[•Lancaster FarmiM. Saturday. Aoiil 2. 1994
BA
Onbei
a farm
-And o
hazar
Joyce B
A hint of “empty nest syn
drome’’ alwayp haunts my mater
nal instincts this time of year.
That’s because our nestlings
have soared away on their own
wings, leaving me behind with no
one to help cook, color, hunt, and
hide those eggs that figure promi
nently into the season. Nor are
there as many justifiable excuses
for laying in nest supplies like
chocolate bunnies, marshmallow
peeps, and jelly beans.
But if the house nest is less
occupied by nestlings (though
much of their “nesting materials”
remain behind under Mother and
Father Bird’s wings), the rest of
the farmstead overflows with
nests in abundance.
As the thick ice on the pond
melted out under warming sun
shine and gentler breezes, weather
damage became apparent at one of
the farmstead’s prime nesting
sites. A glance toward the pond
early one morning, to check the
presence of our new Canada goose
resident pair, warned of the nest’s
imminent disappearance.
The covered platform The Far
mer had installed mid-pond sever
al springs ago was tilting at a steep
angle into the water. Apparently
the freeze-expansion of the ice
had separated the platform from
the supporting posts sunk into the
pond bottom.
And the geese were already
exploring and poking around what
little bit of the structure remained
above-the water surface.
So it came to be that, on a brisk,
late-March morning, we paddled
the canoe through still-icy waters
to make repairs. Carefully balanc
ing our weight in the “tippy” craft,
we lifted, wired and respiked the
structure to the supports an
unplanned swim had no appeal.
Then, while I steadied the canoe
with one paddle, The Farmer used
the other to lift out the soggy, rot
ted old nest materials from the
platform floor. Then we turned the
boat and I stuffed onto the, plat
form a thick pile of grass hay we’d
brought along to refurnish the
nest.
The geese honked furiously
from the pond bank during the few
minutes it took us to repair and
refurbish the nest site. As we
paddled back to the pier, they)
passed us on their way out to
inspect the “island.”
And before we were halfway
back to the house, the female was
in the nest, busily rearranging
grass with her beak.
Less visible but farther under
way are nesting efforts in the old
bank bam.
Near one comer of the upper
floor of the bank bam is a large
opening where big, round bales of
bedding can be dropped into the
heifer pen beneath. Between that
access opening and the wall is a
narrow, maybe eight-inch-wide,
ledge. On that narrow ledge sits a
small black hen, hatching out a
nest of eggs. It’s a precarious
homes he; one misstep out of the
nest and she’ll be airborne.
Just across the bedding access
hole sits a wagonload of hay that
has been parked there through the
winter. While leaning against the
wagon, pondering if we should
relocate the black hen’s narrow
ledge nest site, something caught
my eye.
Barely a foot away, at eye level,
i pair of beady black eyes gazed
oack at mine. My immediate reac
ion was to duck, but the honey
colored hen never moved. How
the plans to get her chicks from
Ms nest, hunkered down deep in
Mai , Finnsheep I)
The children are, Sarah, Willy, Tim, and Louie.
Willy’s
Birth
LINDA WILLIAMS
Bedford Co. Correspondent
SCHELLSBURG (Bedford
Co.) Nine-year-old Willy Mar
tin has been especially happy with
his own small flock of sheep this
spring.
One of his ewe Finnsheep had
five lambs at one time. Willy says
Finnsheep are noted for having
more than one lamb at a time.
“Dad says he read somewhere that
one ewe had eight,” he says. “But
three or four are more common. I
am really happy with five."
Willy has three ewes, three
rams, and 11 iambs of his own.
be straw bales several feet up in
he wagon, is a mystery.
