how did i find Mudder?

So how did I find Mudder? Or does craigslist really work?

 Mudder and Trouble over a year ago 

      People wanted to know how the search went and the events leading up to Mudders exit from the farm. James noticed her running from one corner of her more than ample pasture after he had just fed her grain. He was mowing grass and looked up as she bolted across pasture and just jumped and cleared the electric fence and was gone that quick. We went and looked but could find no trace of her. And it wasn’t very long before she surfaced with reports of her being sighted on St. rt. 800 dancing in the middle of the road stopping traffic. With a little jump in the air she was shuffled  off the road by two passerby’s who tried to get her in neighbors field , but again she would have no part of it and took off and one nice guy followed her till she was back over hill towards our place.

      This is a cow, who sleeps in a 3 foot deep loose bed of hay. Since she was  alone and I guess since she could only blame herself was now barn broke from doing number two in the barn as it was spotless except for the two feed pans one holding a salt block and the other was her feed pan where she was fed twice daily. Once in the morning to assure she was still there from the night before and again at night for the same reason. I would scratch her head daily and she would stand outside my house and wait patiently for feed. One would hardly believe this impish girl would lead me on a chase that would last for four days and  forever end my days as a cowboy.

      One doesn’t necessarily have to have a horse to be called a cowboy; in fact I have had a lot more cows under my care than most cowboys. And can understand most cattle but when it comes to young heifers, anything could happen and did. She never returned home Friday after dancing on the road and in fact out slipped us and doubled back for round 2 of dancing in the road, and soon a call was made to me while I was looking for her and I rushed to get her. Traffic was slowed to a stop when we arrived and soon went on up the road with the tractor and warning lights on waving at drivers to slow down. Thankfully it wasn’t dark as she went off on the opposite side of the road and did a dance in the farmer’s field he had just planted. Where upon she jumped into the air displaying her vigor and turned and headed for the road again.

     Again I had stopped the traffic all except one idiot who thought twice before passing everyone and hitting a huge heifer , he decided to wait and let her off the road on the side she had originally came from and again the chase was on as she soon set off up the lane to the house on my neighbor’s property.  As a sign of our times we no longer have any fence lines left in our area and a cow can run for many miles without ever encountering any fences as they used to in the old days. We managed to chase her back in the direction of our farm but lost sight of her when she entered the woods and her black color blended into the forest and we could no longer see her. Angus cattle are nice but in the dark don’t lend them to being very visible.  It was after dark and had to use the tractor lights to try and see her, but gave up around 10 that night as it was useless. That was the last time I saw her and on Saturday morning she was spotted at a neighbors in the opposite direction and not seen since.

    All day Saturday I searched for her and again on Sunday to no avail. Again Monday I searched for her as I went to the Magnolia Mill and at one p[point drove past the road she was being kept on , unaware that she was there and penned in and being cared for by the farmer whose cattle she now was drawn to. she had showed up at his place on Sunday morning.  This farmer managed to pen her up and fed her and watered her and began to search for the owner and after contacting neighbors resorted to checking craigslist under lawn and garden where I placed an ad for the lost heifer.

     In this ad I placed, I included a picture and information as to where I was in relation to his farm and a timetable and that I was interested in selling her if I find her. I had saw ads of a similar nature before and avenues of contacting farmers seem to be limited with craigslist one of the better. Within two hours he had read the ad and placed a call to me. I will be forever grateful and I could find relief knowing she was ok and that no one was hurt. He agreed to purchase her at a discount to him and a loss to me. But knowing it is over is priceless. Don’t need the stress.

    At this point he had already turned her in with his other heifers and she seemed to be adjusting after travelling five miles and crossing several township rods and thousands of acres of open land. I had already made up my mind to end things as far as my cowboy career was concerned. Never again am I having animals on the farm and instead want to plant more trees and repair some of the damage to the farm that has been done before I die. Change my methods of operation and possibly use the experience I glean from it to share with the readers of my blog as I go along. The ability to go somewhere without having to be back for chores is priceless and knowing the heifer isn’t a hood ornament is also priceless.

     I will miss the cattle but for everyone’s sake and especially mine I feel this is the best decision. Hate to say it but since it is my decision I just need to embrace it and resolve myself to making what else I do in terms of agriculture a priority in my life now since the time I devoted to raising cattle can be of no concern to me. Sometimes we are stretched out so far as the farmers of old were trying to do it all from raising crops to raising cattle, you can do a lot of stuff good but when it came to doing it well or the best, you could hardly afford the time. This has led to specialized areas of study and management. Now a farmer may actually do one part, say milk cows and then leave the crop management up to other specialists. It is hard to respond to all the information one has available in farming today as it becomes more sophisticated.

      Still only one way to plant a tree and I am not about burning up the world to feed the people or to gain much more than an understanding of how man impacts nature and determine if we are all headed to hell in a hand basket. At times I wonder, then I must remember it was man’s mind that made us get to this point in life, and it will be our minds to find solutions to cover our asses . We always have. 

thanks to all who shared my plight

Mudder is found

        Mudder is found and is safe in a farmer’s heifer pen nearby. She is with other cattle and I am out of the cattle business for good. Getting to old to chase a profit, although she was a good stress test and I was surprised I could do as well as I could in keeping up with her. But once she was out of the woods she would just kick up her heels and leave me in the dust. Maybe that is where I should be as I had not seen her since Friday night and had heard nothing but reports of her presence,  and all that was  left was day old piles of crap in her wake. She generally annoyed the neighbors again and was seen three times  playing in the middle of St. Rt. 800 and stopping traffic in her attempt to find some other cattle to hang with, and possibly a bull might be in her future as I couldn’t provide any of that for her. James my helper, insisted he would do most anything but wasn’t going there.

     I have mixed feelings about being out of cattle business. It is hard to not have to drudge out in the cold in the middle of the winter when the snow avalanches inside your front door as you open it to brave the cold and feed those cows. To heck with it I am done with all that I am afraid. I lived it and I have been there as I just sit inside in the warm and just write about it when I have the chance. They are a 24 hr. a day animal as with Mudder , you never know when she is going to do a walkabout and the hours I have just spent looking for her tired butt, could have been easily credited to something gainful and creative instead was spent searching for a liability that long ago erased anything I might have gained by being in the business of farming. If I ever thought I was.

