BOCKBRADER FAMILY REUNION

By Nan Card, Hayes Presidential Center

Summertime is a time for reunions. Families all over the country will gather with relatives they have not seen in years. They will tell and retell stories from the past, share photographs and family traditions, and laugh as they recall memories from "the good old days."

By Dr. Anita Lewis-Sewell

Has life ever stranded you somewhere you didn’t want to be, or someplace you hadn’t planned to go, far from home? Have you ever had an unexpected misfortune? Has a tragedy ever destroyed something or someone that you loved?

Such events are the middle passages of our lives. We all face them.

You may have lost a job, a home, or a loved one. Thousands of people are displaced, homeless refugees and orphans due to recent massive earthquakes, hurricanes, and devastating floods.

Roger Hart from Mole Hill Farm 

Q: I’ve been told to add "leaf mold" to my soil as a defense against nematodes. Does that mean to just old use old leaves that are left over from the fall? Do I just pile them around my tomato plants?

A: The term "leaf mold" technically refers to composted leaves but, yes, you can use last falls leaves. It is a very good practice to add leaves- or other types of organic material such as compost, straw or well-rotted manure to your garden soil. If you havenʼt planted the tomatoes yet, work the leaves into the soil before putting the plants in the ground; otherwise, carefully work the leaves into the soil around the base of the plants, taking care not to damage the roots and into the rows between the plants. The organic matter will not only add beneficial micro-organisms to the soil for pest control, they will improve the soil texture as well- improving water retention and drainage, air flow and nutrient availability. Healthy soil breeds healthy plants.

12 ACRES IN OHIO: America’s Favorite Backyard Bird

By Robin Arnold

At dusk, near the end of February this year, we saw a flock of 30-40 robins in the field just behind the shed. It’s not uncommon for some robins to form flocks and remain in cold northern areas all winter, while others migrate southward. As spring approaches, the flocks break up, the migrating robins come back, and the males begin claiming their territory, usually in the same area they nested in in previous years. The maple tree outside our bathroom window was home for many years to a robin family that built its new nest on top of the previous year’s nest.

Remembering the Fallen

By Nan Card, Hayes Presidential Center

"They lie there - shoulder to shoulder, in long trenches, six feet wide, four feet deep, and six feet apart – miles of graves." These words describe Andersonville, the Civil War prison endured by Henry Miller of Clyde, Ohio and his comrades.

After a humiliating defeat at Brice’s Crossroads in the early summer of 1864, Miller and more than two hundred of his regiment were captured, searched, and stripped of valuables and much of their clothing. They were then marched south through Mississippi and Alabama, watching helplessly as some of their comrades – both black and white – were executed along the way. They were destined for the 27-acre compound known as Andersonville. There Miller joined some 33,000 other Union prisoners of war.