Spring Has Sprung At Slate Run Historical Farm

Written by Dani and Andrew Livelsberger

Photography by Andrew Livelsberger

Background:

The Slate Run Historical Farm is a Columbus Metro Parks facility.  This living historical farm plants crops, and tends to livestock with the techniques from the late 1800's.  This gives people of all ages the opportunity to see what life on a farm was like in that time period.  This immersive experience really makes things come alive.

Impression:

Spring has sprung here at Slate Run Farm and the animals and visitors are out in force.

We arrived on a Saturday morning in early April.  The parking lot was full, and people needed to park in the overflow parking area.  Nice you enter the farm property, you can see that the fields have been cleared of their winter grasses and are being prepared for the spring planting.

Above, 2 volunteers, dressed in period appropriate clothing are planting spring vegetables in the house garden.  The use a hand held tilling machine to turn the ground and create a trough to put the seeds.  They then place the seeds into the ditch and cover them by hand.

Other volunteers in the renovated farm house use spinning wheels to take freshly shaved sheep's wool into thread and yarn.

If you have any questions about the home, property or the activities of the day, this fine lady will answer them!  She was taking a break inside after tending to the garden.

Ever have an opportunity to pet a lamb?   Maybe, but how about a 2 day old lamb?  Volunteers provided this opportunity to visitors on this fine spring day.

Today, electric clippers are used to shear sheep.  Back in 1890?  They had shears, but not the electric kind.  The ones used here are man powered, hand cranked.

It takes quite a bit of muscle to move the sheep around into position for shearing.  The sheep were rather docile for the majority of the process.

We often do a few stories on Slate Run Farm, and for good reason.  There is always something to be done on a farm, no matter if it is modern or historical, so you'll not likely be disappointed or bored on any visit.

Once the fields have matured, there is harvesting activities in the fields and threshing.  The animals always need tending too. 

Make sure to check out the Metro Parks website link above for visiting hours and dates of specific events.