August Updates

from "The Slate", August 2011

Well, it’s August already and the remaining crops seem to be

doing fine. Due to the weather, the oat and wheat harvest was

disappointing but we should have enough seed to plant the fields

next year. Thanks to all who helped again this year with the

threshing. Taking advantage of the heat, we have put up several

wagons of our own hay and now the barn is nearly full and ready

for the winter. Sassafras the cow gave birth to a nice bull calf on

June 25 and he is growing up fast. A Boy Scout rebuilt some of

the fencing here on the farm to complete the requirements for his

Eagle Scout rank. Looking ahead we should have pumpkins to

pick and sorghum and apples to harvest, so it should be a busy fall.

Farmer Dave

Greetings from the Barnyard

from "The Slate", December 2010

The corn is in the crib and we started plowing the field in preparation for next year’s oat crop. Mike is working on raccoon proofing the corncrib. The next time you are out, you will notice that the barn and hog house are less crowded as 11 lambs, 24 piglets and the 2 steers went to market.

As winter approaches we are planning to restore more farm equipment. We are beginning on an 1880s Champion mower donated to us from Ohio Historical Society and Farmer Charles started restoring a wheelbarrow hayseeder.

Finally, we are preparing for butchering this upcoming weekend (Dec 11 and 12). We are doing two pigs and a lamb.

Fall

from "The Slate", October 2010

Greetings.

The barnyard has been a fury of activity over the last month with the hustle and bustle of school children meeting the animals and their young ones, and keeping the farm going.

The cool fall weather is finally here and with it the fall crop of piglets.  We have three litters for a total of 27 piglets. They are growing quickly. 

Most of the pumpkins are picked. The crop is large in spite of the extra warm summer and the hungry groundhogs. The groundhogs damaged several hundred, but only ate a few. They are such picky eaters.

The one pumpkin field was sown with a rye cover crop and we have started plowing for wheat. For the first time in several years we had to resort to plowing with a tractor because the soil is still so hard and dry.

Dave has been building a machine to thresh the seed of the broomcorn and Charles has been working on a new pump for the hog house’s cistern.

Stop by to see the changes in the barnyard.

Summer Chores

from "The Slate", June 2010

Greetings.

The barnyard has been a fury of activity over the last month with the hustle and bustle of school children meeting the animals and their young ones, and keeping the farm going.

The potatoes (in last years pumpkin patch) have grown but unfortunately a section in the middle of the field was washed out by rainwater pooling in the area.

The sorghum was planted next to the potatoes and the rye is growing well in the rest of the field.

The rye will likely be harvested a week or two ahead of the wheat crop.

The corn was planted in half of the front field along the lane. This year’s variety is St. Charles White. Due to a crop failure two years ago of the St. Charles, we are working to restock our seed supply this year and will have a smaller than normal field of corn. Hopefully we can keep this variety going.

Pumpkins will be growing in the field behind the chicken house as well as in the remainder of the cornfield.

Dave repaired the hay loader (a large conveyor attached to the back of the hay wagon that picks up hay and drops it up on the wagon) and we have used it successfully to bring in three loads of new hay for the winter.

Broomcorn was planted in last years potato patch and is doing quiet well. It will be nice to have it visible to visitors as we celebrate the 200^th Anniversary of Pickaway County this year, a county that produced tons of broomcorn in its history.

Twenty-four pigs went to market on June 5^th along with the Southdown ram and 2 ewes. This fall we will be breeding the ewes to a Merino ram.

We are expecting a calf from Sassafras this month, which will hopefully be another heifer to add to our herd.

            See you soon.

                        Farmer Charles

Farm News

from "The Slate", May 2010

The barnyard has certainly filled up this spring. On April 27th, our final lamb was born bringing the total to 16.

All the lambs and ewes are doing well. There are 28 piglets and the sows are beginning to become tired of them. Weaning will not be far off.

As I was writing a clutch of goslings was hatching in the barn.

