Winter Camp Update: Thursday 12/9
We visited a few places on the farm today that the students had not seen yet. The Medicinal herb labyrinth and the Old German houses. These houses once belonged to a German family that homesteaded on the land about 200 years ago. We talked about all the time and energy that would go into building a home from scratch, with basic tools and a lot of muscle & how their life may have been on a daily basis. All the kids agreed that if they had to build a house from scratch, it too would be small and easy to maintain. They would be willing to give up their playroom :-)
The Medicinal herb labyrinth is a spiral garden where we grow medicinal herbs. We got to taste some plants and talk about how plants are used as medicine. Nearby this special spot is an awesome Red Harvester Ant nest. We got to see their huge entrance to the nest and how they create paths through the grass, like a highway, and move through the meadow harvesting seeds and dead insects to bring back to the colony. Ask them about these ants…they are fascinating.
In this new area of the Farm, there were so many new trees to climb and the whole class could climb them together. The picture turned out adorable!
We played two really fun games today: Feesh and Foxes & Rabbits. These games teach us a lot about predator and prey relationship and give us some really good exercise.
I hope you enjoy the nature art - Christmas trees. Going on a hike to find three straight sticks of relatively equal length proved to be quite the task but fun. They all worked hard on those and were diligent on getting the sticks wrapped with the yarn just right.
We fed the chickens today and said good-bye to them. Some of the kids insisted that the rooster said good-bye back to all of us.
I do hope to see all of you again out at the Farm or even at the Vineyard. Here is more information about our upcoming farm school semester & more information on our organic veggie CSA program, if that interests you.
Happy Holidays!
~ Miss Tammy
Winter Camp Update: Wednesday 12/8
I suspect the kids will sleep well tonight. They got some great exercise today & it got quite warm!
We started our day with a chat about some important Farm work that takes place on Wednesdays & Fridays. These are big harvest days where we pick all the produce that’s ready to go into our CSA Veggie bags. These are veggies for our community. So they put on their farmer hats and join Farmer Cullen & Austen out in the field to harvest turnips and radishes! As eager as they were to just start pulling things up, we all had to be patient and look carefully to make sure the crops were in fact ready to be pulled. They all did great. Afterwards, we spent some time chopping off the long leafy greens and placing the round bulky bulbs of the radishes and turnips in the baskets to get washed. We shared that we compost the leafy greens so that it will soon decompose to help create more fertile soil so we can grow more organic veggies.
Next, it was some chicken time. The group has become familiar with the tasks and some of the kids took the lead and grabbed the bucket of fermenting chicken feed and went ahead and fed the chickens. Then they went ahead to collect the eggs. “Cheeks” the chicken greeted us for some snuggles.
We played a really fun game of Capture the Flag. The kids ran and ran and ran all over the big open field. They worked together to strategize their plan for capturing the flag, which was quite impressive and heavily included the little 3-year-olds doing a sneak attack! Here’s a video for you.
Banana boats…yummy! Although nothing in these banana boats came from the farm, the practice was more about learning how to cook food over the fire, just like humans have always done. We re-discussed the rules of fire building, we harvested the tinder and wood and watched our teen assistants, Teague & Danica, build the fire. Then we had to let the wood burn down into coals and while that was happening, we created our boats. Can they tell you the ingredients and the steps? The boats were then wrapped in foil and laid over the coals for about 5 minutes and voila, ready to eat! With sticky hands and chocolatey faces, it was time to do the dishes. If you ever want your kids to help more with the dishes, set up a wash station outside and they will get done!
See you all on Thursday for our final day of camp together!
~ Miss Tammy
Winter Camp Update: Tuesday 12/7
The morning was quite chilly at 39 degrees so we began our day with a lot of movement. We played a favorite game of Farm School: Hungry, Hungry Seagulls. Cali the farm dog stole one of the cones and so they kids loved chasing her around trying to retrieve it. Not sure who was more tired afterwards!
After snack time, we fed the chickens and checked for eggs. Only 2 eggs today! We discussed how chickens will slow down egg production in the colder months as a natural protection method against the cold. They use that energy to stay warm, rather than laying eggs.
The big farm project today was planting some plants in the garden beds. We planted mint and cardoons (related to artichoke). The kids were so natural at planting and they really enjoyed tucking them in with hay mulch afterward to help keep them warm. Since our hands got dirty while planting, naturally they wanted more mud play. So, to the mud kitchen we went. Some kids made a lot of mud, some kids figured out how to make a see-saw with some wood, while others enjoyed digging in the dirt searching for clever finds.
We got to witness Farmer Cullen spraying the plants with compost tea, which we learned is like giving them vitamins and probiotics to make the plants more robust against insect pressure and the cold. It also adds fertility. It was a stinky chore since there’s fish emulsion in the compost tea spray and the group could only stand it for a few minutes.
Tree climbing was another big part of the day. I always tell them that if they can climb by themselves, then they can climb the tree. This allows them to figure out their own body mechanics, check in with themselves if they feel comfortable enough to try and it’s quite empowering. The tricky part for some is coming back down. With a gentle reminder of taking a deep breathe when they feel scared and trusting that their body knows what to do (and of course I’m standing with my hands nearby just in case), they figure out how to calmly climb down. Then they are full of smiles and confidence!
The day was another beautifully fun one!! Two more days together and many more intriguing things to do at the farm together.
See you all tomorrow!
~ Miss Tammy
Winter Camp Update: Monday 12/6
Today was such a wonderful day together. What a sweet group of children. This is going to be a fun week!
It was chilly this morning with that northern wind. So, we built a fire. Before we did that, we learned how to build a fire and all the safety that goes with it. The kids harvested tinder from the bark of the Ash Juniper trees, collected various sizes of twigs & branches for fuel and then watched as the fire was built. As the fire roared, we enjoyed snack time and a cute story about a rock friend. If your child brought home a rock today, ask them why.
We spent most of our day exploring the farm and walking the property, asking ALL the questions, being very curious, making friends, and soaking in the outdoors.
We visited the chickens, fed them and collected their eggs (2 dozen of them). We learned about our two roosters and their very important role protecting the hens.
We walked the entire farm and tasted as much as we could growing from the field. Snow peas were a hit and they even liked the arugula and cilantro. Guess things taste better straight from the ground. We grow medicinal herbs as well, so the children tasted lavender, lemon balm, mint, Mexican mint marigold, and borage flowers. There’s definitely something magical about a child harvesting straight from the plant and doing it themselves!
We got to say hello to the cows who were lounging under a giant oak tree. The Longhorn always gets attention with oohs and ahhhs!
Then came the highlight of the day…playing in the creek bed. This is the perfect place where the kids can practice climbing, jumping, sliding down the hills, building and constructing art with stones. This group all worked together and played a very cute dragon game.
Today was a very fun day and it was such a joy seeing all the friendships coming together.
I am looking forward to more exploring over the next few days.
~ Miss Tammy