Summer is winding down

I have to admit I'm a bit depressed to see summer end. Although it has been trying at times with the lack of rain, we haven't really missed mowing the lawn. The only thing growing around here is ragweed. And my nose is paying for it. I'm currently covered in an itchy rash on most of my exposed skin from harvesting turnips yesterday. We finally ditched our zucchini plants too and the cornstalks are cut and drying in time for fall decor for our friends. My first soybean harvest was a success, we should have a few lovely pots of salted edamame this week and the stalks were excellent supplements for the pigs. Eggplant was a bust this year, the plants withered and died for some unknown reason and the fruits were stunted and bitter, also good food for the pigs, although they prefer tomatoes.

We harvested just about as many small buttery yellow potatoes as we stuck in the ground this spring, kind of a bust also. Our first foray into sweet potatoes yielded several large lumpy bump things that look as though they were slashed repeatedly by aliens or something.We'll see how they taste...

In other farm news, the girls are starting to act like hussies, hanging out by the boys' pen and teasing them. Breeding season is looming as the nights get colder. The boys are already in full rut, stinking to high heaven, blubbering and mounting each other, spraying urine to and fro and being generally charming.

6 hens-a-laying... well, more like 25. The old have been successfully incorporated with the new. It was quite the endeavor, we were like seasoned sleuths sneaking up on them at night once everyone was roosting and resting for the night. We first sprayed them with an old bottle of Calvin Klein perfume we found to 'scent confuse' them into not recognize the newbies. They smelled fabulous. After the transfer, one by one (by Rog of course, I wouldn't willingly grab a chicken if my life depended on it) we loaded the coop and run with tomatoes and watermelon chunks. We were told by a chicken friend that the red color would distract them from fighting and pecking at each other. So far, so good except for a few minor skirmishes.

Tasty chicken on the way in less than 6 weeks! 30 little peeps hatched on August 1st, boy those buggers can eat! 50 lbs of feed every 5 days or so. We were gifted with one 'rare breed chick' as a bonus on our chick order. No idea what breed or sex, to me, he/she looks a little like a penguin. The meaties are outgrowing him by leaps and bounds but so far they are getting along. Not quite sure what I'll do with him in the future. If it turns out to be a rooster, it will be dinner. If its a hen, will eventually transition to the laying barn.

Baxter and Bettina are growing by leaps and bounds. 4 weeks after their arrival they are standing about 18 inches tall, they are starting to develop more mature features with reddening throats and little knobby things on their noses. Should be right on track for Thanksgiving.

A good way to use excess eggs...dutch pancakes with fresh raspberries from the garden.

Little Tinder had her first bee sting yesterday on her left front paw. After crying actual tears for a while and clumsily hobbling on 3 legs she settled in her bed but still elevated her left paw for sympathy. 

Kaelyn stood guard during Tinder's recovery period.

I recently experienced the noise, dirt, food, sweat and glamour *insert sarcasm* of the Lorain County Fair where we left with several goatie-awards. More to follow...

A little sad news

I am officially a blog-slacker. Its been a busy time, handling the drought, lack of hay and hugely expensive bales of hay, the garden, the ever-growing menagerie. A lot has happened, some good, some bad.

Rog has worked seasonally as the naturalist at Findley State Park for about 12 years. During that time, the old commissary was transformed gradually through a lot of hard work by ourselves and volunteers and mostly through donations with little funding into a thriving nature center visited by thousands each year.

Rog and park volunteers, hard at work.

Early in the morning last weekend we received a call from the park that the building was on fire. Once he arrived it was clear the building was a total loss, along with everything inside. The fire was attributed to a faulty surge protector which caused a heat lamp to ignite. The walls are concrete, so basically the building contained the flames so that the heat and smoke built up immensely, literally melting many of the contents.

Unfortunately, also lost in the fire were fish, turtles and all of our snakes. Cornelius, at 15 years old, had been a park staple since the opening of the center and was incredibly docile and gentle even for the many kids and toddlers that handled him over the years. He even refused to take a snap at Kaelyn when she bit his tail as a puppy. Of course, he was struggling a bit this summer and had not been eating with his normal summertime vigor. He may very well have been in his last days anyway since this year's breeding to Samantha resulted in no viable eggs. Samantha, though lovely, never held quite the same charm for me, she was a bit unpredictable and would not tolerate programs or crowds very well. Ironically, Arthur, who was our retained baby from last year, escaped from his cage about 2 weeks before the fire, so he is gone as well. One lone Russian box turtle is barely hanging in there with 3rd degree burns, luckily he found temporary placement with someone with vast turtle knowledge and the time to keep up with his schedule of antibiotic treatment and force feedings.

Samantha

Cornelius being passed around at the reptile program. Of course, it goes without saying the girls are always braver than the boys. I don't know this child and don't want to be sued in case anyone was wondering about the blacked out face...

The nature center also served as home base for the employees during most of the park special events. It was a cozy place to warm up the bean soup at Fall Fest and was the host site for many potluck dinners.

Per state policy, the buildings are not insured, but all those involved have pledged their assistance to rebuild. The tough part is, how do you put a value on animal skulls, sticks, rocks, leaves, feathers, etc that took 12 years to collect? And how do you valuate a full cow skeleton wired together in true dinosaur fashion? Countless field guides and textbooks carefully collected, park memorabilia, taxidermy mounts (they look like a horror film at this point), furs, traps, murals, computers, projectors for the outdoor ampitheater...there is much work to be done and many funds to be raised.

Luckily, the community of Wellington has a great deal of appreciation for the park that sits in their backyard. And the park itself has a dedicated group of "Friends of Findley" that work tirelessly with the community to back park projects such as the recently completed shelterhouse in the campground. Anything salvageable has been removed, a massive clean up and roof repair is next and the general consensus is to rebuild bigger and better than before. It will all be donation based, so all fundraising efforts are still in the planning phase. I will assist by updating in the future for any scheduled events. I'm also hoping to build and donate a small scale diorama of the park. I don't have to worry about ruining the surprise since Rog hasn't forcibly read this blog since last winter. So if anyone has any topographical maps of the area it would be much appreciated.

Unfortunately, Smoky didn't do much to protect this place. Even in times of ruin I can appreciate the irony and humor in that...