Blueberry Season

Dear Lake Country Families, 

I am delighted to announce that we have reached blueberry season! We are enjoying the sweet blue jewels off of our own Land School bushes, as well as those from a blueberry farm about 25 miles from the Land School. This year at this blueberry farm, the Land School is caring for two rows of berries in exchange for the entirety of the harvest. I would like to invite you to come harvest with us, with the arrangement that you take home half of whatever you pick (at no cost), giving the other half to the Land School (to be frozen or made into jam). The bushes are loaded with fruit and we would love help picking and enjoying this beautiful harvest! Please let me know if you are interested: lkosowski@lakecountryschool.org 715-265-4608. 

Laura

Apprenticeship 1, June 21 - 25

by Grace

We have done so many marvelous, exhausting, exciting activities, including: weeding the garden in pouring rain, playing with the adorable cats, planting trees, and much more. Not only do we get to physically exhaust ourselves during the day, we get to wake up at seven in the morning. In the evening we get to relax. One night we watched a movie, another we went swimming at Clear Lake. But when the night ends we have to wake up at seven, to yet another marvelous, exhausting day, where we must either haul mulch up and down a hill for hours, or haul straw back and forth, each time wishing we could be in air-conditioning. Every morning we must make our own breakfast, which is totally different from our normal city life, where we have our parents bring us breakfast, while we watch tv in our pajamas. Of course in the city we also don't have tics crawling on us nonstop. The chores we get to do each morning are to collect eggs from the chicken coop, and feed Llarry, and Precious the llamas. Of course we also get to scrub their water bowls, which of course I'm always "excited" for.

by Sage

The day the apprenticeship took place started off with a nice relaxing “stroll” in the forest as we took our time examining the flowers, plants and other surroundings.  The following day we had the exciting job, and yes I do really mean it, of weeding the garden.  It always meets my satisfaction after the day’s work to look back and see all the weeding that we had accomplished.  We also spent much of our morning, the next day, planting oak trees so that some day when we're about 60 or so we could come back to see the big and strong trees bringing shade and life to the Homestead.  Each moment each day was new, wherever we went or whatever we did.  There was always work to be done and a long list to fill out for chores and work stuff that needed to be finished or started in the fields.  As the many activities filled up our day like weeding, planting and picking vegetables, I could have never forgotten the evening activities of watching a movie, hiking and swimming at clear lake.  I loved each event more and more as each one was new and fun.  I hope to come back next year for the apprenticeship once again.    

Learning to make beeswax candles

Fresh oregano from the garden, picked to be dried
for cooking in the winter

Mulched, re-trellised raspberries

Weeded garlic: the source of much satisfaction!

Tibetan prayer flags, hung in the animals' pasture

Sage, Grace, Mocha and one of our new
Land School oak trees! The two new oak trees
are from this year's graduation and were
planted during this first apprenticeship.

Flowers blooming in the Homestead gardens 

Along with herbs, we also harvested and dried
wood nettle, a relative of stinging nettle,
which can be used in soups all year long!

by Laura

The Land School is always brimming with life - the silent and raucous, the teeming and still, the subtle and vibrant. It is so alive that each time students arrive to spend time here with us on the farm, I am caught by surprise as I remember the new layers of life that their joyful presence unfailingly awakens from the land. For those of us to whom these fields, woods, stars and birdsong have become the assumed landscape in which we awaken each day, the students' enthusiasm and fresh discoveries renew our own capacities for wonder, appreciation, and awareness. Farming and teaching are two of the most exhausting things I do, and they are two of the things which most give me life and for which I feel so much love. After harvesting the wood nettle this past week, during which we got stung, upon which we found leaves of plantain to immediately sooth our irritated skin, one of the students remarked to me - ¨wow, there's so much I don't know,¨ to which I responded - ¨that's why you come to the Land School!¨ While I know that much of my life's work will involve an intimacy with and a deep listening to the land, it is only once I am able to share this passion of mine with others, only once I am given the opportunity to see a child's face brighten with wonder and to see the calm that enters them as they tuck plants into the earth, that my work finds its true capacity to fulfill me. For what are our gifts without someone to receive them? And what is knowledge if it does not continue to awaken and inspire? 

