February 23, 2012

Reece - lower elementary

Today at the farm we measured the garlic.  The tallest plant was 33 inches tall!  Upper elementary took care of the chickens.  We weeded the snapdragons.  I found moss that looked like fairy houses.  We had banana muffins for a special birthday snack for Farmer Edwin.  After snack we planted sugar snap peas in our garden bed.  We went back to the barn and Farmer Edwin told about chicken treats and chicken no no's.  Cooked potatoes are chicken treats.  Dried beans, avocado skins and pits are chicken no no's.  Chickens like people food.  They eat pineapple and cheese but they don't eat sugary foods.

I saw the bee hives.  We are going to visit them soon.  I had a great day at the farm!

  Snapdragons    Fairy moss

February 16, 2012

Andrew Hosp - upper elementary

At the start of farm class today we talked about the process of germination. We planted sugar snap peas in seedling trays. My hypothesis is that the sugar snap peas we are going to plant outside will grow better than the ones we planted in trays because of natural sunlight and outside air. We each presented our chicken coop design to our classmates and voted on our top three. The top three selected were Jaqhuan, Andre, and Heather/Trevor's. Farmer Edwin is going to take back the three designs to the chicken coop builder and decide which design will work best for our farm and chickens.




 Emma Leos - lower elementary

We voted on our chicken coop designs in farm class today. The three we picked were Jaqhuan, Andre and Heather. Heather and Trevor had the same basic design. We planted sugar snap peas and we also learned how a seed germinates.

February 9, 2012

Trevor - upper elementary

Today at the farm after we reviewed the farm guidelines, the upper elementary went out to check on the garlic. The tallest garlic plant was 31" and so was the constant. While we were checking on the garlic we found a garlic plant growing outside the bed in like a crack in the rocks with dirt. I wonder how that happens because you can not bury a garlic bulb in the rocks. Then Farmer Edwin reviewed the Chicken coop care. There are four jobs and they are changing the chickens food, changing their water, cleaning their shelter and harvesting the eggs. After that the upper elementary weeded our bed while the lower elementary picked spinach and then we changed jobs. We cleaned the spinach we picked and I got rid of the bad spinach by eating it. Farmer Edwin made homemade spinach pesto that we picked. The upper elementary made flatbread on the grill. When it was done we all came together and sampled the flatbread and pesto. It was great!

Spencer - lower elementary

Well, today at the farm one of the chickens pecked my finger when we were reviewing chicken care with Farmer Edwin.  I was just trying to pet her, and even though she pecked my finger I still love her.  We fed the chickens, gave them water, cleaned their shelter and harvested their eggs.  We had two eggs today.  One green egg and one tan one.  I got to herd the chicken back into the coop.  It was kind of confusing because I did not know where the chicken was trying to go, and I was afraid she might peck me again but she didn't!

February 2, 2012

Jahquan - upper elementary

 First we saw the Chicken Lady at the farm today. It was fun. She gave the Montessori School at Hampstead three chickens and their coup to take care of. There is Daisy. She is the big yellow chicken and is a Buff Orpington. Violet is medium size, mostly black. I held her and she tried to fly away. My hands were sweaty and I don't think chickens like to get their feathers wet. The third was named Rosie. She is the smallest of the three chickens. She is golden black and an Americana chicken. Farmer Edwin said it is our job to feed, change water, clean coup and harvest eggs each day. Daisy lays green eggs and Rosie and Violet lay tan eggs.

 Our homework for this week is too research chicken coups or come up with our own design. The coup the Chicken Lady brought today is really cool. Farmer Edwin showed us how it worked and how to care for it!

January 26, 2012

Destin - lower elementary                                                     

I really liked pulling the strawberries that were growing over the edges of the strawberry bed. After we pulled the extra strawberries we replanted the plants in peat pots. The peat pots are biodegradeable so when we take the strawberry plants home we can plant them directly in the ground. This way we don't disturb the roots.

We also harvested the largest garlic plant from both of our garlic beds and took them back to the classroom with some turnips. Each student chopped up a piece of turnip. Ms. Susan and Farmer Edwin sauteed the turnips with a little garlic and olive oil. I liked the turnips ok but they were sour.