I am loving my guest bloggers! My next guest post is from a true local girl who has a big heart and can be found around town teaching grown ups and kids about food (be sure to check out her Kids Cook classes!): Rachel Tayse offers helpful information on her site Hounds in the Kitchen about gardening, cooking, and eating sustainably in Columbus, Ohio.
Stratford Ecological Center is a nonprofit working sustainable farm dedicated to environmental education. Their property in Delaware Ohio includes hiking trails, a maple sugaring house, several animal shelters, a large barn, a spacious green house, and orchards.
Several guided events occur monthly including farm chores, story time, and seasonal harvests. Special events include a maple sugaring festival and harvest fair coming up this September 25. At times other than scheduled events, the farm is open to the public for exploration from 9 – 5 Monday – Friday and 9 – 1 Saturday.
One day this summer, I took my daughter Lillian and two friends to Stratford, a 40 minute drive from our home in Clintonville. We checked in with the visitors center and took off toward the barn.
Kittens immediately nabbed the attention of the children. They endured several rounds of petting before I helped them find shelter in an empty stall.
Two large pigs occupied one of the stalls. As all animals are free to roam the pastures, most of the others were outside.
We walked around the pasture to visit with goats and two baby cows. The children enjoyed climbing on fences to get a better look. Through trial and error of offering various plants to the goats, Lillian discovered they prefer the taste of clover.
Next, we headed off to the woods. A stream and low hills provide ample opportunity for wild flora and fauna viewing. We hiked to the sugar shack, where demonstration maple sugaring occurs every late winter.
Now noontime, the children were hungry. We washed up at the visitors center and gobbled up a picnic lunch under the shade of a tree.
We followed the sound of a purring cat into the greenhouse. Edibles plants and flowers grew wildly in this space. Outside, raised beds housed a plethora of vegetables and fruits. An active compost bin is used for developing natural fertilizer.
From the greenhouse, we wandered towards the chickens. They forage under a large peach, pear, and apple orchard. A large rooster investigated our troop and loudly discouraged any fence climbing on his watch.
A stop at the visitors center to make use of the bathroom finished our day trip. We browsed their selection of frozen free ranged meats, honey, and vegetables grown on the farm, made a few purchases, and dropped a donation in their bin. All proceeds of farm-raised products benefit the center.
3083 Liberty Road
Delaware, Ohio 43015
740-363-2548
If you go:
- Bring a water bottle and snacks or lunch. There are no food outlets besides the farm products.
- Be prepared to explore on your own. Unless leading an event, volunteers and staff are busy with their own work and will largely leave visitors to their own discoveries.
- Consider classes and special events. Though I have never attended a formal program, I have never heard a bad review of one of the Stratford events.
- Bring a little money. Stratford is a non-profit organization. They charge no admission but suggest that visitors donate via cash, check, or credit card. You may also want to purchase some of their local organic produce and pasture raised meats.
I’m always happy to contribute to great blogs like yours, Kristin!
Just this past Thursday I ran into volunteers from Stratford at the Dublin Whole Foods. Whole Foods was donating 5% of their daily sales to the organization! The volunteers were excited to hear about this post so I’ll be forwarding the link to them.
Great post Rachel! I am blessed to live within 10 minutes of Stratford, and it has always been a favorite for us. Good to see it getting some attention.