Week 1 Update - Young Farmers
We had an awesome first day today. We started off with a group game of Jedi dodgeball, then broke off into individual classes. We set up in our outdoor classroom around the strawbales, then did some icebreaker games to get to know each other a little better. We then reviewed our agreements for working together here on the farm. Here’s a quick summary so you are familiar with them:
I will be safe with my hands and feet.
Stop means stop and no means no.
I will speak respectfully to others.
I will ask before picking or tasting a plant.
I will respect the plants and animals on the farm.
I will use all tools correctly and safely.
I am committed to reaching resolution when conflicts arise.
During snack time we challenged each other with some tricky riddles, then set off for a tour of our farm space.
We started at the greenhouse, where we began an experiment to determine if the moon has effects on planting seeds. Tradition holds that it is best to plant above ground crops between the new moon and the full moon, then planting root vegetables from the full moon to the last quarter. No planting should be done between the last quarter and the new moon as this is considered a barren time. We noted all the seedlings currently growing on calendars along with the phase of the moon when they were planted. Stay tuned for our results!
We also started two flats of onion seeds in the greenhouse, then continued our farm tour which included the row beds (currently planted with tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, squash and okra.)
We also visited the herb beds and did some plant family ID.
We finished by visiting the compost area, aka “the heart of the farm” Compost is a key ingredient of healthy soil and we’ll be learning lots more about the almost alchemical process that happens inside a compost pile. Hopefully, they catch my enthusiasm for it!
After lunch, we hiked up to the cows, then worked on our calendar project in the cool of the tasting room.
We ended the day with a journaling exercise where we reviewed what we learned and came up with questions for next week.
Socially, they all did great. Though the group was a bit quiet at the beginning, there was plenty of engagement and laughter by the end of the day.
A few housekeeping points:
Please remind them to bring towels and backpacks class each week, along with their journals. The towels are needed for sitting on the ground and in our straw-bale classrooms.
If rain is in the forecast, make sure that they are prepared with for the jackets and appropriate footwear. We will be working all kinds of weather!
You will be seeing an invitation for the FreshGrade app I mentioned in my previous letter. Both you and your student are welcome to sign up. I know that some students do not have their own email address, so it’s fine if they use a parent address instead. This week’s assignment will include a short video about soil health. They also have been assigned the task of researching the average first frost date for our region.
Here’s to cooler weather next week!
Have a great weekend,
Ms. Bridget