Farmstay 4, April 13-30, 2015

by Jacob

 April 13

Today there the first day of the farm stay. There was a great amount of orientation that took place. We went around the land school which was a nice way to get the place back in to our head. This farm stay is already so much fun I am so excited for the rest of the trip.

An Original Poem

by Brooklyn 

The little toy carousel left for me. Orange 

pill bottles unhidden on each shelf. An

oxygen tank as heavy as the life it provides, cattails 

from her golden fields. Picture

frames nailed upon the wall like a story book with only good things told, the

memories she chose to hold on to, chess 

pieces and cards scattered with care, the 

dear old man who wasn’t there. Jewelry; treasures from a pirate ship. Fairies

dancing all around the dearest one with broken wings,

and a tired yet determined heart.

Farmstay Pictures

by Iris

April 19

Hi, it's Iris, and this is my blog entry. Here are some of 

the pictures that I have so far... I hope you enjoy them!

Eva playing Badminton. 

The sunsets at the LS have been amazing!!

A little white flower I saw on our photo hike.

A branch with thorns on it that I also saw on our photo hike. 

Ko and Eva jumping.

Another sunset picture.

Ko playing Badminton.

A frog I saw on our photo hike.

The skull garden.

Daffodils. 

This picture is from when Sara Nelson, our English teacher, came to the 

LS with her two dogs. They were really cute and fun to photograph. 

So far, Farmstay has been really fun. It's been great getting to 

know everyone better and I am super excited for the rest of FS!

Our Crazy Camping Experience

by TeDabi 

April 19th

Last night on Saturday April 18th we went outside to camp in the field. The girls wisely set-up their tents while there was still daylight outside, but unfortunately us boys did not. So, at about 9:30 after Gallery Night (which is basically a talent show) we went into the homestead, brushed our teeth, suited up for a dark, cold night, and grabbed a whole bunch of blankets. 

Out at the A-field chaos was the order of the day. There were about 3 of us boys making an honest effort in setting up our tent, while the remainder of the boys messed around with the girls. So, after I don’t know how much time, we finally got our tent up with Katie’s help, only to realize that our rain fly was not put on correctly as to protect the whole tent from the rain. Understandably though, at 10:30 at night as it’s beginning to drizzle, you’re not so picky about where you’re sleeping, just that you’re sleeping. 

So we got into our tent and got ourselves situated, despite our unreliable rain fly. After messing around in our tent awhile we finally went to sleep all in one big row, the six of us. At 12:30 in the morning we awoke to complaints from Simon and Ben who unlucky for them were sleeping in the exact area that the rain fly did not cover. For Ben and Simon being soaked in rainwater, that was the last straw. They gathered their things and left for the homestead. We were down to 4 very tired boys who soon drifted off into a cold, fitful sleep. 

Throughout the night we continued to wake up numerous times. Either because of the rain water in our tent, the seeping cold, or our noisy, flapping tent in the strong wind, restful sleep eluded us all. Every time we awoke, we’d just pull our blankets closer around each other, get comfortable and try to once again, fall asleep.  

Finally, at 7 A.M. we woke up tired and crabby. Our camping trip had not gone exactly as planned…

Self Image (Morning Journal)

Eva

April 20

I think that self-image is something that we, especially in the junior high to high school age, but really throughout our whole lives struggle with a lot. Once I start looking, I notice many, many people who have put on or made for themselves a very different image then their “actual selves” mostly to fit in or not be judged. I think it often makes people much less pleasant to be around because they have discarded their own values for a new set. I find it hard to remember that the way people act sometimes doesn’t necessarily showcase what that person actually thinks and often is a result of something else going on or social pressures, etc. Talking to people alone who I don’t like in a group often gives me a new view because they usually have lots of interesting things to say and a view on the world that I wouldn’t expect, as well as being very friendly and kind when in a group they are mean. It’s even harder to remember because of the groups we (including myself) put people into and then stereotype to all be the same. I try not to judge people by what they may seem like on the outside but it is very difficult. I also try to be myself and live by my values, knowing that I will change and naturally not everyone is going to like me, and that’s okay. 

