Shortest Day Photos

Frac Sand Mining

Noah

Frack Sand Mining

         On Monday we visited a Frac Sand mine in Menomonie, WI. Frac Sand mines dig up tons of sand that is almost perfectly round. Frac Sand can only be found in certain areas. Natural gas drilling companies have found a new way to extract oil from the ground using this type of sand.

         Unregulated Frac Sand mining poses many threats the environment and people. Frac Sand mines take up a lot of space and can destroy natural habitats for animals.  Another problem with frac sand mining is the Silica dust that the sand gives off. Silica dust is harmful to the human body. Lastly, Frac Sand mines require huge trucks and lots of gas guzzling machinery that pollute the environment.

Junior High Visit

            Today the Junior High came out to the Land School. It was good to see all of my friends. Today we got to do something called stewardship, and everyone had different groups, some of them were: birds and bees, facilities, gardening and farming, trails and orchard, biodiversity and restoration. Our group did birds and bees, and first we had to go to the bee hive and see if the bees are still alive. So we had to try to listen for the bees and listen for any buzzing, and we heard a lot of bees and some of the bees came out of the hive so I thought that was really cool to observe and hear. Also our goup got to go to the bird blind and count off birds and we had 7 different species of birds and the most interesting bird we found was the red breasted woodpecker. 

Teddy

Bowling Photos

The Craft Fair!

Earlier today the Lake Country Land School hosted a winter craft fair! The craft fair went very well. The atmosphere of the craft fair was very relaxed and joyful. As the Farm Stay students saw their parent’s cars pull up, the energy level rose. As friends and family filled the Homestead, we got more excited. As the day progressed we visited with our family and friends. At the end of the day we were all tired. As the last few cars pulled out of the driveway, we were almost falling asleep. The day was tiring and very fun.

                                   

                                                Julia

Holiday Fair Photos

The Student Sales Table

Erin and Matt

Juli and her Juli-ery

Making Grilled Cheese

Potato Leek Soup

Beautiful Maple Syrup!

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Thanks to Kris for providing massages!

You can judge a Land School event by how many cars - this was a good one!

Look at these diamond willow walking sticks!

Thanks to Laci for helping out!

A well-deserved rest.

Potato Leek Soup

Claire     

       Today is the day before the craft sale, and everyone is scrambling to prepare the last of our micro-economy projects to sell. Most of us have been baking and preparing other foods for the past day or so, but Sienna and I have been a little lazy, so we just harvested our frozen leeks from the garden and started our soup today.

            Our food item for the craft sale is potato-leek soup, made with Land School potatoes and leeks. We are super excited to see how it goes over at the sale tomorrow!

 Deborah Madison, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

Ingredients:

3 large leeks finely chopped

1 ½ pounds potatoes

2 tablespoons butter

Salt and freshly milled pepper

Milk or water to thin the soup

Land School Holiday Fair Info

What: Land School Holiday Fair

When: Sunday December 18th

           11 am to 3 pm

Where: Lake Country Land School (Click on the link below for directions and a map)

 http://lakecountryschool.org/LandSchool/LCLS_Dir.html

The Holiday Fair is hosted by Lake Country School Junior High students who live at the Land School for a 17 day "Farm Stay" experience. The students make crafts and food items to sell and we also invite local farmers and artists to come and display their creations. There is an emphasis on locally grown food items and hand-made crafts and works of art. It is a perfect time to come to Lake Country's rural campus, and if this weather holds we will be living in a winter wonderland. Plan to spend extra time with a hike to the bird blind or a visit to the Farmstead to greet the llamas. All are welcome.

Microeconomy

Micro Economy (for short Micro Eco) is an amazing way to learn how to create a product and sell it like an entrepreneur, and it is really fun.  I am making photo cards along with sugar cookies and hot cocoa.  Other people are making amazing other crafts from Christmas ornaments to dog treats, which is really cool to have that much variety.  All of the crafts that are made are hand-made and that is what makes Micro Eco so fun and interesting.  All of these things are being sold on Sunday the 18^th of December from 11am – 3pm, and is going to be amazing.  The product that are going to be sold are:

1.     Photo Cards

2.     Soap

3.     Dog Treats

4.     Felt Pins

5.     Plane Ornaments

6.     Pillows

7.     Candles

8.     Lip Balm

All of these products are amazing and will be sold at an amazing price and are all made by students.  We are looking forward to see you on Sunday the 18^th.