And I used to think the kids
;ame up with strange places to
tide eggs
GOLDEN PRIDE’S
FORMULA FOR HEALTH
Call Or Write
JESSE S. WEAVER
1431 Brunnervllle Rd.
Lltltz, PA 17543
717-626-5503
GOOD FOOD OUTLET STORES
See Our Original Line Of Golden Barrel Products Hus AH Kinds
Of Beans, Candies, Dried Fruit, Snack Mixes, Etc. At Reduced Prices
* BAKING MOLASSES * MAPLE SYRUP
* BARBADOS MOLASSES * PANCAKE 4 WAFFLE
, f* A BLACKSTRAP SYRUPS
MOLASSES * SORGHUM SYRUP
JL Afll BT'jr * CORN SYRUPS * LIQUID A DRY SUGARS
[if jjl, if HIGH FRUCTOSE * PANCAKE * WAFFLE
SYRUPS SYRUPS
K A A CANOLA OH.
v* & ■> \ r' * coconut on.
A(I - - your load itore A CORN OIL
■sAU i , doo. not h»ve it, A COTTONSEED OIL
send FOR * OUVE 01L
BROCHURE A VEGETABLE OIL
1 1 1 * SHOO-FLY PIE MQC
Processors Of Syrups. Molasses,
Cooking Oils. Funnel Cake Mix,
Pancake k Waffle Mix k Shoofly Pie Mix
GOOD FOOD OUTLET
Located At Good Food, Inc.
W. Main St., Box 160, Honey Brook, PA 19344
215-273-3776 1-800-327-4406
Located At L & S Sweeteners
368 E. Main St.. Leola, PA 17540
717-656-3488 1-800-633-2676
- WE UPS DAILY -
Finnsheep Gives
To Five Lambs
Finnsheep have very long and
fine wool which Willy feels
should be good for spinning.
Willy lives on a 107-acre sheep
farm with his dad and mom, Dave
and Karen, his brothers, Louie. 10;
and Tim, 4; and one sister, Sarah,
7. Willie, Louie, and Sarah all
attend the Chestnut Ridge School.
Louie has three rams and three
ewes, all Dorsets. The ewes will
have lambs later this spring.
Both Louie and Willy help with
feeding and shearing their own
sheep. “These boys take a lot of
pride in their sheep,” says their
dad.
They are very particular about
what their sheep eat because they
know this is what makes healthy
sheep which have healthy lambs;
The family grows all of the hay
-MAC
five were born
and most of the grain which the
sheep eat. They pasture them as
long as possible.
The boys enter their sheep in
the Bedford County Fair, and this
coming year, will be old enough to
participate in the prize divisions.
Louie and Willy also have pig
projects for 4-H which won them a
second-place award at the Pen
nsylvania Stale Farm Show. They
also placed first and second at
Keystone competition. Both are
members of the Shawnee Lakers
4-H Club.
Finnsheep were originally
imported from Finland, a Scandi
navian country located in the far
northern part of Europe. The Fin
nish people are well known for
their farming abilities, especially
dairy animals and sheep.
] CLOSED SUNDAYS, NEW YEAH,
EASTER MONDAY, ASCENSION DAY,
WHT MONDAY, OCT. 11, THANKSGIVING,
r mirrmi e OHRIS ™ AS 4 December mth.
FISHER’S FURNITURE, INC.
NEW AND USED FURNITURE
USED COAL A WOOD HEATERS
COUNTRY FURNITURE A ANTIQUES
BUS. HRS: BQX 57
MON.-THURS. 5-5 1129 GEORGETOWN RD.
FRI. 8-5, SAT. 8-12 BART, PA 17503
SPECIALS FOR
APRIL
GOOD OLD FASHIONED SHOO-FLY
PIE MIX
Regularly $1.19
NOW $.99
GOLDEN BARREL PEANUT OIL
M Gallon - Regularly SS.4B
now $3.09
GOLDEN BARREL TABLE SYRUP
32 Ounce - Regularly $1.69
NOW sl*39
one
* FUNNEL CAKE MIX
* PANCAKE A WAFFLE
MIX
* ASSORTMENT OF
i CANDIES
* DRIED FRUIT
. * SNACK MIXES
* BEANS
* HONEY
* PLAfIUT BUTTER
A BAUMAN APPLE
BUTTERS
* KAUFMAN PRESERVES
A SPRING GLEN RELISHES