Indi’s Blog

The beauty in death

The beauty in death

Blood that runs cold,

Memories

Slowly drifting away.

Body parts weak,

Eyelids that creak,

Moving Into

An eternal sleep.

Indigo

Steep dark street

The walk down the street was lonely and quiet

One foot

Followed another

As I took my final steps.

Down

Down

Down

Down

Into a sea of desperation,

littered with garbage and toxic waste.

flaming stories full of lies,

And the memory of truthful words

That are now only echoes,

Constantly ringing in my ears.

But the worst part,

Was the guilt,

Which had taken the form of weights,

Wrapped around my legs.

I remember some parts of me yelling and screaming,

TURN BACK NOW!

But the pull to continue was too strong

And my legs were too weak,

So I continued my walk down the steep dark street.

Indigo

by Simon

April 22

In the last unit of the year in English we focus mainly on poetry. We are writing a lot of poems and we are learning about both the art and history of poetry. On Farmstay we are not getting many lessons on poetry, but we are still writing lots of poems while we are up here. Here is a short poem that I wrote called, “The Woods.”

The cold breeze chills my skin

While the sun sets over the horizon 

Heat vanishing.

Surrounding me the branches tangle out from the trees

Weaving and overlapping.

Silence fills the air 

Only to be broken by the song of the sparrow.

by Eamonn

April 23

This morning we had occupations. There are many great projects going on between the Facilities occupation and the Garden and Greenhouse occupation, such as herb gardens and painting the outhouse.  

Sara Nelson the English teacher also paid the Farmstay 4 students a visit to check in about their poetry and their general Farmstay experience.  

Sadly, farmstay 4 is close to it’s last week. The days are definitely beginning to go by faster now that everyone is on board with the routine.  

Today we also had an intense game of ultimate Frisbee, which ended with many tired students! 

We are currently working very hard in preparations for the spring festival, which takes place this Sunday the 26th.

by Booth

April 24

To day was overcast, but nevertheless it was fun. We started our day off with occupations. During occupations, my group, the Facilities group, made lunch and started to make food for the potluck. I made sloppy joes for the potluck (they are delicious!).

After luncheon we had a big chunk of micro-economy time, where we prepared and made our products that we will sell at the Planting Festival.

Here’s a special shout out to Teddy, my brother, who turns 12 today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TEDDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by Ben

April 25

I wrote and edited this poem while looking at the beautiful sunset each night. Here at the land school every night is beautiful either watching the sun fall behind the trees or watching it rise from the A-field.

Light of gold

Heavy with beauty

Resting on the horizon

Slowly moving put of sight

I try to save this light

I try to capture this shinning orb or gold

But all I do is watch your glimmering body fall into the trees

You light the world with a bright flash

But as you leave

Your sister brights the sky

With a pale white shine

by Lilian

April 26

I wrote this poem after going on a hike the first week of farmstay. It represents the connection of plant and human.

a sticky afternoon

in mid-may

the cricket sounds his trumpet of honor

and in the grass

small green garden snakes slither

around a sun-touched rock

a butterfly sits

gracefully

waiting

for the sun

to brush

against her wings

blown by a mint scented wind

as the sun

sinks

slowly away

along the thick

muddy

green grass

a girl wanders home

heavy boots

scratched legs

tired yet free

her black and curly hair

wild

flying as she runs

smiling

and holding

a small wicker basket

after a day of reaching

for the juiciest of blueberries

a break

from endless scrubbing

and confining clothes

coming home

she sees

the sun

shining on her

smearing her with sweat

and she thanks it

for its smiling light

and its reality

Farm Stay 3, February 23-March 12, 2015

Tapping Trees

by Martha 

February 28

Today at the Lake Country Land School we began tapping maple trees.

You start by drilling a hole into the tree. 

After drilling the hole we clean it out and insert the spile. We have to hammer the spile in. When it's in we check to make sure it is secure. 