       It was more of a hobby thing and does represent a piece of who I am about. I was good caretaker of my animals and have since quit eating beef. Hopefully the farmer who gets her and already appreciates how nice she is will either add her to his herd or move her to another. Angus is a popular breed.

       I gave her every chance and it looks like destiny has chosen to let the nature of things make the decision for me to quit wasting time on things that don’t work because of my personal views and sentiments. It is hard to get sentimental about a carrot. Wont kick you and it doesn’t stand outside your kitchen window and stare inside to see if you are coming to feed them.

       I am not giving up farming instead making choices about the path I am taking. Hopefully for the better as I need to look more closely at our greenhouse operation and do more research into container gardening feel this could easily be a wise choice for our future to provide vegetables at your back door without any energy expended. I currently have tomatoes in pots of the Better Boy variety and I also have some heritage tomatoes also in containers. The Better Boys are starting to bloom. These were planted from seed and raised by myself. They come with bamboo trellis and will sell rather cheaply. This probably will not give you enough tomatoes to can but then again I guess we will see.  

      Mudder is safe and not a hood ornament and our little world is a little safer for now. Better take a picture outside, as I was told that there are only two things certain in life and that is death, as sooner or later everyone dies, and the other is change. As everything and everyone changes. The pace of change at times is frightening as I grow older as I never know if I will have a chance to do all I ever wanted or will destiny cut my time short again.

why you shouldn't listen to your siblings

Mother Goose Land day from Hell #100

a whale of a story-Once upon a time 

      Our Sundays at home when we were younger consisted of grandpa and grandma coming to pick us kids up for church. As soon as we were at church we would hurry away to Sunday school as at least there was something to do in church besides watch Grandpa snore and Grandma jabbing him in his side to wake him up. Sometimes when standing singing hymns I would swear he was going to fall over in the pews as his voice would travel off, and then when he felt himself going into sleep a little too far under, he would jump awake and sing with gusto. Must have been all the good living was wearing him out because all this would happen as soon as he was in church and sitting in the pews, it was then  you could see his eyes go foggy.  

        After church and as soon as we finished saying our goodbye’s we would hop in the 69 green Ford Fairlane station wagon , Grandpa would light up his Sunday cigar and we were off to Burger Chef at the time or Mc Donald’s , where we would all sit around under the golden arches or in the sleek stainless steel signs of the future and eat quarter hamburgers and French fries till we would explode as this was a rare treat for us back then and only an ample reward for not having embarrassed Grandpa and Grandma during church service. I remember one time Grandma buying something like 20 cheeseburgers, 6 chocolate shakes for all and 10 French fries for our family and fed six of us for 8 dollars back then .  I can barely get out of Micky D’s for that now myself. That was a stuff your face all you could eat till miserable dinner also and yet grandma thought that was terrible but still offered to get more if we needed it. I think they loved their Sundays with us kids, or at least they were good pretenders.

      Then we would head out for a drive or sometimes we had our special place, and that was Mother Goose land , where Grandpa would again light his cigar and stroll hand in hand with my sister and Grandma as they went around the storybook place . Grandpa only smoked cigar on Sundays in his good suit and in the good car , as the rest of the week he choose to chew tobacco and often could be seen with a wad in his mouth and the thin dark spittle would puddle at the corner of his mouth as he relentlessly gnawed away at the dark foul tasting chaw in his mouth until he had to spit, and sometimes he would lean out the door of the car or the truck and release the wad of spit in his mouth at a traffic light. Or sometimes it would be out the door of the moving truck leaving a brown permanent stain arching from the door to the bumper. One would swear you could see the pavement melting as we drove along in the distance looking back at  where the dark brown spittle would etch the pavements surface.

    Sunday was a no Mail Pouch tobacco day for Grandpa as Grandma would not let him touch the stuff in his Sunday finest,  and so he relegated himself to smoking cigars and keeping clean, something he had to work at as he showed my sister Sherry and Grandma  around.  Jim and I  though was  different story . We would look at all the different things there at Mother Goose land but we would just head for the old jet  plane without an engine and relentlessly time after time we would work to pry open the cockpit of the old fighter so we could hop in and see what it felt like to be a fighter pilot in the Korean war and pilot one of those bad boys. It was an old relic of a not so long ago war at the time and still looked pretty sleek. You could slide in and out where the engine used to sit, but the cockpit was out of reach as it seemed they had rigged it on purpose to keep kids like my brother and myself out of it.

      I was probably 13 and Jim was a couple of years older then, young enough to be able to enjoy the parks features yet to old to hang around in the petting zoo. We would take turns watching for people coming up and down the paths so no one would see us jimmying the cockpit to try and open it so we could crawl in, until one visit we managed to get it open a crack and then it threw  open as it slid back and revealed its musty hot warm interior as the sun baked the top of the plane heating up specially inside the cockpit till you could barely sit inside. It didn’t stop us as first Jim jumped inside and soon I was taking my turn pretending I was a fighter pilot killing bad boys and banking the plane into the ground as I would grab the joystick between my legs and turn it hard and right as I pretended to make machine gun noises and blast my brother off the wing.

     Things were going great till my brother decided I needed more realism and decided to shut the cockpit. I was hesitant to have it closed and told him so. He insisted as he wanted to know what it felt like. I should have gave up the seat and let him experience it for himself , because as soon as the cockpit cover closed I swear I heard it lock and at first it was pretty cool to be inside like a pilot would be,  but real soon it was heating up and within a couple of minutes I was sweating and wanting out. We both tried to open the cockpit but it was a no go , and then I was forced to really look around inside and see if there was a lock mechanism that was keeping it from opening and I  couldn’t find any. Jim was blaming me for pushing the wrong button and desperately tried making suggestions of things to try.

      We thought there must have been something we did to unlock it as we had tried numerous times on previous trips to the park  to unlock the plane but could never quite figure out how to do it. We were getting scared and especially I was as it kept getting hotter and hotter and we knew soon that Grandma and Grandpa would come looking for us  and we would be in trouble . So we were hustling to get out of there. Soon other people came down the path as we struggled with him outside and me inside to get the cockpit door open as these visitors to the park would stop and look inside from their perch on a platform at the poor sweating boy as my brother would laugh off any suggestion I might really be in trouble.

