Chippy’s new peanut plate is a simple test piece made with locally harvested clay and pit fired this fall.

Chippy has a new plate, and he’s already putting it to good use.

One of the pieces we made during our clays and ceramics work this summer and fall was a simple little plate stamped with clovers and daisies. It was a test piece, made from locally harvested clay here in Melgund Township, but we had someone in mind when we started making it. Chippy.

Chippy is a chipmunk who lives near the community garden that’s part of our land-based living lab. Most mornings, he’s busy scampering around looking for peanuts. You really have to watch where you’re stepping! He’ll grab a few peanuts and carry them back to his burrow in a nearby pile of gravel.

He’s also pretty comfortable around people. Sometimes he’ll come right up and take a peanut straight out of your hand. It’s hard not to get attached to a little guy who shows up every morning looking for breakfast.

So we decided to make him a plate of his own. Nothing elaborate, just a small handmade dish where we could leave a few peanuts for him to collect. We thought it would be fun to see whether he’d use it.

The plate was pit fired on October 24, along with some of our other test pieces. It’s made from clay gathered right here in Melgund Township, and the little clover and daisy impressions seemed fitting for a plate that would be spending its days in the garden.

Now Chippy has his own spot to stop for a snack. He’s still making his usual morning rounds, still running back and forth to his gravel burrow, but there’s a new stop along the way.

And yes, he seems pretty happy with his plate.