Already about 65 chicks have hatched in the incubator and some of them will live in the brooder at the farm. This weekend more chicks and poults (baby turkeys) should be hatching.

The potatoes can germinate and the oats can take off after finally having rain. We will be planting corn soon.

Stop in to visit and

Come lend a hand,

Farmer Mike

Spring Chores

 The young livestock are arriving with a set of twin lambs to start it off on March 14, and more to come. Hogs should be here by the end of March. The Toulouse geese are making nests, while we humans will start to collect chicken and turkey eggs for the incubator by the end of March, to have chicks for the poultry program the first of May.

The cold days did not help the Maple Program, as there was little sap flow. We have plenty of syrup from the last few years, so the spiles were pulled, as it was time to move onto other projects.

Some seasonal necessities calling to us are pruning fruit trees and small fruits and planting oats as soon as it is dry enough.

As usual the seasons move on, whether we are ready to or not.

Charles finished the dump cart, complete with a bit of pin striping and Dave put the finishing touches on a “new” hayrake. Mike put new windows and siding on the front of the chicken house.

Charles built a bookshelf to hold our collection of Ohio and U.S.Ag reports.

Wood is split,with more to be done and the wooden fence along Marcy Rd. is being removed in preparation for a summer project to plant trees to screen the road.

Those who visited maple weekends had a treat of seeing Sailor trotting through the front field pulling a sleigh, with usually a grinning staff and/or volunteer taking a ride.

Come lend a hand,

Farmer Mike

from "The Slate", November 2009

Greetings.  Hope you all have your woodsheds full and your corn shocked.  The Farmer's Almanac says it will be a long hard winter.  Back at the barn and fields we've been busy with the seasonal school groups, picking corn, repairing farm equipment, and planting.

If you haven't been by lately, be sure to come out to the barn and see our new windmill.  We recently had a new top put on the mill, which includes a new gearbox, fan, and tail.  The Aero Motor Company out of San Angeleno, Texas, built the new mill.  A gentleman from Findley, Ohio installed it.  Ask and we could show you how it works sometime, provided there's wind.

In mid-October, we planted winter rye in our bulk garden (where the potatoes were this year) and in the pumpkin patch.  For the most part the rye will be used as a cover crop to reduce soil compaction, but there's been talk of maybe trying to thresh a little next year.  We'll see.  Skirting wet days we also managed to put in our winter wheat. 

Bud the calf is growing fast.  Farmer Dave P. and I weighed him at a month and a half and he registered 184 lbs. 

Hope to see you before the snow flies.

Farmer Charles

from "The Slate", October 2009

The pumpkin crop is early this year so we’ve picked them as

fast as we could recruit visitors. There are plenty of pumpkins

this year, but the weeds are made it a struggle to reach them.

They are all picked. Check out the new variety that is supposed

to be a good pie pumpkin. It is called Long Pie or Nantucket,

and it certainly doesn’t fit the modern notion of the way a

pumpkin should be shaped.

We have a new bull calf, named Bud of course, that is very

popular with the public. I suspect that he won’t be tied out for

the children to pet very long since he is growing so quickly and

can be playful.

Three of the four gilts have piglets so far. Last count is 19

between them. There are also ducklings again in the shed by

the hog house.

Stop by to visit,

Farmer Mike

from "The Slate", September 2009

School buses are reappearing on the roads, the pumpkin vines are dying and our lambs look less cute, but more tasty.  Summer is ending again.

We are finished with the haying and the loft is as full as I have ever seen it.  soon we will be picking the pumpkins, but there will be no milling of sorghum for molasses.  The seed germinated too slowly in the dry spring and the weeds overwhelmed the crop.  Farmers Dave T, Dave P. and Charles have almost finished plowing the field for planting winter wheat in October.  In the barn we have a new bull calf, Tulip's first.

We are arranging for a replacement of our windmill.  The past half dozen years it has had a variety of mechanical problems.  Apparently this make has some serious design problems and we anticipate replacing it with an Aermotor windmill of the same size.  Aermotor windmills have been produced since 1888 and this one will look much like the old one that is about 30 years.