      A small crowd had gathered by this time and from my view I could see I had half of downtown canton viewing me as I slow cooked my way to fame inside the cockpit. . Surely something could be done to save myself. Then my brother came up with the idea of using the ejection seat to trip the canopy lock insisting that it was perfectly safe. Others round him that had gathered warned him that although the seat itself was gone, that maybe the ejection seat still worked and images flooded through my sweat soaked mind that maybe if I ever get out of that situation I would never listen to my brother again as it was at this time I could imagine the seat exploding off its base and the canopy still locked catching my body as it slammed skyward in a bloody crescendo , not quite the way I wanted to go out, and neither was sweating to death inside a tin can so it prompted me to seek other means of escaping my peril at the time .  I swore , and I made the conscious decision to forget the ejection seat and seek another way. I turned in the seat and with both hands pushing on the canopy and with several people outside pushing back on the canopy from outside it finally lifted up in its  track and slid back with ease allowing me to exit as I was now drenched in sweat.

      The small crowd minus Grandpa and Grandma and Sherry now roared with delight  as pictures were snapped and congratulations were offered , as well as helpful advice like I hope you never do that again, were repeated time after time. I would have never locked the cockpit door in the first place , as it was Jim that felt I needed more realism in my fantasy plane ride. We hurried away from there. Word had spread before my release from my cockpit of doom that maybe the police and fire department should be called as surely I could easily suffocate from the heat. Steam had built up inside the cockpit and obscured their vision of me inside and from me seeing the crowd outside. I just wanted to get out of that area before we ended up in more trouble. Jim and I  ran down the path to the petting zoo and soon found Sherry and Grandma and Grandpa sitting in the shade watching the small animals . We acted like nothing was wrong although my shirt was wet with sweat as well as my pants and when Grandpa and Grandma asked me why I was so wet ,I told them I was running a lot to get back their with them. They seemed to buy the story and I was finally so relieved to be back in the fresh air.

     On our way out we passed the old fighter jet and Grandpa made a remark as to whether we were going to check it out as we usually did and both Jim and I told them we already did, and so we passed the old jet , all the time my heart was in my throat that no one that had seen us before would recognize me again with them and tell them the story. They never knew.

    For many years I would exit off he Tuscarawas street exit and if the tree foliage would allow it I would look down off the side of the exit and I would see the gleaming silver fighter jet and instantly my thoughts would return to that day. Finally the park fell into disrepair and the fighter jet removed forever. Maybe it’s a good thing but it did teach me a few lessons. One don’t listen to my brother, and two if I do listen , shoot myself in the head before he does he me in , the pain is not quite so bad as the crap he put me through. republished july 4th , 2018.

a man in a duck jacket

A guy in a duck suit.

 there was also a rabbit in this area a few secs before? dont ask me why.

        So I was reading the police blotter in the Times Reporter originating out of New Philadelphia Ohio , and under the section Sheriff’s dept., meaning the Tuscarawas County sheriff’s dept. , they stopped a man somewhere in Tusc. County , and arrested him after being observed by the deputies because of his duck jacket. And talking to him, they said he seemed quite agitated that there was fracing going on.  It’s those damn fracers again.

      This gave me reason to pause and reflect on what I just read. A guy in a duck jacket? Now does this jacket have feathers and come with duck feet also and of course an appropriate duck call. Imagine since he was scared of fracing and was evidently stressed, surely you would have a scaredy cat duck caller to complete your ensemble. Why wouldn’t he draw attention, after all how many people do you see waddling up and down the road in a duck jacket?

     Now if they are talking in terms of a duck dynasty jacket then that lends itself to a different explanation of what might have occurred. A duck camouflage jacket is the same old garb we have had for years after and during the Vietnam years when they become popular. We used to just call them plain old camouflage jackets and could be purchased at an army-navy store and were in fact an anti-government symbol of protest as hippies would adorn them with beads and flowers. Surely this would get you arrested in the 70’s as merely owning one with a peace symbol easily labeled you as a hippy, or  a dope smoker, and even worse a peace lover. Somewhere along the line they were Rambo’d, and soon took on a whole different persona leading up to the designer duck camouflage pattern that this man was wearing. Maybe the sheriff was envious and wondered if it was a knockoff as these patterns are all trademarked and to actually buy a duck patterned outdoor jacket I, imagine it is quite expensive. Surely something a deputy would question.

       He was seen walking up and down the road in a quite agitated condition also made me wonder. When asked, he said was upset because they were fracing nearby. I could understand his concern as I have been on a fracing crew when I worked for Halliburtin and it wasn’t fun. Back in 76 it wasn’t as nice as it is today, but it was noisy and it seemed to reach a crescendo of racing engines in a deafening roar that let that little corner of the world know we were there. Today”s multiple well sites, are paved paradises in retrospect, although they seem to use a lot more water and who knows what. Your guess is as good as mine, what goes down those wells only to be regurgitated later from the newly released gas. Although years ago this water was simply released down a hillside , now it is placed in ponds to hopefully evaporate or be reused, or finally injected into the earthquake machine called a disposal well. This is the place where we shove all that stuff harmful to the environment into what they call a perfectly safe rock strata a mile below the ground assuming it stays there and never migrates into the water supply. It is mostly saltwater with a bunch of other stuff. I would and have been a little agitated with them as the fracing often hurt my ears and I really didn’t want the job but needed to work anyhow. Been there and done that, and maybe not for the same reason but still I could understand his plight.

       Still is this reason to stop an American citizen as the deputy is violating on a couple levels his right to free speech. I mean hell if I want to wear a chicken suit and walk down the road does it give the sheriff a right to stop and ask me where I am going. Surely not. I mean I could be headed to a multitude of places. Maybe to KFC to get it over with or perhaps the hen house to have a little fun with a couple of old chicks I know. Regardless it is still my business and none of theirs if I wear a duck jacket or a chicken suit, still they have no right to detain me, unless they actually see me commit a crime. Definitely a civil rights issue. Now  if I am muttering to myself and fracing this and fracing that then maybe they may have to arrest me for my own safety assuming I was mental,  but then again one could say the oil companies have been fracing this and fracing that for years anyhow.

