Eat What you grow! Week #3

October 16, 2020. 

We covered a lot of ground today! There were 12 kids total today! A lot of new faces. Ranging in age from 4 years old to 15 years old. Some of the students' mystery seeds sprouted, so they were extremely excited about it.

First thing the kids did was update their farm logs. New members learned to do the same process. We were impressed by how prepared they were this time! No more flip flops, or sun dresses... They were wearing proper gardening attire! Working in the garden with a group of excited kids requires special attention. We have to make sure everyone is safe, nobody is left alone, everybody is having fun learning, nobody is destroying plants, and most importantly-  no one is crying! Tough gig!

Once they finished their Farm Log updates, we moved on to pepper harvesting. Young ones are becoming pros! They really enjoyed harvesting peppers! They are starting to know the names of a variety of peppers, which ones are hot, which ones are their favorites... all of that! Parents were in our pepper field picking their favorites as well! After we spent about 30 minutes in the pepper field, we moved on to "Juicy Fruit Land." Kids already know where to go! They were running to get there as fast as they could! Their next target was cherry tomatoes! We encouraged them to pick it right off of the plant and eat them! Some in their mouth, some in their bucket... Each kid has their own bucket and a pair of scissors. They were exploring the whole garden to see what else they can pick. "Ms. Kay, what is this?" "Hey Pepper Master (my husband)! Is this pepper really really hot??" "Is this ready?" They were EVERYWHERE! Some kids were giving the updates to the new faces about what's going on in Juicy Fruit Land. All about how they harvested peanuts, big pumpkins, watermelons... 

We harvested a lot of peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, and zucchini. We took those to outdoor kitchen in our backyard, and grilled our fresh picked veggies! Kids were learning how to use a knife and safely cut veggies, how to prepare the grill, how to start the fire in a camping situation, using pine needles and coal. Our goal is to teach kids how to be self- sufficient, so not only teaching them how to grow veggies, we are teaching how to survive in real-life situations. 

After they enjoyed their quick BBQ'd veggies and hotdogs, it was time to burn some calories! They went back into the garden with their buckets! They love feeding our goats, so each kid filled up a bucket full of weeds. Some for the chickens, some for the goats, and some for the dumpster- they are noxious weeds... They were teaching each other what goats like to eat, what we need to throw away... We were little nervous! We were hoping they wouldn't pluck our little seedlings that have germinated so beautifully! But they know, and if they were not sure, they followed us and learned which ones are weeds and what they can pick out. Kids learn quickly! They were racing to fill up the buckets with weeds! Can you believe that? Everybody needs a GOAL! Their goal was to feed these cute little goats! Anything for the goats! 

After they filled up their buckets, they all went to see the goats! "Choco!" "Latte!" Our goats are loving it! Bet our goats know when Friday comes! FEAST!!!!!! Make it RAIN, kids!! 

And then, the Egg Relay! Crazy idea! We used our fresh eggs on a little teaspoon! Team Work! Kids were so careful not to drop the egg. Teammates were cheering for each other, and parents were filming and cheering for everyone. One little girl could not beat the pressure. She was trying so hard not to drop the egg, and she thought she was not good enough, so she started to cry and said "I can't do it..." Then one of the parents decided to give her a hand- or a pair of legs! He picked her up while she was still holding the egg on the spoon, and carried her through the entire course! Instantly, she got her cute smile back. This was a heartwarming moment for us all! Great parents, great kids!

After the race, was the final task of the day. Almond cracking! Our local farmer friend donated a lot of raw almonds to us, so we decided to do a little project. We prepared the instructions for germinating almond seeds. Each kid received 10 almonds. Their science project was to germinate the almond seeds. We are looking forward to hearing some good news! Take-home projects bring the farm home with the kids!

It's always pleasure to share our skills with the next generation. These kids are learning a lot! The reward is great. It's not always about money! It's about how many smiles we see from everybody! 

Keep it locked, in our next blog, we will be discussing Downtown Cluckshaw, and how you can build great chicken coops with recycled pallets and corrugated steel roofing panels.

We built a town!!!