Preserving Farm Life

A much loved local attraction is the home of the late author and agronomist, Louis Bromfield.  His legacy to Ohio includes this working farm: Malabar Farm (State Park).

 His era was a passing time, ephemeral as the clouds that roll by.  Yet it is preserved, a place for children to see the way a farm is meant to nourish life.

One can be smitten with the newly born calves, a breed unknown to me. The black youngster sported white markings which resembled a bridle.  It was downright adorable.

 Turkey Vultures were recycling after-birth.  

They were fighting for clean-up detail; perhaps this one already had his fill.

 Beyond the fields a woodlot lies, where Blue Phlox,
Phlox divaricata  attain a hue nearly as intense as the violets.

 Swampy edges are betrayed by the Swamp Buttercup,

Ranuculus hispidus denizen of the damp.

Skunk Cabbage unfurled in full glory, 

appearing as woodland hosta, bowed before a phlox-carpeted copse of trees.  

 The stream runs deep and fresh.  

This water is worth protecting and the cattle are wisely excluded from these spring fed streams.

A cheery reminder of the farmer's need to plant; Spring jonquil to be picked for a writer's desk-top vase. 

 Visit the farm and the spirit of Bromfield may beckon to you too.