        A short little police blotter and so much to be gleaned from it . I literally have made a mountain out of a mole hill, but then again not so different as the deputy did with the guy in the duck jacket. Apparently the deputy would have had a field day at a farm auction as you will see more camo than ever there, and in fact it is hard to tell there is a crowd out there except for the orange warning vest that accompany the jackets. The deputy dog would have gone crazy.

       Camo in the country is not out of place so, and in fact I live in the country and own camo also. What I have is a pair of camo underwear that I put on when the girlfriend comes around and I want to act shyly as I slip them on and stand against the wall and play can you see me now, as I strike various poses in my next to nothing. Camo is ok if I have to take a crap in the woods. I mean after all who would want to be eaten by a bear while doing number 2 , the camo might buy you enough time to slip the bears grip after he comes sniffing you out. What a way to go. Bambi can see right through that crap and knows camo is no substitute for a good surprise. Where most deers are killed is the highway. That is where they run away from hunters and end up getting hit on  the road. You don’t have to camo your car to get a deer, just drive down the road.

       Possibly and I think this may be the reason why he was stopped is that he was in a residential section and that you are not allowed to roam around in camo, or the cops will be called. This reminds of a time down on the farm.

     A hunter stopped by our farm on St. Rt. 800 above Dover Dam and asked if he could hunt. And I said no, without really giving an explanation besides we had decided as a family to stop hunting on the 126 acres we have down there.

     He asked me why not, in a kind of sarcastic way as if I owed him an explanation. This pissed me off. So when is no not good enough and why do I have to offer an explanation and a long defense of our family’s stance on hunting at the time.

    I told him it was because of guys like himself that seem to not understand our family had made a decision to not hunt and that we needed to offer no explanation and that hunters in general tend to be a little pushy. I have seen hunters in camo come to my grandma’s front door with each carrying a shotgun over their shoulder to ask permission to hunt our property .My grandma was 90 at the time and it just made me wonder why they couldn’t leave their gear in the car.  Instead they stood up there and schmoozed her until she let them hunt. Then they later came and bitched at me because their car was blocked in by other hunters.  I have a problem with that.  We as owners and caretakers of the farm have no time for their crap,  as I illustrated to the guy in front of me, just how I felt about hunters.

      I reversed the situation and asked him where he lived. It was a fair question; he already knew where I lived as he was standing in front of me. He was after all asking permission to wander over my land unsupervised, and after stammering around for an answer, and as if it seems he suddenly forgot where he lived , that I went ahead and asked the next question in a way , he could answer without divulging anything and I could get back to doing what I was doing.

    I told him I assumed he lived in a residential section of town and he agreed to the general thing and I asked him how much land he had , and he said he had a quarter of an acre. And then I asked him if I dressed up in my camo would you feel comfortable if I hung out in that tree little Johnny climbs in your backyard and maybe bag me a deer.

     His mouth dropped as he suddenly was faced with the prospect of me hunting in his backyard, in town, behind his house with a gun and in camo, no less. He wasn’t too impressed with the idea but was reluctant to allow me as he desperately wanted to hunt on our land. Finally he relinquished his control over his land and offered up his own little piece of suburbia in an effort to bag a Bambi.

     He said sure, but he didn’t know why I would want to hunt on his land, the neighbors were too close and that surely someone would call the cops as they apparently did with the duck guy.

     To be honest I was almost this close to letting him hunt , just so I could dress up and shoot that damn concrete deer he so cherished in his little yard where little Johnny climbed in the trees. I could see myself stalking the concrete deer and hoping it would not bolt out into path of the dear old man next door as he starts his car and is ready to run since this crazy farmer showed up in camo and is stalking a damn concreter deer. Could you imagine the looks on all the subdivision’s faces when they hear the gunshots rollout and they simultaneously call 911 on their cells, to say someone in camo with a gun is shooting out there. It would be priceless but this is what we have to put up with daily in deer season although I would have probably been arrested much sooner , shortly after getting out of my vehicle and taking the gun out of the car.

     Just seems it is ok to allow the crazies from the city to come out in the country and play with their guns but when the country folk come into their lairs we are psycho. Don’t figure.

     Anyhow after about four no’s he figured he wasn’t getting anywhere with me, and then he asked if it was ok to ask someone else. I asked him if it was ok that I call 911 and tell them he was trespassing. He seemed to understand and left quickly.

      Actually my first thought when I read the article and imagined it in my head and that was a Barney Phyffe character from Mayberry stops a man wearing a duck suit in the country and asks him where he is going and the man simply answers” Are you quackers for stopping me?” Don’t you just love the small town police blotters and know you have your finest out there protecting you from errant ducks, even when they had no right to.

i will have a mc trashburger with my slovenly ways

Trashcans at fast food places

the cookies were definitely a deal at 3 for dollar? 

        Yesterday I was in line at Mc Donald’s in the drive thru lane, something I rarely do as I usually just go inside and sit down and eat, but I was in a hurry so I opted to just drive through. First off, I am not a fan of sitting in a car that is running and consuming gas that is heating up the environment and secondly and the topic of today’s discussion is the fact that even Mc Donald in Canton South no longer has any trash cans for their take out waste, they used to but no longer see the need, although now they have increased the amount of trash stemming from the oversize receipt they throw at you whether you want it or not at the drive thru window. The reason for the receipt is a minority of consumers who complain about service and those that want to take it off their taxes or use it for their per diem account.

     As I was sitting there wondering if what I just ordered would possibly be what I receive this time as I usually do, I noticed the pale yellow Cadillac Escalade obviously out of place here at Mc Donald’s with its shiny rims and spotless appearance, making me wonder if I had a lot of money to buy that vehicle would I be sitting in a drive thru lane at Micky D’s right now. That was when I noticed the Mc Donald’s worker take the money from the occupants and then offer them change and a rather large receipt, upon which after inspecting the contents of the bag the Escalade pulled away but stopped a few feet from the window and tossed the receipt directly out of the vehicle and on to the ground.