At the end we put on the bags that the sap will drip into. 

by Sophia
March 1 

Today is Sunday and the seventh day of Farmstay 3. We have had so much fun here so far and the whole group is getting along really well. Because today is Sunday, we have a different schedule, which gives us a lot more free time. Everyone slept in this morning until about 9:00am and it was really nice. We had brunch today (instead of our normal breakfast and lunch) at 11:00 with pancakes, bacon and eggs. It was very delicious. Then, we all went downstairs and entertained ourselves with ping-pong, foosball, and board games. I ended up playing a very long and intense game of “Uno” but unfortunately it was cut short when we all went outside at 12:30 for a game of capture the flag. Capture the flag was really fun, we played in the woods which is possibly the best place to play capture the flag since there are so many cool places to hide your flag and you can hide behind trees. After that, we all came inside and had a lazy day, mostly hanging out downstairs. I finished making my “magic box” that Laura taught us how to make and I am very proud of it. She brought some really cool paper with pretty patterns, special cardboard and glue so that we could make them. Overall I had a really nice day and I’m super excited for tomorrow and the rest of Farmstay. 

my "magic box"

Steve Horner’s Maple Syrup Business

by Gabriel

March 2

Today for occupations, the maple syruping group took a tour of one the Land School’s neighbor’s maple syrup business. We got to see how the sap went from the trees to becoming syrup in a way that is very different from the way the Land School makes its maple syrup. It started with the way sap was collected.

At the Land School, we use hand drills and metal spiles to tap the trees, then hang plastic bags from the spiles to collect the sap. The neighbor, whose name is Steve Horner, showed his system of plastic tubing that ran out from two giant tanks and attached to the trees with plastic spiles. He explained to us how there was a vacuum pump that lowered the pressure inside the tubes so that sap would more readily come out of the trees, and we each got a chance to use a battery-powered drill to bore a hole in a tree and tap a plastic spile in with a mallet (see figure 1). Then he and an assistant connected the spile to the network of tubing. Instead of collecting bags of sap, pouring them into buckets, and carrying them to a truck like we do at the Land School, the system of depressurized tubes worked automatically to collect sap (see figure 2).

Figure 1: A plastic spile connecting a tube to a maple tree

Steve Horner sells some of the finished syrup wholesale to packagers, and some he bottles himself. The final part of our tour was of the packaging area. There was a tube bringing the syrup in from by the boiler, and a household water heater, which, Steve Horner pointed out, was much cheaper than specialized syrup bottling machines. After we saw this, there was some time for questions, and then we had to go. I learned a lot from the tour, and had a fun time finding out the differences between the Land School’s syruping operation and Steve Horner’s.

Figure 2: Tubes that bring sap to the two tanks on the right (the vacuum pump is in the shed on the right)

After we saw how sap was collected, Steve Horner showed us how it was made into syrup. Instead of simply boiling the sap until enough of the water had evaporated, he has a reverse osmosis system that can filter out about 85% of the water without heat. No reverse osmosis system can achieve the desired 40 to 1 ratio of sap to syrup, though, so next Steve Horner showed us a giant machine that finished the job (see figure 3).

Figure 3: Steve Horner's sap boiler

This machine took the concentrated sap on a long path across hot metal above a fire that boiled away the rest of the unwanted water. Sap took a long time to go through, but once the first syrup came out there could be a constant flow of syrup as long as the machine was on. The Land School makes about 20 gallons of syrup every year. Steve Horner makes about 55 gallons of syrup every day.

