Then come back and learn about the Cecropia tree and how it has helped our sheep (just barely) survive the dry season.
The Cecropia is a genus of fast growing pioneer trees. The sheep have always loved to eat their leaves. We always have preserved the small trees that are in the meadow. I think that the shade they provide helps conserve soil moisture and the grass has always grown better in the shade of the many small trees. Among these meadow trees is the Cecropia, tallest of all. fast growing and loved by the sheep.
One thing that must be mentioned regarding Cecropia is that it often is inhabited by ants. Cecropia ants, a species of ant that lives in symbiosis with the tree, bite hard and rush out at the first blow of a machete. It makes it slightly dangerous to chop the trees as the ants can be present in astonishing quantities.
Cecropia also has numerous possible medicinal uses. Indigenous peoples use it to treat asthma, COPD, and diabetes among other things. It produces fruit for a number of species of birds and mammals. And it is a very beautiful tree.
We have a lot of Cecropia trees. We needed them this year. It takes about three or four medium to large trees to feed our twenty some sheep every day. As the last Cecropias in the meadow were felled, I began to fear what would happen if the rains did not come before they were gone. We eventually were chopping them from the other edge of the forest and dragging them, stinging ants and all, to where the sheep could eat them in the meadow.
The dangers of feeding sheep by machete became clear about three weeks ago. I was awakened by Rebecca who explained that Johnny had cut himself on the head with the machete. As I approached I saw very little blood and so I expected it must be very minor. As I looked closer, I saw that he had sliced his forehead about an eight of an inch deep or more. There was no bleeding as is normal in a head wound. He was very lucid and did not seem to be in shock. He just sort of "didn't want to bleed to death" and so he wasn't bleeding. I have read of such things, sometimes people are able to stop a wound from bleeding. I could not see the bone of his skull, but I knew that the cut went that deep.
We try to avoid doctors and hospitals. The wound had not appeared so bad to Rebecca. Everyone was a bit surprised when I said we needed to go to the hospital immediately. When Johnny and I entered the emergency room, it was about 6 am. The Cuban doctor saw the wound and immediately ushered us in to a room and began getting lidocane, a kit of forceps and such wrapped in green towel, and a suture kit. In a very short amount of time, Johnny had gotten four stitches, a tetanus shot, a prescription for ibuprofen and tetracycline. He had the stitches taken out a week later and is fine. We all got tetanus shots and we all will go back after six weeks have passed to get the shots repeated.
If you read the news article I linked to at the beginning, you might remember that it said that rain would come in early June. It did.
5 comments:
Thank the gods the rains came!
And thank them for Cecropia trees, too.
And that Johnny's head wound was not even more serious than it was.
I note with interest that the doctor available to treat him was Cuban. I've heard the Cubans are supplying good health care personnel to several Latin and South American countries. Of course, this information is not provided through American media.
I hope that the rainy season has provided enough water to restore a supply of forage for your goats and sheep.
My response to your post was delayed by a visit to family that was originally scheduled to involve a week but ended up taking the better part of three weeks instead.
Please let me know, oh, great Cecropia Fairy, how things are going now that the rainy season has begun.
Abiding Love, Peace and Support,
- Storm
In Ohio, it rained so much in May that we couldn't plant corn until June. Now we need rain. The Butler Co Fair had 20% less attendance this year because of 90+ degrees and high humidity. Goats and sheep are popular 4-H projects here, about 160 goats and 60 sheep. Our boys each took a Holstein feeder calf.
How are the mosquitos? Still sleeping with nets?
Hello! You have an interesting website. It is nice to visit here.
Hi Janet,
The dry season lasted through May so people here did not plant corn until June due to the drought. Now the price of corn is $50bz a 100lb sack, which hurts our chicken endeavors.
We are getting rain now, probably a normal amount, but I have planted cassava and sorghum and I want more rain for those things.
The mosquitoes are ah.. numerous. We always sleep in our nets. In fact about half an hour before dark we get in the nets for mosquito hour. They are worst at dusk.
We have 20 some sheep now. Our ram is now almost three years old and he is getting very dangerous. Only one of his daughters look worth keeping, so I would like to keep him one more round. We have to eat him though, because he is now a serious danger. We have two of his sons to use as replacements.
Hi StormRider,
Yes I am glad for the rains and the Cecropia trees. The Cecropias are already recovering and might be ready for the next dry season.
We ate a sheep named Safmo. That stood for Slaughter at Four Months Old. He was something like nine months old when we finally got around to eating him. I don't really enjoy killing sheep, but he was tender and delicious and we ate sheep meat for two weeks. Which is a neat trick without refrigeration.
The dogs ate well as did the kitties. We have three kittens. Their function will be to kill the mice that are eating my expensive corn.
Two of our dogs are pregnant. I am preparing for little tragedies as the dogs are too young, too small and not feed well enough. But they ate very well for two weeks during their pregnancy.
The Cuban doctors are great. I want to find out more about them. A young Belizean man from the village as gotten a full scholarship to study medicine in Cuba.
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