The Contrary Farmer

We lost a good one this week.  I would have guessed this guy would out-live us all, just due to sheer stubbornness.  He was one contrary son-of-a pup, with an incredible sense of humor.  God, I am gonna miss him.

Jean Taddie and Don Wolverton, in the Master Gardener glory years.

Don Wolverton wouldn't give a dang if you don't remember his name.  He wasn't about to fill out the paper work for your data base, either. He was a rebel.. of the dirtiest kind.  He loved the land and the soil. He was all about compost.  In fact, one of the first public speaking programs I gave was a program on compost- with Don.  I was so nervous, you know, we Master Gardeners must always tell the truth: based on the O.S.U. line.  I dotted every i and crossed every t. 

 Don told folks they could put dead animals in their compost.  I was mortified.  And the more I was mortified the better Don liked it.  That was Don.

Our mutual friend, John Makley, gave him a moving eulogy.  He equated Don with the "Contrary Farmer."  If you haven't read Gene Logsdon's works, I suggest you get a' hold of them.  My favorite (so far) is The Man Who Created Paradise.   And just to prove how contrary he is, you can read it for free right here.

But I think this is the book Don would have liked best. Just for the title.  He could have made some serious compost in conjunction with Gene Logsdon.

Last of all, as we said "goodbye" we had a reading from the good book, the Berry.  Wendell Berry that is. If you really want to know the kind of man Don represented, you simply must read Berry's poem- Manifesto:The Mad Farmer Liberation Front.

You can follow that link to read the entire poem, but friends will understand when I say, my heart lies within these lines:

Ask the questions that have no answers. Invest in the millennium. Plant sequois. Say that your main crop is the forest that you did not plant, that you will not live to harvest.  Say that the leaves are harvested when they have rotted into the mold. Call that profit. Prophesy such returns. Put your faith in the two inches of humus that will build under the trees every thousand years.

So yes indeed, "Plant sequoias." And when you are told life is to be short, take a grand tour, fall in  love, make new friends, and cherish the people around you.  Make them your family.

I am still learning from Don.  Always a trooper, his last words were, "It could be worse..."

Miracle in the Marsh

Ohio's wetlands may be limited in size, but they are fascinating hotbeds of biodiversity. Absolutely a-buzz with dragonflies, bees, butterflies, singing insects and birds... and in May, Ohio hosted no less than 5 of these gaily colored swamp-chickens, Purple Gallinules.




A spring storm may have been the catalyst, for after the weather cleared on May 4th there seemed to be a "purple rain" of southern birds. McCarty reported several in the Plain Dealer and hundreds of Ohio's birders streamed to Columbia Station see this Floridian as it scampered across the Yellow Pond-lily or "Spatterdock" Nuphar lutea. It was a dream come true for me, as I had nixed out on this bird twice in Florida. Now one was in my own state- and not just one!
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And as I photographed this amazing find, I noticed the similarities between this habitat and one I frequently bird.


Bur-reed, Sparganium americanum is but one of the the wetland obligate species growing at Orweiler Road near Mansfield. Seen directly behind it, is our Spatterdock patch. So, why couldn't this be a fall-out location for these magical birds? I wasn't the only one wondering and checking, for soon John Herman of Crestline found not one- but two of these southerners cavorting in our marsh!

We wondered, was it possible? If we kept quiet long enough to give them a chance- could we be lucky enough to be hosting a pair? Word soon came that young had been spotted, and within days I spent a morning watching the little-bitty black chicks (look directly under the beak of the gallinule) forage beneath their parents. However these gallinules were no exhibitionists, and were nearly impossible to find among the reeds. Easily, 5 out of 6 days there were no sightings.

Purple Gallinule family- photo by Joanne Wrasse

One evening several locals were hanging about hoping for a glimpse of the elusive birds. Much to their shock, the whole family marched boldly across the road. Joanne Wrasse documented the scene with a quick snap-shot of the little family: 2 adults, 6 chicks.

Purple Gallinule family Photo by Joanne Wrasse

I wished she had gotten a photo of the shocked birders as well as the birds! This was just too good to be true! And now we have the first confirmed breeding of Purple Galinules in Richland County. The last known breeding pair in Ohio occurred in 1962, and the linked article states... they were found in Yellow Pond-lily-"Spatterdock!"

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So ends the story of Richland Couny's miracle in the marsh. There were some mighty happy birders around here, even on the many days we could not see the little black chicklets chasing after bugs. We knew they were there, deep in the Spatterdock, making our little wetland one species richer.

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Isn't it amazing? Botany and birds... it all goes together.

Sandhill Cranes

One would think Sandhill Cranes, standing four feet tall, would be easy to spot in a field. But nesting sandhills can be surprisingly stealthy. And if you were looking for Ohio's isolated populations one would start in Wayne and Holmes Counties where the first of recent breeding populations (reported in 1987) were found. Considered endangered in Ohio, we birders in the Greater Mohican Audubon area hold them in highest regard.

Richland County Sandhill Cranes Photo by Dane Adams

Last week the top was blown off the breeding bird news with Richland county's first family of Sandhill Cranes. Gary Cowell reported seeing two adults and two juveniles, called colts, in Richland County just off Bowen Rd. Sure enough, photographer Dane Adams, Jan Auburn and I were able to relocate the happy family hiding in the phragmites along Bowen Rd.

Adult Sandhill and Colt ........................Photo by Dane Adams

What a joyous occasion to see the product of what one suspects was the union of a pair of Sandhills who performed their spring courtship "dance" on this very field. This may be the first Sandhill Cranes born in Richland County in a century, or perhaps... ever.

Historically, it is likely this was a wooded area at the turn of the century when these cranes were more commonly found in Ohio. Now the land has been opened up by agricultural activities, providing an area to forage near the Bowen Rd. wetland located in this field... and the nearby Ashland University Wetlands complex.

But the big surprise came when we went out to photo document these colts. We found a second pair of cranes across the street by the Ashland University wetlands! The red dots on the map mark the locations where the two families of Sandhill Cranes were foraging that morning. Who would have believed there were eight Sandhill Cranes making a living on this back road just off route 42?!

Scanning Ohio's farm fields turned up some surprising information for Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas.

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You'll want to report any of your unusual findings to the fine folks trying to put Ohio's breeding birds on the map. And don't forget to report your normal, regular and routine findings too. It is all a part of the breeding bird history of Ohio needed to document the whole picture. And who knows? While you are out there you might find something spectacular too!