Farm Tour

Holmes County, where we live, hosted a Farm Tour on Saturday, August 23, 2008. There were 10 stops throughout the southwestern part of the county. They included in part a nursery, bee hives, llamas and alpacas, a vineyard, FFA displays at the high school, and one of the most interesting was a dairy farm. Some of the scenes of this Jersey cow dairy are shown in the subsequent pictures. The dairy farm is currently milking 360 cows, twice each day. Because of the higher butter fat from Jersey cows, a pound of their milk produces about 30% more cheese than a pound of milk from Holstein cows.

Part of 360 Jersey Herd

This is a small part of the Jersey herd as the cows make their way into the barn.

Holding-Feeding Barn

This barn was empty when we arrived at the dairy farm. The next picture was taken about 10 minutes later.

Feeding Time

Cows are fed and held in this barn until it is their time to be milked.

The Milking Parlor

This milking parlor can handle 20 cows at a time. Three men handle the milking which is conducted two times each day.

Milking Time

These men keep busy with the milking of such a large herd. The milk is sold locally (about 3 miles from the farm) to Holmes Cheese. The cheese company comes once each day to transport the milk back to the cheese plant.

Two-Hour Old Calf

This little gal (the calf) was born out in the field and was unexpected. The girl rode out to get the calf on a 4-wheeler, holding it on her lap as she came back to the barn. (Two more pictures of the calf follow on the next screen).

Bottle Feeding

This 2-pint bottle of milk will help this little gal grow.

Nap Time

After a nice warm bottle, a little nap is in order.

Fireman's Festival

A neighboring town, Berlin, lying in the heart of Amish country, has the distinction of being the largest tourist attraction in the state of Ohio. The town also attracts local residents throughout the year with various activities. One of these is the Fireman's Festival. This event, to raise money for the local volunteer fire department, gets underway on a Saturday afternoon at around 4:00p.m. with a barbecue chicken dinner (via donations), gospel groups and bluegrass groups performing, a "dunk tank", and all kinds of food, cotton candy, soft drinks, etc. At around 8:00p.m. there is a competition among firemen from various fire departments in the area. The following photographs show the competition and after this is finished, a fireworks display caps off the event.

Berlin Water Tower

The Berlin water tower at sunset. The pronunciation of Berlin was originally Ber-lin' until the entrance of the United States into World War II. With Germany as our enemy the town folk did not want to be considered to be friends of the Germans so the pronunciation was changed to Bur'-lin and this pronunciation remains today.

The Competition Barrel

This barrel is suspended by an eyelet hooked around a cable about 10 feet in the air. The cable extends crosswise over three tennis courts. The object of the competition is to drive the barrel along the cable with the 120 psi water pressure from the fire hoses so that it slides past the opponents goal. The opposing team is trying to drive the barrel in the opposite direction with their high pressure water. Firemen compete as a 3 person team - one holding the nozzle of the fire hose and controlling the direction of the high pressure spray while the other two team members keep the length of hose out of the way of the first fireman as he goes back and forth under the cable.

Competing Firemen

The background of this picture shows the competing teams of firemen with their hoses spraying with full force trying to drive the barrel past their opponents goal. The firemen are in their full uniforms - rubber boots, pants with suspenders, jackets, and helmets. The foreground shows a row of marshmallow lined up in front of us?

Teenage Amish Girls

In fact, this is a row of teenage Amish girls watching the firemen trying to drive the barrel over the opponents goal.

Spectators and Other Activities

In the foreground is another group of Amish ladies watching the fireman's competition. In the background, other activities are underway such as the selling of refreshments at the lighted booth and under the awning at the right, home made ice cream is being prepared.

Closing Fireworks

The fireworks display started at 10:00p.m. Since this was the 40th anniversary of the Fireman's Festival, they had an extra long fireworks performance this year.

The White of Summer

A number of our plants bloom in the summer months and their white blossoms create a nice contrast to the more colorful plants that grace our property. The next six pictures are examples of some of these plants. Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

Lacecap Hydrangea

The Lacecap Hydrangea is native to Japan, but is popular in the southern United States. It is characterized by a flat-topped blossom. These plants will flower throughout the summer.

Yucca Blossom

A close-up view of the Yucca blossom after a heavy morning dew.

Yucca

These Yucca plants are of two species, one has a solid leaf while the second one has a variegated leaf. Both plants are characterized by the sword-like leaves which the plant maintains throughout the winter. Therefore, the leaves are a favorite of the deer since they normally are growing above the snow depths that we have in our part of Ohio. The white blossoms last about two weeks.

Oakleaf Hydrangea

The Oakleaf Hydrangea can grow up to 10 feet tall and is characterized by white, tapering blossoms that are up to 10 inches long. The weight of these blossoms can cause the stems to droop. The leaves are shaped like those of an oak tree, hence the name of this plant. On May 25, 1999, the governor of Alabama signed a proclamation making the Oakleaf Hydrangea the state wild flower.

Gooseneck Loosestrife

The Gooseneck Loosestrife is one of the few plants that deserves such a descriptive common name - a number of them in bloom truly look like a gaggle of geese ready to honk at an intruder. They like a moist soil, so are ideal for a border along our lake front.

Cimicifuga Racemosa

We have an abundance of these Cimicifuga plants in our woods. They are an aristocratic plant with graceful stems up to 7 feet tall which hold spires of fragrant, distinctly sweet smelling tiny white flowers. Cimicifuga, also called Black Cohosh, Bugbane, or Black Snakeroot, bloom in early summer over mounds of green leaves that resemble those of astilbe or ferns. The flowers have no petals, only a tight cluster of about 100 white stamens.