Community Corner
SM&NC Celebrates Spring on the Farm [Updated with Video]
Stamford Museum and Nature Center celebrated the farm's new arrivals with demonstrations and fun for the whole family at UBS's Spring on the Farm.
A preschool teacher at has a saying — “There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.”
This has certainly held true for special events at the SM&NC this spring. Following up a soggy and an Egg Hunt wash-out, UBS’s Spring on the Farm was just a little drizzly by comparison.
Still, the Nature Center’s staff, volunteers, and visitors were ready to celebrate the new additions to Heckscher Farm and take part is tons of special exhibitions and demonstrations including farm tool demonstrations, bee demonstrations, and storytelling.
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New lambs Uma, Ivy, and Jade baaed for their mother — up at the shearing demonstration for her spring haircut. Farm staff member Patricia Ochonski led a goat, Butterscotch, around to visit with guests while volunteers Ailsa Swanson and Maeve Ronan carried Butterscotch’s two-week old kids Samson and Delilah.
“It’s stressful, but they need to get used to the people,” Ochonski explained.
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Ochonski began volunteering at the SM&NC in the sixth grade and now works as a member of the farm staff as a senior in high school. She plans to attend Penn State University next year and become a veterinarian.
“It’s been awesome to come in to work for the past few weeks, they’ve all had babies,” Ochonski said.
Dan Kading' was hard at work shearing the SM&NC's 14 sheep and two alpacas. A process that drew a crowd of children and adults alike to watch as Kading held down the sheep for their annual haircut. Visitors could feel a piece of the wool just moments after the shearing was complete.
Nearby the sheap shearing, volunteer Barbara Wills used soap, water, and patience to turn the wool from Jacob sheep into felt.
"The wool is different based on where it was on the sheep, the front or the back, and based on it purpose, insulation, water resistance....it's all up to the felter to decide when it's finished," Wills explained.
Farrier Mark Reilly appeared at SM&NC for a demonstration. Reilly travels throughout southwestern Connecticut and Westchester County, New York to shoe horses, but this is the only time that he does his work as a demonstration to answer questions from the general public. Reilly is able to shed some light on the shoeing process and also answer the age-old question, does it hurt for horses to get shoes?
“Absolutely not, It’s similar to getting your fingernails trimmed...I don’t have any sparkly polishes though,” Reilly laughed.
Spring is here and with it, plenty of new things for the Nature Center. A farmer's market will launch on June 10 in the SM&NC's north parking lot. Four out of the nine participating farms were at Spring on the Farm to offer a preview for visitors. The market will run from 10 am to 2 pm every Friday through October.