Farm Chores

by Demetrius (D12 D3q4612)/ Max (M301100)
March 3

As the sun rises early in the morning, the students of Lake Country Land School wake up and get ready to do the daily farm chores. As they walk across the freshly fallen snow they gaze out into the rising sun and they think about how great of an opportunity they have to be there. As they walk into the Red Barn they see the friendly animals just waking up. The students gracefully greet the animals and feed them grains of wheat. As they work in a fashionable matter they soon finish with the chores and return home just as the bottom of the sun breaks the horizon. As they enter the door of the homestead they are greeted lovingly by their peers and led to a great breakfast. 

by Miles

March 4

Today is Wednesday, the 10th day of our stay. So far I have had a great time and there hasn’t been any major arguments, or drama. We were forced to wake up at 7:30 this morning, which was followed by a breakfast of bagels, and cereal. After breakfast we had science, my friend and I are thinking of making a potato launcher (or spudzooka), we looked up instructions on how to make one. After we realized that we didn’t have the right materials to make one, we decided to create a barometer to measure the air pressure.  For lunch today we had Leak and potato soup with homemade bread. It was really delicious.  Today we had CEPE, which is, Creative Expression, Physical Expression. We had a choice between learning to direct ourselves using a compass and Snowshoeing. I chose the latter because I felt like I needed a more physical choice. 

Today was a great day and I am looking forward to the next week of farmstay.

Micro Eco

by Ethan

March 5

On farmstay, we go through a simulation of a very small economy.  We split into groups and we decide which products to make.  Each farmstay hosts an event at which we sell our products.  Ours is “The Pancake Breakfast”.  We have to calculate our profits, our expenses and much more.  Generally, a group will make two to three products.  Emre and I are making cutting boards, candleholders, and apple fritters.  Products range from bleach T-shirts to soap and chapstick.  We have to pay a 25% overhead fee to The Land School.  At The Pancake Breakfast, we take turns, being the cashier, cooking, and cleaning.  

by Emre

March 6

Today, being the only day left prior to the pancake breakfast, was quite chaotic. Everybody was trying to finalize their crafts and baked goods. We started the day at 7:30 with farm chores and breakfast. After that we had community meeting where we talked about how to pancake breakfast was going to happen. Following community meeting there was community work where we had options to, help set up the gathering room to sell the crafts, help set up the dining room and classroom for the event or make pancake batter in the kitchen. The three groups were divided up and everybody worked from 9:30 to noon. We had a delicious lunch consisting of dahl, bread and salad. Everybody was eager to finish packaging their final products to sell so for about two hours we had micro-eco time. While some people were outside others worked on cleaning the homestead so it would be nice for the following day. We had pizza for dinner at 5:00 and watched The Princess Bride at 7:00. After reviewing the schedule and etiquette for the pancake breakfast we all went to bed.

by Hazel

March 7

Every morning on Farm Stay we have been doing something called morning pages. We get a topic or questions given by Laura, Katie, or Donna and then we have ten minutes to journal about it. I have decided to share a few sentences from my journal entries for each day so far.

Day 2, February 24, 2015: Rebellion

I think the one thing you have to remember about rebellion is that you have to choose a right time. My mom always says, “Pick your battles.” This means don’t rebel against little things that don’t really matter to you. Pick the things that are the most important.

Day 3, February 25, 2015: Sustainability

I think people really just need to be aware of what they are doing at all times and remember to live sustainably. It is especially a lot harder in a city, I think, because everyone is so used to getting all the resources they want without even thinking where they come from, but here it’s like, “Wow, some second graders planted these beans, fifth graders harvested them, we put them in the root cellar over the winter, and now the cook crew put them on our plates.” It’s a lot harder to waste food when you know how much hard work you saw directly being put into the food you are eating. We just have to always be conscious and think about sustainability.

Day 4, February 26, 2015: Work

I don’t really like how work has a negative connotation Many young people like us are always stick to our phones and we don’t really do as much work as we could or as our ancestors did. That’s why I love being at the Land School. It’s not so much the free time or the no real school; it’s just being connected to the land.

Day 5, February 27, 2015: Accountability

I don’t know a lot about the section that Katie just read because a) I didn’t understand it probably because b) I was zoning out. So….

Day 8, March 2, 2015: Technology

I like technology because in a lot of ways, it makes your life easier. It’s easier to write because typing is faster, it helps you find information faster, and you can contact people faster. But it’s all about the faster. Do we really need things so fast? Are we so impatient that we can’t wait for someone to call you back so you have to spam him or her with texts or calls until they answer? In some ways, technology is great, especially in case of emergencies, but it is taking over our life and we have to learn how to moderate ourselves.