Stop by to visit or to lend a hand.

Farmer Mike

from "The Slate", August 2009  

Threshing the wheat and oats is finished. We had large crowds,

especially on some of the cooler weekdays. This year we piled

some of the straw from threshing onto the hay wagon and

hoisted the straw into the top of the barn for future use as

bedding. It worked fine, but this long wheat straw rapidly fills

the mow. We also used a horse to lift a box of wheat up into

the granary for the first time in years. We had repaired the

track in the top of the granary and replaced the ropes. We will

probably use this more in the future rather than carrying all the

grain up on our backs.

The incubator in the basement is finished for the season. We

hatched about 60 Black Minorca chickens, 60 Buckeye

chickens and 150 Slate turkeys. We are selecting from the

chickens which will be kept for our flock and which will grace

the dinner table. Almost all the turkeys have been distributed to

other farms and to heirloom poultry enthusiasts.

This afternoon we are trying out a potato plow that Charles

rebuilt this winter. We will uncover a couple rows of potatoes

and let the visitors help collect them.

Stop by to visit and lend a hand.

Farmer Mike

P.S. Potato plow worked fairly well, still needs some tweaking,

but the public loved following behind looking for the potatoes.

from "The Slate", July 2009  

The barnyard will be a bit emptier soon. Tip the ox went to his

new home at the Museum of Western Reserve Farms and

Equipment in northern Ohio.

A couple of young pigs will be moving to the Firestone Farm at Henry

Ford’s Greenfield Village in Michigan. Most of the other young pigs

and the three old sows will head to market soon also.

We are about done incubating eggs in the basement and dozen of

heirloom chicks, poults (baby turkeys,) and ducklings are now

exhibited at the farm and the surplus passed on to other educational

sites and local poultry preservation enthusiasts.

The barn is filling with hay, both our own loose hay and the

baled hay from a neighbor. The corn is looking good, but the

pumpkins and sorghums are very weedy. We’ll need to do

some extra hoeing. The potato patch in front of the house has

grown well with little damage from the potato bugs. Charles

rebuilt a potato plow to assist with their harvest.

We will be cutting the wheat in early July and the oats will

follow shortly. If you haven’t ever seen the reaper binder work,

you should. It is an amazing machine (and after watching you

can help shock the grain!)

Farmer Mike

from "The Slate", June 2009  

Field work has progressed well with the corn already

popping up. Once we get some rain the sorghums should appear.

We mowed one field for hay and another awaits a break in school

groups and a few days of dry forecasts. Charles has modified the

corn planter and plans to use it soon for planting the field of

pumpkins and squashes.

We are hatching a few dozen turkeys and chicks each week

with the incubator. Later this week about 30 turkey poults will go to

the Aullwood-Audubon Farm at Dayton. We will distribute our

surplus to keep these rare breeds from disappearing.

Dave T’s 1880s brooder or “artificial mother” has functioned well

allowing us to keep newly hatched poultry on the farm for visitors to

 see. A kerosene lantern heats a box to warm the chicks and poults.

Soon the piglets will be weaned and on their way to market

with the old sows. The young boar moved into the gilts’ pen this

morning so we should have piglets in late September.

Stop by to visit and lend a hand.

Farmer Mike

The barnyard is filling up with livestock. We have 22 piglets in

the hog house that are doing well as usual. The last ewe finally

lambed so we have a total of 12 lambs. Some of the ewe lambs

will be kept to replace older ewes. The incubator has hatched

chicks and Dave is putting together an “artificial mother” or

brooder so we can attempt to keep the chicks in the old pigeon

house. There are also goslings and ducklings. Finally, Sassafras

had her first calf, a red and white heifer named Magnolia.