    Now it takes money to buy a vehicle like that and surely somewhere along the way, they may have had to do some labor work for their pay. It just made me wonder who in the heck did they think was going to pick up that receipt? Especially since it was blatantly obvious they didn’t want it to tarnish the inside of their vehicle. Possibly the minimum wage worker who shuffles burgers for a buck? Or maybe the chipmunk or the squirrel that have long left for greener pastures about a hundred years ago as man started to move in. Maybe they think it will just rot as it blows around the parking lot. Who knows what these numb chucks were thinking? They didn’t care as long as they didn’t have to deal with it. I can remember the day when they had a trash can at the exit of the drive through so you could place it there. Problem solved.

    Not quite. It seems as if Mc Donald’s was the only one who voluntarily placed trash cans in their parking lots and often they were seen stuffed full of everything from Arby’s bags to Taco Bell wrappers to beer bottles and you name it. Think I even saw a car seat and used pampers at times. Mc Donald’s was the only place in town where a person could clean their car out for free. I am sure the reason the trash cans are gone is because they were being used to much and no one else seemed to be wanting to take responsibility for the trash they create so why should Mc Donald’s. At the same time I feel they do have a responsibility as well as any place does that generates waste and serves the public from grocery stores to convenient stores to the carpet supply place. The number of containers you should offer should be proportionate to the amount of trash you generate. With a minimum of one per business that receives profit.

      A drive down any of our roads from I-77 locally to St. Rt. 800 in the wintertime when the grass alongside the roadway is brown and not covered with snow, and you will see it yield everything from tires, to broken pieces of furniture, to trash from fast food places taking up the majority of what can be gleaned that was not natural, instead thrown out the window or blown off a truck by a human. We as humans in business advertise on the sides of the trash and that indicates who should be more diligent in their cleanup efforts than others from the trash accumulated through cleanups.

     So who is to blame?  The fast food places. The grocers, or the convenient stores, or better yet  maybe ourselves, as we know quite well that the trash should stay in our car till we get home and then dispose of it. After all we are the ones who purchased bag and all. But unfortunately by looking at the sides of the road, we can see this isn’t going to happen with some of us.

      Still is there another way. Since the ones who receive profit from the trash should have a limited liability to reduce or offer a place to dispose of what they create, as this would be a deterrent to over bagging,  then it would seem trash cans would offer a solution at each place that offers anything that could be construed as waste. Be it the plastic shield off a pack of batteries to the wrapper off a fast food sandwich. We shouldn’t have to rely on other people to clean our roads and environment. Why are trash cans missing?

     Because we elect people into public office that are clueless to what constitutes a good image for our society. I blame the Canton Township trustees, the Stark County Planning Commission, or any elected official responsible on a local, county, and state level, for approving plans that in effect allow individual companies to forego placing trash receptacles at businesses and that don’t require them in plans for any existing structures, or in future planned projects where appropriate.

    I also blame the local, county and state governments for ineffectual law making that does not put the penalty high enough to deter or eliminate trash being thrown in places other than an approved container. Stark County has a litter officer who tends to spend his time busting local truck drivers for anything but litter while letting out of state trash haulers carelessly distribute their filth from neighboring states directly on our roadside. What’s up with all this? If the sheriff needs a PUCO officer, then why doesn’t he call one? The state has plenty. Get him back to busting people for littering. Wouldn’t hurt to have the game warden visit a few sites along the road I have seen with dead deer carcasses that evidently were poached and disposed of along the road so the poacher wouldn’t have the evidence on his land. This is the garbage that we drive by daily. No longer does the state pick up dead deer even if it is in the middle of the road and is a road hazard. Instead we get to see the rotting carcasses as well as the refuse of our daily lives spewed on to the sides of our rods with increasing frequency. This is where we live it is our backyard and we each have a responsibility if nothing else to express our dissatisfaction with our local authorities in their handling of this matter of our neighborhoods being trashed.

     Any change at any level is better than none, if nothing else. I hope that maybe I have changed an opinion or two as to what should be done. Even if it just makes each person more responsible in their own trash handling, then maybe I have achieved something. Thankfully no paper was used in writing this blog and I would hope you keep it electronic and a lot greener and share it with your friends as we all need to make our local area cleaner and then the country in general spotless as we go along. 

after the party

After the Party

Our Family
 

       I would like to think a good time was had by all who attended my second annual Yockey Greenhouse Open House and hope it will continually improve as I go along. I think I am going to look for some vendors or crafty people to set up and next year. Already James is looking at becoming a blacksmith and running a small forge and offering wrought iron items for sale next year. I am thinking about building a small shed for him to work out of in a western fashion.

     Most of all we visited and I sold some greenhouse items and carved a bear I am still working on to give away to Olivia Regula , Martha , my friend’s niece. Mom pulled the name and was witnessed by a couple of people to assure we tried our best to be fair to all. Mom being the oldest in attendance at 6 o’clock did the pulling of names. We had some neighbors show up and a couple of now regulars show up also. I tried my best to get around and talk to them all. With the pre –sale and after sale I did ok, at least well enough to make me think about going through with it again next year. Linda Davila did a great job of catering for me and eliminated any headaches I might have had in that department. Her sweets were nothing compared to her generosity and I thank her for easing my load.

    Any thoughts I had about quitting the blog were quickly erased as a good portion of those that showed were folks that regularly read my blog. Their support is untiring and uplifting letting me know how important the power of a word especially when strung together in the right way could be. Although they may not share my plight personally, still it resonates in those that read it as they recount stories I have told, to their delight. This just doesn’t happen by accident, and I am aware of the effect my writing has on some. I am thankful for good health, a good place to be at this point in my life, and also for having abilities and skills in writing and art to not only entertain myself but others as well as we go through our lives together. Thank all that came and those who couldn’t make it, yet still follow me on a regular basis. Bless you all.

      Even Mudder my errant heifer, was curious enough to bother staying at home as she was interested in all the excitement of everything going on around the house. Once when someone mentioned her standing up on the hillside watching all going on, I told them to take a picture , they said you are not going to get rid of her are you? You couldn’t. I said no she just may not be there very long this girl likes to roam and maybe the neighbors might have more going on. We all laughed.