-Patty

Tuesday December 13th

         Farm Stay 2

      Today we did a lot of Micro-economy, which is the project we do where we make stuff to sell at the Holiday Fair on the 18^th.  Some of us skipped group play just to work on our final product. Some of us also worked on our projects for our Occupation groups (when we study interesting things about local issues). With Donna we are studying frac sand and what its effects are. In Andy’s group they are finding interesting historical facts about the Land School and what it was like before we came. I think that this day was not particularly full of things to do, but we did do some fun and interesting things today.

            -Jo   

Monday December 12th

Today was Monday; everyone was kind of tired, but in a cheery mood. In the morning Andy’s mentor group went to our neighbors' house. The people there are named Maynard and Arlene. They were very nice and told us a lot about the history of the Land School. After we got back from that we had a Outdoor Education with Kate.  First we sat by the creek for ten minuets for a reflection, then we went back to the Homestead and played capture the flag. That was a very fun thing that we did. I think that that was one of the best days of the farm stay.

-Lewis

Sunday December 11th

I think it is a universal thing to love the weekend. Yesterday was amazing, we got to sleep in to 7:30 (it was time to switch farm chores so we could not sleep in too late, but we usually get up at seven), and we had free time all day! We had brunch today. Usually at breakfast time we all make a small thing for ourselves and then clean up, but for brunch we had an actual cook crew. We made pancakes, bacon, some potato thing and grapefruit.  We also had a lot for free time, but one of the nice things was just to be lazy, and check our emails. I think Foosball was a really fun, because we would get really into it and we would play many games without stopping.  We also went outside a bit.  A few of us went to the tree house and played there. We made a small snowman that came up about to my waist and climbed the tree, which I love.  WE ended the day with a sauna.  My favorite part was running from the sauna and having a one minute snowball fight outside and then running back in. But sadly the weekend had to come to an end. Luckily the week is pretty awesome too. 
Sienna

Saturday at the Land School

            On Saturday December 10, like every day, I got up to do farm chores. It is the time where we connect with the animals.  I did a lot of work to make sure that the chickens had clean water.  After I got back from farm chores, I made eggs for breakfast.   Just as I had finished eating, Donna yelled “time for optional work for credit.”  This is where you can earn credits which can be exchanged for ice cream or at the end can be exchanged for money.  By the end I had made posters for the craft sale, moved stuff out of the green house, took nails out of several boards and topped the blueberry cages. It was 12 o’clock and I had earned 12 credits.  It was lunch-on-your-own day and I made grilled cheese.   Since I was on clean-up crew it was an ok crew.  Then we sledded all afternoon; this was so much fun.  Dinner was spaghetti.  Then the best part of the day - movie night!  We saw I Am Legend and She’s the Man.  This was immediately followed by bedtime.

Will

December 8th

            Today on Farm Stay 2 we started off with our Math study time then on to our Occupations. We have two Occupation groups. The one with Andy is the Historian Occupation group where we are learning about the history of the Land School. Donna’s group is the Activist group where we are learning about frac sand mining. Today Donna’s group made a great risotto for lunch. After lunch Kate took us out to the A-Field where we played Mountain Lion, Deer, Grass (a game like rock, paper, scissors). Then we went for a perimeter hike and moved on to our daily chores. Next it’s FREE TIME!!!! During free time we usually play ping-pong and listen to music. Towards the end of the day we cook dinner. Today was taco night! After dinner, clean-up crew cleans and there is more free time. Around 7 o’clock we have study hall, in which I am writing this blog entry. Next we will have a closing to the day and go to sleep. This is a pretty average day on Farm Stay 2. 

–Justine

Yay for hay!

Today we got five big bales of grassy hay delivered for our sheep and llamas to eat during the winter. Thanks to our neighbor Joe Swanepoel!

That is one big wagon.

The wind picked up and blew snow off the barn roof.

The sheep wasted no time before they went out to check out the new bales.

Photo Hike Farm Stay 2

This photo was a lot more interesting with the 3 eagles who were feeding on the deer carcass. They would not pose for us.