816-L«nc«»ter Farming, Saturday, July 27, 1996
Fun, Learning Come Together At Annual Farm City Day
CAROLYN N. MOYER
Tioga Co. Correspondent
SABINSVILLE (Tioga Co.)
The view from the Plummer Fami
ly home is incredible. Seated 2,300
feet above sea level, it seems as if
you can see forever across the roll
ing Pennsylvania mountains.
Just as incredible is the Plum
mer’s vision for the future.
The Plummer family served as the hosts for the sixth
annual Tioga County Farm City Day. They are, back row
from left, Bill, Luke, 1, Connie and, Paul, 13; front, from left,
Alicia, 5, Joey, 3, Tim, 9, and John, 7.
Kerry Gyekls, Independent forester left, and Sam Cook,
Pennsylvania Department of Forestry, compare the leaf of a
pin cherry, an undesirable shrub species, and the leaf of a
black cherry, a valuable species In the clearcut on the Plum
mer farm.
evidenced by their decision to host
Tioga County’s sixth annual Farm-
City Day.
Bill and Connie Plummer, along
with their six children—Paul, 13,
Timmy, 9, John, 7, Alicia, 5, Joey,
3, and Luke. 1 own and operate
Woodcock Farm, a 750-acrc crop
and timber operation.
Sherri Elder, director of the Tio
ga County Farm Service Agencies,
originally approached Bill about
hosting the event
“She asked him if he would be
interested, and he said yes, before
even asking me!” said Connie,
with a laugh. “We were very happy
with the event. There was a lot of
cooperation to pull it off. The com
mittee that does it really doC»all
the work. I even learned a lot on the
tours about all the agencies that we
have to work with.”
The day combined educational
touts and displays with fun games
and up-close exposure to many dif
ferent species of farm animals
ranging from rabbits to cows and
squab to sheep.
'The kids loved it,” said Connie.
They did all the tours with
friends.”
The land where the Plummer
family lives was originally pur
chased by Bill’s great great grand
father in 1865. Throughout the
years, tracts of land were added
and various enterprises pursued.
At one time the farm was a dairy
farm. After the sale of the dairy
cattle in the late 19405, small
grains were grown and softwood
trees were planted. Beef cattle and
sheep grazed in the pasture. There
was even a coal mine on the
property.
Currently the farm’s acreage is
divided into tracts of hardwood
timber, softwood timber, and crop
land. The Plummer family pays
close attention to all aspects of the
Visitors from all over
flocked to Farm City Day.
Here Maiiah Miles, of Butler
holds a rabbit at the child
ren’s bam.
Visitors had ths opportunity to raglstar for frse lea ersam at tha annual event Hare
voluntaare Kathy Monks and Susan Walch help tha guests fill out their forms.
operation, carefully managing the
contour strips, protecting the
farm’s numerous ponds and apply
ing sound forestry principals.
Com, oats, and alfalfa arc grown
on the farm and the family also
raises a herd of SO beef animals in a
cow/calf operation.
Nearly 900 visitors to the farm
on July 13 were able to catch a
glimpse of life on a farm as they
took wagon tours and walking
touts of the various operations.
They were also invited to visit var
ious exhibits set up by area farm
businesses and cooperatives.
The first wagon tour headed
further up the mountain making
slops at one of the Plummer’s farm
ponds, a field of com and a fore
sted area.
At the pond, viewers could hear
tips on managing a healthy pond.
Volunteer firefighters from the
area also demonstrated the use of a
dry hydrant The hydrant, which
consists of a large pipe inserted
through the bank of the pond
below the frost line, allows fire
trucks to access the pond’s water
quickly in the event of a fire.
Next on the tour was a stop at a
com field. During this stop, tour
goers had the chance to view alter
nating strips of com and oats, and
learn a little bit about managing the
weeds and other pests.
Since woodlot areas are a big
part of the Plummer’s farm, the
tour also focused on an area that
has been clearcut. When asked
what they thought of clearcuts by
Tioga County Planner and inde
pendent timber manager Kory
Gyekis, most from the group
reported that they thought of them
as very bad.
However, Gyekis noted that in
this case, disease and dieback had
so damaged the existing timber
that the only feasible management
solution was to clearcut. One
advantage to this was that they
were able to make the cuts in such
a way to ensure the growth of
favorable species. Among the
newly grown species are cherry,
maple and birch trees, ready to
make a new forest
In another forestry demonstra
tion, forester Mike Hale explained
the difference between an uneven
aged stand where the timber ranges
in age from the very old to the new
saplings on the ground and an
even-aged stand in which all the
timber is basically the same age.
He also warned tour takas about
foresters who want to cut the dm-
ber based solely on diameter.
“Beware if someone tells you
that they will come in and cut the
big trees, so that the little ones will
grow,” Hale said. Quite often what
happens is that the little tree is just
as old as die big tree. It’s just that it
did not grow as fast
“Opening up the forest now
probably won’t help the smaller
trees that are old grow, because
they’ve already had their big
growth phase,”
Other wagons took groups down
the mountain to tour more fields
and a maple sugar camp.
The first stop on the tour
brought a lesson in conservation
farming. Information included
how ongoing practices by the
Plummers help protect the soil and
improve water quality. Riders on
this wagon also had the opportuni
ty to learn about the different types
of tillage methods used by the fam
ily on the farm, including no-till,
minimum till, and conventional
tillage.
Tour-goers also received a les
son in how the agricultural com
munity works with other indus
tries. The Plummer family uses an
organic byproduct from the West
field tannery to improve soil pH.
Also along the route to the
maple camp, visitors could witness
a neighbor doing a haymaking
demonstration with his horses.
At the end of the road was a
maple sugar camp, owned by the
Patterson family. As members of
the family explained the process of
collecting sap and boiling it down
to syrup, they also indicated the
various uses for the sweet treat
including the making of maple
cream, cotton candy, maple jelly,
and maple sugar.
The Pattersons also operate a
third-generation dairy farm where
they milk 68 cows and raise 73
replacements.
Earle Robbins, chairman o!*the
event, noted that the committee
tried to add something different to
the program this year. This is the
first year the event was not hosted
on a dairy farm. They also added
different events to the slate of
activities while maintaining the
objective of educating the public
about farming.
He noted that many people were
involved in making the event hap
pen, and he couldn’t have done it
without their help. He also thanked
the many businesses and organiza
tions who supported the event in
any way.