Today marks the beginning of Farm Stay 2. Eleven Junior High students arrived at just before noon today to begin a 15 day experience on the farm. As they got off the bus, the sense of anticipation was bouncing off of them like a hundred tennis balls. There are 6 students who are brand new to the Farm Stay, and as they piled into the Homestead building one could see that there was a little trepidation mixed in with the glee.
Right away we divided into mentor groups and went on a hike. There was a gentle snow falling and everyone got to put on the full array of snow gear for the first time. My group witnessed something I had not seen before. Right in the middle of the trail there was a little fuzzy caterpillar on top of the snow. There was fresh snow, so obviously this caterpillar must have gotten there somehow today. We picked it up and it was alive and moving slowly. Hmmm. We tried to set it down in a place off the trail sheltered from the wind. Later we scared a big owl, which flew away ahead of us.
After the hike, the students had Science with Doug and got to try on the snowshoes, visit the bird blind, and learn how to monitor the weather and phenology. Later, they got to pick their daily chore job, and we had a great dinner of roast chicken and land school broccoli, squash, and potatoes. Tonight we’ll go over the rules and schedule and do some more unpacking before lights out.
Tomorrow we go over to Conklin's Tree Farm to help harvest the holiday trees.
Right away we divided into mentor groups and went on a hike. There was a gentle snow falling and everyone got to put on the full array of snow gear for the first time. My group witnessed something I had not seen before. Right in the middle of the trail there was a little fuzzy caterpillar on top of the snow. There was fresh snow, so obviously this caterpillar must have gotten there somehow today. We picked it up and it was alive and moving slowly. Hmmm. We tried to set it down in a place off the trail sheltered from the wind. Later we scared a big owl, which flew away ahead of us.
After the hike, the students had Science with Doug and got to try on the snowshoes, visit the bird blind, and learn how to monitor the weather and phenology. Later, they got to pick their daily chore job, and we had a great dinner of roast chicken and land school broccoli, squash, and potatoes. Tonight we’ll go over the rules and schedule and do some more unpacking before lights out.
Tomorrow we go over to Conklin's Tree Farm to help harvest the holiday trees.
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