     I still have a lot of tomato plants left and if you know someone who needs a hand and could use some tomato plants, have them stop by and help themselves to the heritage tomatoes. Remember if you want trees, where to come and pick through the varieties I have, also my baskets are getting fuller every day as well and I still have some annual flowers available. Stop back and check out my flower plantings around the farm, mid-season for the bees and birds, just call first and we can get together. Mom enjoys the company. She had a great time visiting with friends and family and was excited about the whole thing. I hope I can be excited about anything when I am her age. Sometimes I take her for granted and at others I can’t appreciate what I have enough. All in all it was a good thing.

     It is hard to say thanks to all but James and Linda and Val did a lot to help me get ready for this open house and i am eternally grateful to them , and thanks again to all who purchased items or at the last showed up to see what was going on . Sometimes i cant say thanks enough to everyone.  

more open house updates

Open house 2014- Yockey Farms Greenhouse-2^nd Annual

     

      This rain has not been helping my plans at having the open house. We are having it rain or shine. If it is raining we will have to hole up in the greenhouse but I promise to have a nice fire going to warm us up in between the raindrops. I will be carving in between the times it rains and we will have food available. Depending on the rain, if it does rain all day by chance, then we will postpone the hayride if the sky looks onerous and may affect our ability to stay dry and safe.

      We will have food and coffee and water available. We have some young folks to carry your purchase to your car if you would like or need help. You are not required to purchase anything and the services I offer are to just make everyone’s visit a little more enjoyable. Just have a good time and enjoy the solitude of the farm, go for a walk ,  and don’t pee on the electric fence. It is a shocking experience. I would say take my word for it but that is one thing I have never tried in life but did witness a person doing it. It wasn’t pretty but must say funny.

     Temperature will be in the 50 – 60 ‘s , and will be good for me to carve. Will be working on the bear I plan on giving away as well as a totem I should have had done. Not really taking orders for my carvings as I can hardly keep up with the demand, and hate to disappoint people. Instead I do what I want and if I have time then whip out a few bears or carve at local fairs. It is a hobby and I just enjoy carving. Also I plan to install my carvings around the yard at my house in landscaped settings that you may enjoy year to year every time you come and visit at open house. I plan on installing gravel walkways and will be building container gardens as I want to encourage people to use your patio or flower garden for a dual purpose of providing for your family, even if it’s a small amount of the produce you normally consume. It would be fresh and handy just outside your back door.

       I have had real good success developing my own potting soil and stack it right up there against Hyponex and others with the difference of knowing what I have in there that helps make a difference in the vigor of the plants. We blend all the ingredients together, and so far has produced in flowers and tomato plants excellent color, and vigor. This I will be offering for sale for sure next year, and can help you this year except currently my stocks are low. After the open house I could surely meet your needs.

      I will also have topsoil available next year. This I mix 50-50 with the potting soil; to create the medium for the caged tomatoes I am offering at 10 dollars per pot. I have cheap soil available and pots if you want to pot your free tomato plants before leaving for a special low price. You can do the work yourself. As well you can take a look at my baskets or bring your own and pot up a basket of flowers or take home the flowers as I will have plenty of petunias in the wave style available for making your own basket. Also I will have readymade baskets available also.

     My trees will all be 8 dollars per tree and most will be marked and are looking great. My baskets will be 15 dollars and will be your choice for that price. I made up a variety of baskets and as I said before if you want to make your own then that will be 10 dollars per basket. I need to stop here for today as this blog is done in real time and post it, so will leave off here today and will bring you some more information tomorrow morning. Plan on coming to visit. And I will try and take time to greet you all. Enjoy be safe and be happy.

    All proceeds goes to help me preserve the arm that has been in our family and to help with my future garden plans. It isn’t much so far that I have made but believe me it all helps. Thank you for your interest. kev

My address is 7528 East Sparta ave. Magnolia Ohio 44643. take st., rt 800 south from canton five miles from i-77 Cleveland avenue exit to Pike township garage on right side, turn left at Yockey Greenhouse sign or East Sparta ave. and proceed to first lane on left or tin man statue and turn left onto drive. It is a long drive, veer to right as you come back. park where you can easily get out even if it is on lawn . areas are all wet. 

water water everywhere, not a drop to drink.

Have you had enough rain yet?

`

        You have to love the rain, when so many places have none. It is a resource we take for granted here in Ohio because it seems as if we have more than I share. But you must look at the potential every time we pick up a water bottle and then we are reminded at just how we have been taking this resource for granted. I have seen a dollar a bottle for the equivalent of a glass of water. Wow, wonder how much came down and ran down my gutter this morning. I would like to have just the amount of money in dollars, which ran out of my pond and on to the creek despite my best efforts of conserving. Surely I have lost hundreds of dollars if not thousands, just this morning.

     This water we buy in bottles for the most part is nothing more than city water purified through a reverse osmosis water purification unit then treated with ultraviolet light to reduce and eliminate algae growth, then filtered through a fine water filter capable of removing 99 percent of any organic or chemical matter. This is done through water derived from your municipal system or a regular well or spring. The filter is the trick. I have seen water bottles to be used in survival situations where you can essentially take mud puddle water and drink it. A-w-w this takes me back to my Halliburton days.

    Excuse me as I regress and offer supporting evidence as to how important water is when you don’t have any. After college I wasn’t able to find to many farm jobs that would compete with the wages the oilfield was paying so I took a job with a Halliburton fracing crew, and yes it was way back as we go on our way back machine here to the year 1976 , and I needed money and a job to keep me out the bars and from going crazy after 20 years of living on the farm. Anyhow I would go out nightly about the town, then  daily and quite early we would leave to frac an oil well site . Much the way they do it now, except we were only fracking one hole. Now they use ten times the water as they frac multiple holes at on the same drilling pad. The job was dirty, muddy, and still dangerous as you would watch the frac lines jump up and down under the pressure being exerted.

