Monday, April 30, 2018

Farm Stay 4: Day 14

In the morning Callie’s group taught Andy’s group to do Animal care at 7am. At 7am Katie’s group did breakfast and at 7:30am Jen’s group did cleanup. At 8am the science period started and ended at 9am giving the beginning of Morning meeting, the topic of the journaling was “things that you want to remember.” The morning meeting ended and Occupations began at 10am. In the farm Occupation we talked about the website that we were making and did greenhouse work. After Occupations ended, we did a mentor lunch at 12 to talk with your mentor and check in with him, when mentor lunch ended and all the groups arrived at the house we started the MicroEco Report Back and Clean Up at 1pm in which we determined if we made money or not at the event. At 3:30 we started Physical Expression and we played "The Most Dangerous Game" (which is actually not dangerous at all). At 4:30 we started Daily Jobs and at 5pm Student Led Diner began, the students prepared burgers and ice cream shakes. At 7pm Study Hall we planned the E1 mentee visit in which we decided what we were going to do when they came on Wednesday. At 8:30 the Closing started and Andy’s group went to do evening animal care. In the closing we talk and shared stories, and at 9pm we went to the wings and at 9:30 Lights off and finally at 10pm “GO TO SLEEP OR PRETEND TO BE ASLEEP!”
-Sebastian

Farm Stay 4: Day 14

Today, we had Science and then Occupations after that we had a mentor lunch where we checked in with our mentors and talked about the group in general. After that we had a Micro-Eco wrap up where we figured out how much money we made at the event. We had a student-led dinner where Evan, Gavin, and I made burgers, malts and fries. Overall, it was a great day despite how everyone was starting to get fed up with each other.
-Rohan



Sunday, April 29, 2018

Farm Stay 4: Spring Festival

Today we had the Spring Festival. Finally all the preparation- frying donut holes, making lotion and lip balm- had payed off. I had a great time selling our products and seeing my family. I really like how all of us on Farmstay 4 were able to pull of our Micro Economy projects. My favorite parts of the process for making all the products were: figuring out how much each product cost to make, what Yasmin and I would price a single item for, and figuring out how much of a profit we could make. Surprisingly I am not disappointed that our products did not sell out because I know Yasmin and I had a lot of fun making each item.

When I grow up I really want to be a financial analyst working for a company like Piper Jaffray. I know financial analysts spend a lot of time making models in google sheets, and for our projects we also used google sheets to track things like gross revenue, overhead and profits. Evan helped us all put the sheet together, and I hope someday I can do that too. I think it is really cool that I can connect things we do at the Lake Country School Land School to what I want to be when I grow up.

There are only four more days left of Farm Stay. I don't want to go. This place, these people, the animals, have become my home away from home. I want to make the most of this trip and live every day to the fullest. It is so beautiful here, and I am having an amazing time. I know I will miss the Land School, but for now I'll just ride the wave.

- Maya






Saturday, April 28, 2018

Farm Stay 4: Day 12


It was mostly a normal day except there was a lot of planning for the Spring Festival. We had movie night today, the movie we chose was Big Hero 6. We had optional work for credit, Physical Expression, and a lot of free time. During free time there were a lot of people frantically baking to get ready for the Spring Festival.
-Sam

Thursday, April 26, 2018

Farm Stay 4: Day 10

Farm Stay has been going by very fast. The days seem like they’re blending together, and while that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it means that Farm Stay will be over soon. I half want it to be over and half don’t. I love Farm Stay, and I really like connecting with the people in my various groups. The fact that I only have about two more visits here as a student is very prominent in my mind, and I am trying to savor every second that I am on the land. The only reason I would want it to be over is that I think we all might be getting a little tired of each other.

Today was the French Competition which meant that we woke up, had breakfast, and got into the vans to drive to Minneapolis. When we got to Coffman Union at the University of Minnesota, where A Vous La Parole is, we had about 20 minutes before we had to be back at the auditorium to perform. All of the LCS groups performed and did great. Then we had 50 minutes until we had to leave again. The whole French Competition felt very short for a lot of people, me included. But, we got to see our friends and wander around and get food/Jamba Juice so that was fun.

When we got back to the land school, we received our medals (blue, the highest ranking) and then went straight into Micro Eco time.

Overall, today was a fun day with a lot jam packed into not very much time. It went by really fast, but we all had fun.

--Bea

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Farm Stay 4: Day 9

Today is Day 9, April 25. We're half way through Farmstay already! Today was a normal day. We spent a lot of time practicing for the French competition, which is tomorrow. I think we're all pretty nervous. We're also really busy preparing for the Spring Festival which is on Sunday, so people were making food and crafts all day. We got to eat a lot of test batches of desserts. They were really good.

We also recently started our science projects, so every morning we all go out and work on them. I'm observing the buds on trees since spring is finally starting! The snow is mostly gone, but it's pretty muddy now. The stream has started running, but multiple people have fallen into it. Pippa (the dog) loves to chase after a soccer ball and she gets all muddy. She needs a lot of baths.

All in all, Farmstay is pretty good and we're excited for the Spring Festival which is on Sunday, April 29, from 11:00-3:00.

-Kate

Monday, April 23, 2018

Farm Stay 4: Day 7

Today at the Land School, we had Occupations class, and for Occupations we worked in the greenhouse and pruned apple trees. In the greenhouse, I planted barbecue rosemary into peat pots for about half an hour. After that I worked with Maya, Sebastian, and Sam to prune trees. Maya and I worked on kind of a big branch and it was tough but we got it down. Then for lunch, we had these really yummy calzones with our mentor groups. My favorite part of today was eating the calzones. Also in Occupations it was interesting to learn about organic vs. conventional farming, which we all compared with different fruits. I also really enjoyed making posters with everyone for our Micro-Economy event on Sunday.

-Yasmin

Sunday, April 22, 2018

Farm Stay 4: Pizza night

Friday = pizza night during Farm Stay! We started the fire in the pizza oven at 10 am, and it was hot and ready to go by dinner time. This was good practice for the pop-up pizza restaurant that we're hosting for the Spring Festival on Sunday, April 29th. Here are some photos of the delicious pizzas we enjoyed!





Saturday, April 21, 2018

Farm Stay 4: Day 5

Today is the fifth day of Farmstay 4. It’s the weekend so we got to sleep in a little, although not a lot of us did. It’s also Earth Day today! I have been disappointed in our country in particular because of the slow disbelief and denial of Global Warming by some of the most influential people in the U.S. Here at the Land School, we are working to raise awareness on fossil fuel emitting pesticides and the benefits of buying local produce and foods. It is as easy as a simple act of laziness to impact the world in a negative way. Becoming aware of the consequences to everyday actions such as recycling instead of throwing things in the trash make an impact even if it seems very small. Right now I am encouraging you to choose to become aware of your actions.

Also, two years ago on this day Prince died. He was extremely influential and showed people that you didn’t have to comply to anyone's vision of boxes. He was born in Minnesota and spent a majority of his life there.

Later today we have Physical Expression and Gallery Night. We are currently working on boiling down sap into syrup and preparing our Micro-Economy projects to sell at the Spring Festival on April 29th.

-Mina