Week 5 Update - Young Farmers

Hello everyone.  I had the honor of being your Young Farmers’ teacher this past Friday.  What a fun day getting to know everyone and share what I know and do on the farm.  

We started the day with playing games at drop-off, then we met with just our class to play some fun name games and a butterfly game.  On the walk to our classroom there were many fascinating questions and observations made from some of the students about how beautiful the trees looked and how interesting it was that many diverse trees and plants grow in clusters around the larger trees.  So, we chatted about that as a group and then decided to do a sit-spot, with a twist.  So many of our classmates love to draw, so each student grabbed a clipboard with blank paper, some pencils or markets and sat for about 10 minutes near a tree of their choosing.  They were asked to just observe, be curious, feel whatever comes up while they sat there, then they could write, draw or just sit to capture what they experienced.  When we were all done with that, some students felt inclined to share what they experienced.  

One of the Farm projects of the day included planting seedlings that have graduated out of the hoophouse and were ready to be planted out into the field.  Some students planted arugula and some planted bush beans.  While the group seems to ‘tired out’ of this activity rather quickly, it was also a wonderful time for them to have great conversations while working their hands in the soil.  Soil Social time!

Another Farm project we accomplished was planting medicinal seeds in the hoophouse.  Before doing so, we talked about how we make our own potting soil by using compost from our farm, perlite, and peat moss.  The students poured the soil into the potting trays and planted about 300 seeds that will grow into herbs that we will use as herbal medicine.  They planted: Bergamot, motherwort, comfrey, skullcap, echinacea, Nettles, and mugwort.  It was a pleasure to see how comfortable the students felt working in the hoophouse with knowing how to weed the other seedlings, how to water and plant the seeds.  

Farmer Cullen joined up with our class and showed the students how to plant different plants and why we space plants the way we do.  We talked about watering the new transplants and what to look for before and after planting in the ground.  The class was able to plant transplants into one of our raised beds using the square foot gardening method.  They filled an entire 9’X4’ bed with fall veggies.

Many riddles were passed around and shared and some of the students tried to stump me with previous riddles they’ve learned from Ms. Bridget.  Luckily for me, I’ve already heard them!  There was also some epic tree climbing.  

I really enjoyed myself with the group and we had a productive day on the farm.  Enjoy the pictures and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again this Friday.

Miss Tammy