Day 9, March 3, 2015: Gratefulness

I feel grateful for many things in my life. I feel grateful that I get to be so grateful for all the things that I have to be grateful for, if that makes any sense. I feel grateful for all my friends. My teachers, my parents, and especially the Land School staff. I feel grateful for the Land School, ice arenas, Lake Country, my home. I feel grateful that I get to do hockey, soccer, and cross country, but most of all that I get the opportunity to go on Farm Stay.

Day 10, March 4, 2015: Recommitting- What are you personally rocking?

I think I am personally rocking “Stay Alive!” on our code of civility. A few days ago, the whole pot of boiling water, hot wax, and the actual stove collapsed. But nobody got injured or burned and we’re still alive! Yay!

Day 11, March 5, 2015: Friends

I value someone who is compassionate, loving, understanding, a good listener, but also not a bystander. Someone who will stand up for me and who has got my back no matter what. Someone who is funny, but also has different views than I do so we can debate. I like to debate. A lot.  You make yourself a good friend by being a good friend by practicing all the traits I said in the beginning. If you want another friend to treat you that way, you have to be loyal to them as well.

by Keegan

March 8

Today I woke up at around 8:00, completed my AM toiletry routine, and then aimlessly shuffled out in to the gathering room and fell back asleep only moments later. 

When came back to my senses I got up and walked into the dining area to see if I was on the cook crew. Since today is Sunday, I was pleased to find that it was brunch instead of our usual meal schedule as it gives the residence of farmstay around three hours of extra free time during AM hours. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that I was on cook crew as I enjoy washing dishes. 

Until it was time for me to be on cook crew I played the card game Uno. The game itself is very enjoyable, but is also very aggravating, as it requires little skill and based on the premise of luck. Like many other games it makes time fly, in the blink of an eye I looked at the clock and I was almost ten minutes late for cook crew.  

Five minutes later when I had put in my shoes and had secured my hat I strutted into the kitchen. I was then given the task of making scrambled eggs. It took me about twenty minutes to make twenty eggs. I cooked them in four batches five eggs at a time and burned all but the first batch of eggs. After that I washed dishes until it was time to eat.

The meal was very delicious. We had pancakes, sausage, fruit cups, and eggs. During this meal Ethan and I talked about Jazz and some other types of music that we enjoy listening to. As I was on clean up crew I cleaned my dishes first and got right to work on washing other people’s dishes. I washed dishes for the rest of the morning basking in the glory of hot soapy water.  

by Nina

March 9

On Farmstay we all have to do a science project so my friend Keegan and I decided to make a chart of sunset, sunrise and day length chart and then we decided to do something more artistic in addition. I found a video of a guy using buttermilk, food coloring and soap to make these cool colorful explosions. We decided to make a picture of a sunrise with food coloring.     

We started out just putting dots of food coloring in buttermilk on a normal plate.  Then we took normal dish soap and poured some in. I think I might have put a little too much soap in and it didn’t turn out as well as I would have liked it too but it was still fun to make. 

This is what the end result was:

As you can see there is a sun, the blue sky and the green grass. 

Here is also a video of the actual fractals growing close up:

After we were done taking the video I decided to just mess around with the colors and also took some pictures of the patterns I made. 

You can also do a similar experiment with normal milk, food coloring and soap, but it has a very different effect. 

Small Class H Overnight

We were searching for animal tracks. We are unsure what animal made these tracks, but it was a bigger animal that has paw prints.    

We also did stewardship and got some very good photos of the cats

Today, Oskar, Holden, Micah, Clayton, Billy and Cooper of Class H arrived at the Land School to begin their three-day overnight. It was filled with nature hikes, stewardship activities and lots and lots of photography. During one of their hikes, they collected firewood for the Land School’s supply. Photography was and is going to be the main focus of their trip. Stay tuned for lots of beautiful photos!

On day two we went skiing, did tie dye, made candles, and finished the day with a big game of "Apples to Apples." Day three came all too soon, we packed our bags, did Land School work, finished our candles and tie dye, and then cleaned up the places that we used.