Stop for a visit before they all grow up,

Farmer Mike

from "The Slate", April 2009

The rains are always a mixed blessing.  We needed these to germinate the newly planted field of oats and several rows of vegetables in the garden.  The showers also helped the newly planted 200 red cedars, a few butternut trees and several persimmon trees settle their roots into the moist soil.

On the downside, plowing will be delayed until the fields dry a bit and the hundred second graders visiting for their field trip last week left damp and cold.

At the moment we have nine lambs with two more ewes expecting.  Notice the differences in coloration due to breeding with the new Southdown ram. 

Teachers are already picking up cartons of our chicken eggs to place in their classroom incubators.  The geese are nesting in the barn again and today we had our first turkey egg of the spring.

Stop by to help and see what is new.

Farmer Mike

from "The Slate", January/February 2009 

The winter has been a brisk one, but the livestock are doing well,

except for a little frostbite on the combs and wattles of the

barnyard rooster.

The cold encouraged us to work inside with

several projects. Dave P., Dave T. and Charles rebuilt

several plows including a potato plow. The entire large garden

will be planted in Irish Cobbler potatoes in the spring.

In the warmth of the house, we stripped the old polyurethane off

the hall and dining room floors and refinished them. The track in

the granary for hauling up grain is also being repaired.

The new boar from Carriage Hill Farm has settled in and

appreciates a good scratching behind the ears.

The new Southdown ram is back in his pen after breeding with the

ewes.  We’ve set up a second fence to discourage people from

petting him. Petting the ram can encourage a ram that butts people.

Farmer Mike

from "The Slate", December 2008

Farmer Dave P. and Farmer Charles finished plowing the field for next year's oats since we finally had some rain to soften the earth.  The field that had this year's pumpkins is half plowed and they are eagerly eyeing the next field for corn.

All 19 piglets have been weaned and most will be headed to market in Zanesvilee soon.  We plan to keep four gilts (unbred females) to replace our old sows.  We will be receiving a young boar from Carriage Hill Farm soon.

Red, the ox, is feeling his age with arthritis in his left hip.  This condition has been advancing for several years and is now quite noticeable in his gait.  We have him on an anti-inflammatory drug (think of it as ox aspirin) and that seems to help some.  Red and Tip are eleven years old and were born two weeks apart here on the farm.

The vet palpitated Sassafras, the heifer, and assured us that she is pregnant so we can expect a calf in the spring.

Stop by to lend a hand,

Farmer Mike

from "The Slate", November 2008

The cold weather is approaching much to the discomfort of a couple of new clutches of Muscovy ducklings.  The two hens probably lost their first clutches in the summer and then nested again.  Our Muscovies have hatched every month except January, but of course, they do best in the warm months.

After seven weeks of her eleven piglets constantly getting under foot and pushing to be fed, the one sow is ready to be rid of her young. If the young get in her way as she is eating, she’ll toss them across the pen with her snout. We will wean them soon and the other litter with eight piglets in a few more weeks. Some gilts will be kept to replace the old sows, but the other young pigs will go to market in Zanesville.

Plowing for next year’s crops is steadily advancing with Farmers Dave P. and Charles getting the horses in shape. We still  need more rain as the fields are quite hard and dry.

The old entrance driveway (at the end of the parking lot) is the area designated for a pole barn style machinery shed. It will allow more modern horse-drawn equipment such as the corn planter and the reaper binder, that date well past the 1880s, to be stored out of the historical area, but still close enough to drive the horses out and move the needed piece back in when the right season arrives. This allows the barnyard more to be more period correct and highlight our appropriate restored equipment. It will  help store spare equipment parts and tools.

Farmer Dave T. recently had knee surgery and we are happy to report he is making a good recovery, although he’ll be out for awhile. He is off his crutches and is doing well.

Stop by to lend a hand,

Mike

from "The Slate", October 2008

The dry weather continues here so this year's pumpkin crop is quite sparse.  To look on the bright side, the first graders could easily help harvest the pumpkins today because they could carry even the biggest.  Sorghum is short too, but it should be fine for making molasses in early October.