     The heat and the roar of the engines, would drive us laborers away from the fracing operations and we would gather a safe distance away in the heat. After a particularly long setup and a hangover from the night before I was in dire need of a drink of water, and the boss forgot to fill the water jug. How ironic was this ?Here we are pumping thousands of gallons of water down a well and polluting it forever with who knows what , and the essence of why we were here . Which is to provide oil and gas for humans is somehow mute as we now need that same water for humans first. We complained to the boss and he said you should always bring your own water to be sure. Yes he is right and wrong. It is his responsibility to provide the water and it is mine to make sure I have something just in case the dumb ass forgets. Back then we wouldn’t complain or you would lose your job. So we took turns at a mud hole that looked fairly clean on the side of the job site. I took the liner out of my hard hat and dipped it into the hole and retrieved enough water to keep me going. We had no choice. It was about 90 degrees and we were cooking. Eventually if you boil a teakettle without adding water it will go dry and that was what we were doing. It probably saved us from heat exhaustion or stroke. Water is important, even mud puddles.

     Back to the future and the San Diego fires and the destruction associated with drought conditions , one could easily see why we here in Ohio should take a second look at a resource that literally will fall money into our laps. If for no other reason than should we examine this topic, but for our own preservation. What if it was us suffering from the lack of water? What if it was us that needed the rain? Conservation efforts we take today could dampen or improve our situation to help get us through hard times or cyclical flows of precipitation especially in drought conditions. Building dams and pools where wildlife can visit and drink will help preserve our habitats as they are.  By creating more ponds, be it mud puddle size or larger we will increase the diversity of the wildlife that will visit there especially in hard times.

      Here is a thought I had, if say we install a stainless steel roof system on our houses that would collect and run through a primary filter all the rain water that would fall on your roof, this water would then go to a further treatment much like they do on bottled water where hopefully 99.9 percent of the water passes through and is stored in a tank in your basement for your house hold use. No chemicals added and no fluorine to cause possible illnesses, and have soft water to wash your hair. And when you run out just turn on the city water. If you think the city water or well water is cleaner you had better take a second look at what you are drinking. Municipalities tend to take their water from wherever they can regardless of the industrial plants upstream or the sewage treatment plants which discharge directly back into the same river they pull the water from. If you have a well in the same aquifer beside a river even if it is cased it, the aquifer can still be contaminated outside the bounds of the river banks. The EPA  has standards by which city water should be kept within, and the water is treated and is sanitary , but without the treatment you still need to boil. And why? Because of all the stuff in there.

    Maybe rainwater doesn’t look so bad. Maybe a porous roof system would allow rain to pass through but would keep the dirt and bird poop out something like a terra cotta two way system, where it could also be used as a fire preventer making your house safer and last longer. Hmm what a concept. Maker houses last longer look better, be safer, might just put a few contractors out of business selling their vinyl masterpieces. We could have cleaner softer clothes, and skin for that matter and save a bunch of energy in the process, by utilizing something that literally falls from the sky and on our heads. Doesn’t look so bad out there after all, does it?

Open House @ Yockey Farms Greenhouse- 2014

Did I tell you?

 rainy spring green

            Well I am sure I did, and if not then I am having my open house may 17^th, 2014 from 10 -6 with the last 2 hrs. will be a customer appreciation, we will provide hot dogs , and amenities and you provide the covered dish and we will have an old fashioned get together.  A free chainsaw carving will be drawn by the oldest person in attendance at 6 o clock. Bring your old folks and have them up your ante and see if you could win a free chainsaw carved bear, by me personally. This is the best I can offer besides a free six pack of tomatoes for showing up. Also I will be having a hay ride at 3:30 P.M. weather permitting. This is to view our farm from the highest point on farm. We have a commanding view of both landfills in Southern Stark County. If you view it at night one could easily see the luminescence of the Ashland marathon refinery in the distance as it its 4 foot high flame burns bright the noxious after effects of spewing unwanted hydrocarbons, offering yet another chance to warm our environment for no good reason . Although the burn off light is not nearly as bright as it once was.

       The top part of our farm has suffered a loss of identity to its former self and this was before me and was around the early 50’s I assume when strip mining was in its infancy. In fact at that time there was still a lot of backyard miners who would try their luck at mining the easy coal out from the top layers of coal. Ours was strip mined and left open for years. Subsequent mining has left it reclaimed but not totally, and nowhere close to what it was before. It is a bald mountain compared to its former self. Still work needs to be done in a lot of respects. That would be mainly tree planting as I leave the open areas I can farm easily with a minimum of runoff, and I create more woodland to increase wildlife habitat and retain moisture and soil loss.

       With the purchase of a new wood chipper I intend to supplement my ornamental wood chips and improve my wood lot at same time. Normally I allow the chips to heat before using them. Wood chips I harvest from wood lot this year will be used next season at earliest. No matter where we live we are all responsible for our environment, and in not only the world but in our back yard. We need to be better managers and leave this old place a little better than before. How do we do it?

     By picking up a piece of litter or a plastic bag floating by, plant a tree here and there and next thing you know, you become attached to the land a little more. With pride you watch your tree grow and wildlife comes to visit. A pond or waterfalls would enhance your viewing efforts of nature as it allows up to ten times the wild life activity as animals are drawn to water to refresh. By retaining the runoff water of the greenhouse I am able to generate a small waterfall’s environment which will be suitable for my newly installed bees to drink. The pond I built in a low swampy area that we had in our field, and has underwent several transformations and now it is becoming more aged and settled. Never is there a second go by that one doesn’t hear a bird chirp as once again wildlife enjoys our back yard. I do have a little bigger back yard and front yard than most, but it still needs tending to. I try and do my best, and consciously think of how it affects the nature of things in general. Bloom where you are planted.

     I also want to mention from 10 -3, I will be having a carving demonstration weather permitting. Demo’s will be every hour on the hour till 2. I might do a demo later in evening if interest desires it. We will have a camp fire and hope you will come and enjoy yourself first. Take time to view the farm and enjoy the peacefulness here. If you are lucky you may be able to view Mudder, the errant cow if she decides to stay home that day. Beware of the electric fence and do view the bee hives from a distance. Be smart and be safe. This is a working farm. 

yockey farms open house May 17th,10-6. rain or shine.

