “The magic intoxication of opening up a hive on a beautiful, warm summer day — the scent of the wax, the honey, the pollen — is like nothing else in the world.”

The Ayers fell in love with this area for its land, people, and culture of interconnectedness, and hope to spark that same appreciation in others.

“We’re not doing this for the money, especially with a small orchard,” Lisa said. “It’s because we love the growing, the sharing, and the whole experience of it. This whole project really is about sharing the experience. This gives us a place, a portal in the universe, to help people have those experiences, for both young and old.”

Nomia Meadows Farm is located at 2051 Hoosier Road in Franklin Grove. Tours are available by appointment. Find it on Facebook or call or text 708-860-2311 or 312-968-1052 for honey availability, summer orchard picking or more information.