The windstorm did a little damage here.  The copper ridges on the granary and the barn were loosened and the huge cottonwood tree by the bridge came down.

Farmer Charles has been working on the potato planter to get it ready for a larger planting next spring.  We are planning to plant the big garden entirely in Irish potatoes.  If we can keep the weeds down, control the potato bugs and flea beetles, and the weather cooperates, we should have bushels and bushels of potatoes.

Finally, we have torn down some of the fence around the newer orchard and are now relying on the hedge to keep the sheep in.  So far they have not squeexed through the sharp thorns of the Osage orange hedge.  This hedge has been growing for over ten years.  Osage orange (also called hedge apple) was a common fencing method of the 1880s, but greater availability of wire fencing and barbwire reduced the use of hedges. 

Stop by for a visit and lend a hand. 

Farmer Mike

from "The Slate", September 2008

From "The Slate", August 2008

Summer is passing quickly. The 1880s “Democrat” wheat was threshed in three days with virtually no mechanical problems. The newer horses also took their “turns” on the horsepower quite well. We hope that future threshings go as smoothly.

The oats were also cut, but not threshed. The stand was thin and weedy so we made that field into hay. The cattle will certainly enjoy it this winter. The barn loft has more loose hay now than I have ever seen. Sure helps that the grapple hayfork has been reliable in raising the hay to the mow.

The pumpkins and squash are well established. We need some significant rain to get them growing again. Perhaps we will have a bumper crop like last year.

This spring’s calf, Sweet Pea, has a new home at Carriage Hill Farm in Dayton. This Five Rivers Metro Park ’s farm also shows the 1880’s and is well worth a visit. We regularly exchange livestock with them since locating correct breeds can be difficult.

Finally, some of the barn owls have fledged. We don’t know how many hatched this year, but they and their parents are sometimes seen in the loft or looking out of the nesting box.

Stop by to lend a hand and visit,   

Mike

from "The Slate", July 2008

Greetings!  Hope you all are well.  June has been an eventful month!

Much to our chagrin, this year's corn crop has not germinated well and is now being used as pasture for the oxen.  Many factors may have contributed to its poor performance, but overwhelmingly the weather has not been in our favor.  As Mike noted last month, the cool soil and wet weather affected our germination.

On a positive note, the pumpkins are looking excellent.  A final tally puts us near 800 plants.  If the crop is anywhere near last year's production, we are sure to have many pumpkins available for visitors.  Keeping ahead of the weeds is key, so if you have a desire to practice your hoeing skills, please let us know.

The past month we took 25 piglets and a cow (Bluebell) to market, which has made way for the new litters of pigs expected early October and the new calf (Sweet Pea) who was born this past March.

Another reason to come out soon is to catch a glimpse of the barn owl whose face has been seen in the opening of the nest box recently.

As Mike always says...We hope you stop out and lend a hand sometime.

Farmer Charles

Note:  Charles is writing this month's "Around the Barnyard" as June was a bad month for some of our farmers as well as our corn. 

Farmer Mike injured his foot while making hay and is not sure when he will be back to work.  Farmer Dave slipped in the hayloft and "did something" to his knee.  We wish both of them a speedy recovery!

from "The Slate", June 2008

The weather is starting to warm and we hope it speeds the slow germination of the corn.  The soil is moist, but awfully cool.  The wheat field by the entrance is getting tall, but still not forming seed heads.  Every year at the farm is different.

The 27 piglets were just weaned and there should be more born in about 4 months.  As usual, the sows were glad to see them move out.  The lambs and calf are doing well, and the ducks have finally hatched some eggs.  I have over a hundred chicks and poults (baby turkeys) at my house being brooded.  They will return to the farm when they are older and can better tolerate the cool night air.

Once again the barn owls seems to be nesting in the barn.  We hope they have better luck this year. 

(Check out the Metroparks article on last year's owls in the winter 07-08 issue of Parkscope http://www.metroparks.net/ParkscopeArchives.aspx) 

The barn swallows are back in greater numbers than we have seen in many years.  Perhaps they will push out the house sparrows?  We also recently saw a couple of young foxex by the back entrance.