Open House

        We being the help I receive from a variety of sources of all I am thankful for, have been working hard to try and make the farm just a little better since the last time I had an Open House. I worked too hard to try and make it work that I worked myself into the ground. And on the day of the open house I was still busy making preparations for the Open House. My entertainment being me was wore out. My chain saws needed work and I never did saw any while people were here. I did carve the bear I offered as a gift in a contest and I did deliver the bear, but much later in the season. I could never afford to have someone here on a full time basis now, but who knows maybe somewhere down the road it may work out.

        Anything you do all starts with the first step, and it isn’t an all downhill easy glide to start a venture like this. In fact with landscaping and nursery work it is more like a culmination of several years, as that is what is interesting about landscaping in general. It doesn’t always have to be expensive to landscape a property and create small wildlife habitat or a nook in your yard where you can commute with nature. I will show you using my chainsaw carvings and nature and add a few plantings and I will transform the yard into a walking source of eye candy where I hope every crook and cranny will yield a sigh or a pleasant smile. I am always trying to do things in a natural way so that I form a symbiosis with nature. Every year you come back you will see more added to the surrounding grounds as I find new ways to do the same old thing. Most of what I do here on the farm will go back to the upkeep of the farm in a natural way also. Including the sale of hay I intend to cut. Soon I will have bales of first cutting hay all around the farm. Open fields that are too steep to till will be returned to nature via tree planting I intend to do here on the farm. It helps to have trees to plant and in part my sale of trees supports my tree planting efforts.

     I am also experimenting with some new trees, not new except to me, but the intended use of the tree is kind of making a revival and lends itself well to farming naturally. The Osage orange or hedge apple tree is being used again as a natural fence. The tree seems to do well at lending itself to adapt and is hardy and is steeped in old world tradition of being used as a natural fence. Boughs of newly planted whips or long starts 6-10 feet are bent back to the ground and pinned and broken where the top branch hits the ground and allowed to form roots and creates a fence of sorts. Repeated plantings creates an impenetrable fence that is natural and aesthetic as well as capable of turning an elephant. This same principle is being used as a riparian fence and when constructed in same principle creates a fence capable of collecting solids and stabilizing hillsides where erosion is a problem. This can be a long term solution as both of these methods are widely used around the world for that purpose. It can be grown locally and is an earth friendly tree that not only turns your cow, but will also stabilize your hill and clean your air and supposedly when placed around the perimeter of a house will keep the spiders out, and do all this while you are sitting in your easy chair.

       It isn’t so much working with nature as in some cases you let nature do the work for you. A few moments with seed and soil allows a summer of new excitement and sometimes frustration as you watch your effort grow into something you cherish, if nothing else to help your piece of mind.  Come visit and unload in the shade of a tree. Enjoy what our farm has to offer. If you see something you like buy it. If all you take away from here is a smile then my job is done. Enjoy yourself and come every year. Until I can afford to have the greenhouse open all the time, then please call before coming as I always try to make use of the little time I have left. No one knows how long you have and some days I may be just sitting around smelling the roses, but until then I try to keep busy. During open house I am open and just come anyhow but all other times are by appointment. If at some time I see it would be beneficial to be open all the time then I will provide the help I need. That number is 234.521.3984. Please leave a message and I will return it.

to be a good bee

Yockey Farms Open House 2014

      Wow it has been a few days since I have wrote in my blog. Some people have wondered if something was wrong and I assure you nothing is. It is just that I have had other priorities and one of those was preparing for my 2^nd annual Open House here at Yockey Farms. This will be on this Saturday on the 17^th  of May, which is this next coming weekend. So daily here on my blog I intend to show you what I have available here at the greenhouse and what you can expect this year if you attend.

      Again I will have a carved bear to give away I haven’t even started yet but will finish and give away signed sealed and delivered to a lucky open house attendee. You must sign in person to be eligible. One entry per person and you will receive a free six pack of tomatoes of the heritage type and of the Beefmaster variety. Or you may choose a Roma tomato in the six pack also. Substitutions may occur due to limited availability of heritage tomatoes. A container to hold your tomato and good natural topsoil is available at a cheap price if you need soil. Bring your containers and fill them cheaply. I have plenty of soil available premixed with organics with no pesticide or herbicide used on this soil as far as I know for over 71 years. I have mixed composted manure with the soil and is available unscreened along with recyclable potting container, at a cheap price.

       I also have a wide variety of  deciduous broad-leafed  trees available as well as some of the conifers and these are economy priced allowing you to enlarge your woodlot and decrease your mowing while locking up carbon and cleaning the air. This is your chance to help the environment and create windbreaks or reduce noise, while creating a habitat for wildlife in your backyard. I also have limited tree planting service available on all our trees and will guarantee from one year of purchase the success of your new plantings with replacement or substitution of a different tree if you are not satisfied. I am trying to have one tree of every species available or growing in Ohio. Any trees out growing the pots will eventually be planted here on the farm if not sold. Nothing will be wasted. This I can guarantee.

     Last year I was blessed if you must say that with too many bedding plants and so this year I have reduced the number available. I have strawberries in pots as well as some cucumbers started and should have some giant pumpkins. I will have tomato plants and a few peppers available and flowers for making your own baskets. I have no intention of competing with the big box stores and cannot afford to be manned here at the greenhouse 24/7, so I encourage you to visit me when we have the greenhouse open house, and enjoy what the farm has to offer. Private appointments can be made by calling my cell and arranging an appropriate time convenient to us both. I am here most of the time but it is always helpful to know you are coming for sure and I will make myself available to all.

     Also yesterday I received my bees and installed them in my new or slightly used hives. I am kind of excited and thought to myself as I was immersed in potting flowers in the greenhouse, how wonderful life is that I am able to have the ability to experience all this. I am thankful for this opportunity and a lot of my thanks goes to my Mom, Florence Malott,  and my grandma, Ines Yockey, who without either , none of this would probably be available to me. Their dedication to the farm and hard work and intestinal fortitude to stick it out paved the way for me to be able to stop smell the roses so to speak . Thanks Mom. Happy Mother’s day to you all out there in this digital paradise and hope you have a good one. I will try and update daily what you can expect at our open house this year. Thanks kev. My cell phone is 234.521.3984. Please leave a message.