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An a-mazein' day down on the farm at Zekiah
Kids learn farm lore, have a little fun in sorghum maze
Friday, Oct. 24, 2008
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by JOANY NAZDIN
Cindy Thorne talks to a class of first-graders at Zekiah Farms in Bryantown.
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Cindy and David Thorne, the owners of Zekiah Farms in Bryantown, have many reasons to do a sorghum maze instead of the traditional corn maze this year.
"Sorghum is less intimidating for children," Cindy Thorne said. "Corn grows 10 feet tall, and can be scary for kids to go through. Sorghum is smaller and stays green longer. Sorghum will stay green as long as there is 12 hours of sunlight for it to grow by. Sorghum looks like corn, but it is drought-resistant, which can be important in this area some years. Plus, a sorghum maze is very beautiful."
Zekiah Farms features one of three corn or sorghum mazes in the Southern Maryland area.
There is the small maze, which is in the shape of one of Charles County's 350th birthday cake, with six learning stations. Then there is the larger maze, a three-mile twisty, turny nine-acre path which will lead the lost past clues, all Maryland-related. In the large maze, wanderers need to find clues which will help them solve a crossword puzzle. Zekiah Farms has the only corn or sorghum mazes in Charles County this year.
Participants will discover the state flower, jousting and square dancing clues in the mazes.
Thorne is big on fun, but also big on education. "We teach a theme here every year," Thorne said. "We are very education based."
Earlier this month, first-grade students from the Chesapeake Public Charter School in Lexington Park were enjoying the farm.
Thorne was giving the students some fascinating agricultural facts in the barn, while others were taking a hay ride around the farm's 300 acres. Some children were selecting their pumpkins from the farm's pumpkin patch, while others were visiting the goats, pigs, cattle, sheep rabbits and poultry that also live at the farm.
Anyone hungry can sample a hamburger or sausage made from the animals which are raised on the farm.
Thorne had a captivate audience while she talked about gourds and corn, two staples in the diets of the early inhabitants of Maryland.
Thorne told the children about all the things you can make out of corn, and then had the children guess how many sodas, which are made of corn syrup, you could get out of one bushel of corn.
"You can get 400 sodas out of one bushel of corn," Thorne said.
Other things the kids learned that day were that American chickens lay over 6 billion eggs a month. Pumpkins were used in Colonial times for removing freckles and also as a cure for snakebite. Pumpkins were originally used as the crust for pies, not the filling.
Sona Bonds, who is a teacher at Chesapeake Public Charter School, said that this is the first year her class has been here.
"We are trying to become accredited as a green school, and a lot of the things the children learn today tie into the curriculum they are studying," Bonds said.
Riley Anne Foster, 6, of Lexington Park enjoyed seeing the goats most.
"I like to feel their horns," Riley Anne said.
The barn had several goats and a sheep in a cast, which had a hurt leg.
"The sheep will keep the cast on for one week, and then it will need to get physical therapy," David Thorne said.
The sheep aren't the only animals that get good care at the farm.
Cody Thorne, 11, was proudly showing off his Black Angus heifer, which had won a reserve championship in the Charles County Fair last month.
The heifer had no name, it was just called 104.
"We don't name some of the cows," Cody said.
Marcia Egge of Alexandria, Va., was also visiting the farm that day. As a family friend, she visits often.
"I like the little piglets," Egge said, speaking of the new 6-week-olds. "I am a city girl, and I enjoy the farm life."
One thing Egge enjoys is the fresh apples which are available around this time of year at the farm.
"On my drive home, I eat a different kind of apple every time," Egge said.
jnazdin@somdnews.com