In front of the granary is a huge stack of white oak fence boards to replace fencing behind the house.  This manner of stacking allows the wood to dry without warping too much. The wood all came from a local sawmill and not from the park's woods.

Stop by to visit the livestock and perhaps lend a hand with fencing.

Farmer Mike

 5/4/08  from "The Slate", May 2008

Plowing with Sailor, our newest work horse

Greetings!  Hope you all are doing well.  For all of those wishing to gain a new skill, improve an old one, or just have fun, Tillers International in Scotts, Michigan is the place to be.

An organization committed to sustainable agriculture at home and abroad, as well as the pormotion of traditional trades, if you can think of an agricultural skill, Tillers probably offers a class on it.

The last week of March, I attended an intensive hand-on class entitled Draft Horse Basics, which addressed the fundamentals of horse care, harnessing, ground driving, working a team, and problem solving in horse management.  Experienced teamster Duane Westrate, who has provided his services to Tillers International over the past 15 years, conducted the class of 10 participants.

Not only does Tillers provide excellent training, but also a great opportunity to meet others who share similar interests.  Among those attending the class was a retired Air Force pilot who had recently acquired a team of Friesian horses and was hoping to do some logging in the woods of upper Michigan.  I also met a couple what had recently rescued an 8-year-old foundered Belgian gelding and were looking to find the confidence to, in turn, build the confidence of their horse.

I personally took away from the course a better understanding of individual harness parts and their functions, hoof care techniques, and an interesting look into modern logging techniques with horses.

Undoubtedly one of the highlights of the training was viewing Tillers recent acquisition of the Abbey Collection-- a historic agricultual equipment collection spanning 200 years of artifacts.  Stored on a nearby farm, Tillers is currently in the process of moving the collection to their headquarters for study and public viewing.  Visiting this collection is an asset to anyone interested in agricultural history.

The course costs are quite reasonable and lodging is available on site.  Check out their website at www.tillersinternational.org and maybe you'll find a reason to visit this engaging and wonderful place.

Take care,

Farmer Charles

5/1/08

from "The Slate", May 2008

   Spring is well underway here with visitors flocking in to watch the lambs and the sheep shearing.  The sheep are cool and comfortable with their shorter fleece thanks to the shearing by our farmers Dave T., Dave P. and Charles B. and the cranking by many others.  We should now be done with lambing with a crop of eight whethers (males) and six ewes (females).

   The calf is growing fast and the 27 piglets are irritating their mothers by constantly wanting to nurse or getting in their way as they try to eat.  There should be chicken and turkey eggs hatching from the incubator soon.  The ducks and geese are slow at brooding in the barnyard.

  
The new horse, Sailor, is proving himself as a hard and willing worker capable of pulling his weight with the others.  We are currently discouraging visitors from petting him since he is a little head shy.  When he is touched on the head he tends to pull away or lower his ears.

   The park's roving crew recently raised a timber framed shelter at Slate Run's group campoing area.  It is a beautiful shed of oak assembled in the traditional method of mortise and tenon joints with pegs.

Stop by to visit and lend a hand.

Farmer Mike

3/7/08 "The Slate", March / April 2008

As winter winds down we are thinking of the arrival of lambs and piglets in March.  The geese and chickens in the barnyard are already laying and the tom turkeys are becoming more assertive.

One long term project we have completed is installing a wooden floor in two bays of the workshop.  The beech and cherry floors are the result of the ice storm three years ago that knocked out the power in this area.  The park allowed us to salvage some trees that fell across the trails.  With Frank T's help and a sawmill borrowed from Shepherd's corner, we sawed this wood and sat it aside to dry.  After planning and edging, it resulted in a nice floor.  Now we are looking at the blacksmith area and are considering its floor.  Perhaps curtains on the windows too?

Stop by to lend a hand.

Farmer Mike