Over the long weekend, Chorus Frog Farm generously donated several trays of seedlings for the school gardens, and I picked up the beautiful popcorn, squash, and sunflower seedlings from Bullock Lake Farm's greenhouse, grown from the three-sisters seed plantings with K-2 classes on field trips there.
Tuesday afternoon, Donna's grade 1-2 class made their own hummus-French bread canapés with edible herbs and flowers (see above), then cuddled ducklings in the haybale lounge. (These are the ducklings that Valeskca's grade 6 class hatched).
Next, Janisse's grade 2's brought their aquarium of metamorphosed painted lady butterflies and we all made wishes for them and then they were released to flutter onwards and lay eggs and complete their life cycles. Some of the wishes were golden, and all together, we covered everything from world peace to abundant nectar and warm sun on their wings. We then explored giant nests of Western Tent Caterpillars in the apple trees, which led me to this wonderful interview with a caterpillar, to learn more about these native species. We finished with some garden snacks, made of baguette, hummus, flowers and greens... We called it Phreedom Day.
Wednesday, Heidi's, then Katharine's grades 3-4's moved haybales to build new corn and squash beds, transported horse manure, planted pumpkins and popcorn, weeded pathways, and potted up the amazing American Chestnut seedlings from Kari's friend Deb Nostdal's daughter. (I forgot to take photos, but they transformed the terraces below with new bales.)
Thursday, Gail's class weeded pathways and beds in the Front Food Garden, then moved pine tree mulch from the fallen Shore Pine during the windstorm. They planted sunflowers and cabbages, found all sorts of worms and critters, and cared for the hens, giving them some outdoor time and greens to eat.
With Sylvia & Kari's classes this week, we've launched an All Kids Bike scoot bike program with Michi and Nomi Main, which is designed to teach kids how to pedal bike over the course of just two weeks of morning activities!
And on the last day of the week, Friday, tons of families brought cookies & baked goods for our first bakesale in two years, held at the new farmstand. Everyone got a free cookie, and we also raised nearly $200 to add local foods to the Father's Day Mealkit coming up!
It was a good week.