A couple of heavy rainfalls this month at Stratford Ecological Center on Liberty Road resulted in standing water in the Vernal Pool for the first time in six months. Vernal pools, as their name implies, fill up in the spring and empty out during the summer months. However, our own pool often retains some water year-round. This year’s phenomenon is another indicator of how dry the year has been since early May.
Also, the lack of water means smaller trees with shorter roots have less access to water, and therefore less sap flow, and this could affect our maple sugar season. With an anticipated warmer winter and sap rising early, Farmer Jeff plans to start tapping trees in late January, a week earlier than usual, and finish on March 2, a week before normal closure.
As the weather has been mild, our bees are leaving the hive to scavenge for food, which is non-existent at this time of year. They use energy to no avail and consume more of their winter honey supply on return. In order to ensure there will be enough honey during the colder months, when we do not like to disturb them, we are already feeding sugar cakes.
The apiary team recently made a big decision to relocate all 20 hives, previously dotted around the farm, into one area to make management easier. They chose the west side of field 7 adjacent to the woods, our nearest field to the sugar shack. The hives will face east and welcome the warmth of the morning sun. The trees will offer protection from the west winds and provide shade from the hot afternoon sun. The farmhands cut out 6-foot square tarps to place on the ground before the apiarists set the hives. They will act as a barrier to mitigate mite and beetle infestation in the hive.
The farmhands started a new project to add more weight to the roller-crimper. The machine was not sitting deep enough to do a good job burying the crimped grass into the soil to begin the stem’s decay. Root decay follows due to a lack of nourishment from the stem, and eventually, the ground flattens ready for the next planting. The farmhands are making five 300-pound concrete blocks, which will be attached to the roller-crimper. A further weight will be a 4-inch plastic sewer pipe filled with 300 pounds of concrete, inserted when needed into the hollow tool bar.
Farmhand Paul heads up our invasives removal operation. Paul recently taught AmeriCorps Service member Mariah, and farmhand Amy, how to master the art of using the backhoe to uproot the ball and remove the larger honeysuckle bushes from the woods. These women are a part of the 1.2 million female farmers and ranchers in the United States, whose labors provide us with much of our food. Women currently make up 26% of the of the farm labor force, and the number is increasing.
Three other women made short work of cleaning out the Paw Paw coop. The young hens were moved on Dec. 12 into the Orchard coop, after the older hens were outside. The youngsters were shut in for a full day to acclimatize. The seniors joined them in the evening, and by morning, they had become a strong 70-hen family. The roosters remain in the Paw Paw coop and will eventually be processed as we have sufficient males.
A third AmeriCorps Service member, Alejandro Ross, has joined us as a land steward. He recently graduated with a degree in math. His interest is permaculture, and he will help in our endeavors to practice farming in tune with nature.
A correction from last month’s article is that Sir Patrick, the ram, joined the ewes on Oct. 1 rather than early November. This means we can expect lambs as early as mid-February. The final two pigs left the farm as planned on Dec. 12, weighing a record of more than 350 pounds each. Their pen will be available for use at lambing, if we do not have five new feeder pigs by that time. A wider variety of beef is now available in the freezer.
A reminder we will be closed to the public beginning Dec. 19 and will reopen every Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., starting Tuesday, Jan. 9. We wish you a very merry holiday season and a happy new year.
Pauline Scott is a farm and nature guide at Stratford Ecological Center, 3083 Liberty Road, Delaware. She can be reached at 740-363-2548 or by email at [email protected]. Website: StratfordEcologicalCenter.org.
