FROST WARNINGS AT STRATFORD ECOLOGICAL CENTER

It was a welcome sound to hear light rain last Monday morning and more the next day at Stratford Ecological Center on Liberty Road.  None has fallen since the late September rains brought a total of three inches.  Frost warnings were out for the early part of this week and the plastic walls on the greenhouse were dropped to keep the heat in.  They were raised soon after, as outside temperatures returned to the seventies, with a prediction of remaining high into the next week.  The trapped heat in the greenhouse, and any additional sun, can cause the temperatures to rise to ninety degrees very quickly.  This is too hot for the recently planted cool weather crops, whose genes enable them to survive an Ohio winter.

Farmer Jeff has delayed planting the spelt in the middle of the North Pasture, and the east end of field 5, because both were too dry.  Buckwheat was intended to go in prior to the spelt.  However, there was not enough seed, which was fortuitous, as it would not have established well and would have been uprooted when the spelt was planted.  Instead, white clover and timothy grass will be planted at the same time as the spelt.  Both buckwheat and spelt have been planted in field 1, and the buckwheat is thankfully showing green.  It was decided to allow field 2 to remain in alfalfa for next year’s hay crop.  It has done well in the drought thanks to its long roots finding moisture.

Farmer Jeff grazed the cattle on the short grass in the east end of the North Pasture for a day.  The following day he moved them to the west end, where the grass was richer and thicker, only to find the next morning that a couple of the young animals were beginning to bloat, being unable to break down the rich grass quickly enough.  All the herd were then kept in the sparse barnyard, fed only dry hay, and the problem resolved itself.

The sunflowers in field 3 bloomed on schedule for our Harvest Fair.  A narrow looping path was cut through the interior.  It was not a maze or a labyrinth, but the feeling of peace found on a less hectic morning came as a surprise.  A group of school children experienced the sight of a swarth of Monarch butterflies alighting on the flower heads.  Swallowtail butterflies, honeybees, native bees, yellow bumble and carpenter bees can be seen working to extract the nectar and pollen.  The black seeds are already forming and soon the birds will find them.

The chickens now lay less than twelve eggs a day, and it is not all due to the shorter daylight hours and molting.  They are scavengers and have not found enough worms and insects during the drought to satisfy their hunger and keep up their egg production.  We have increased their feed, but they don’t eat it all, and the wild birds are only too willing to clean up the leftovers.

Fifty children, teachers and chaperons from Glacier Ridge elementary school enjoyed a farm tour and stayed for lunch on a perfect fall day.  A teacher knew the patio tables fill up at lunchtime and brought nifty blankets to spread on the lawn for the children to sit on.  The scene was like a picture.  At the end of the meal, it was interesting to observe each blanket being carefully folded so that it became a bag that could be zipped and easily carried!

During one of those perfect days, the farmhands abandoned their usual circle of assorted seats in the machine shed and ate their lunch in the open-sided prairie pavilion near the pond.  They originally built it in 2019 to store hay, and as extra teaching space, so it was good to hear they were enjoying the fruits of their labor.

Margot Zink, our new Volunteer and Visitor Coordinator, started on September 25.  She is the first person who will greet you when entering the Education Building.  We hope you will take time to introduce yourself, share why you are visiting the farm, and ask Margot any questions.  New visitors continue to discover us, despite our being in the same place for thirty-four years; we do not want to be the best kept secret in Delaware County, in fact quite the contrary!  We were very pleased when 900 people, including visitors, vendors, musicians, volunteers and staff showed up to enjoy our Harvest Fair on the first Saturday in October.

To keep everyone in touch with our daily happenings we try to keep our website current and email a comprehensive colorful e-newsletter.  Should you want to receive it, please give us a call, or sign up on our website by going into “about” and then “contact us.”  We hope you enjoy the changing colors of fall and the lingering warmth of the sun.

Pauline Scott is a farm and nature guide at Stratford Ecological Center, 3083 Liberty Road, Delaware.  She can be reached on 740 363 2548.  Stratford’s web site is www.stratfordecologicalcenter.org