Gustavo the Rabbit

Here are a couple of shots of Gustavo the rabbit who was donated to the farm this summer by Samantha Johnson.  Photos taken by Susan Hayman.

When we visit Gustavo, we form a human fence.  Each person has a goody to share and he wanders around the circle playing "trick-or-treat".  His favorite treats are fresh alfalfa and apples.

Here is a close up of Gustavo.  He is a real sweetheart, very patient and cuddly.

Bees with the Second Grade

Last week, after hearing a story about bees in the classroom, the second grade got to experience them up close and personal! Beekeeper Annallys Goodwin-Landher started by firing up the smoker, first with pine, and then with basil branches and leaves.

 

Smoking the bees, causes them to retreat into the hive and start eating the honey.

 

While Annallys prepared the bees, the class gathered together to ask a few questions, and then split into three groups to visit the bees and do other tasks on the farm.

First group heads over to the apiary.

A few children tried to hold a drone.  Drones don't sting!

At the very end, a sample of the hive was taken out for the classroom.

 

Another group task on the farm was sprinkling fermented nettle over the plants to nourish them and make them less tasty to leaf munching bugs.  We use paint brushes and cups to do the job.  Moonflower the chicken helped supervise.

Another group worked on scooping the old pine shavings from the chicken tractor and replacing it with fresh hay.

The old pine shavings are now rich with nitrogen thanks to all the chicken poop.  Into the compost they go to break down and nourish our soil.

The second grade were not the only visitors to the farm. . . It was also visited by some resident deer! (Look carefully among the trees.)  Could they have smelled the honey?

Volunteer Days May 6 to May 12, 2012

Tuesday, May 8, 8:30 to 10:  We'll stir and spray the silica prep.  Come help out with this one hour stir and take a little of the prep home for your own garden too.

Thursday, May 10, 8:30 to noon:  We'll plant okra and beans, finish installing the trellises and weed and feed the grains bed.

Friday, May 11, 1:00 to 3:00:  We'll weed all the empty spots in the winter root bed and plant buckwheat as a cover crop, add manure to the compost pile, and spread some cardboard and wood chips on the paths between the beds.

Picture of the Week

Here is one of our rising 3rd graders holding one of the first heads of lettuce harvested this year.  Bella often volunteers to help with packaging the vegetables for market.  Thank you for you help!

Flowforms

Here is a series of pictures from this spring when Jennifer Greene of the Water Research Institute of Blue Hill came to Emerson Farm to build flow forms.  It was quite a process.  First we cleaned and oiled all of the molds, then we bolted them together and poured carefully mixed concrete into each one.  Grades 2, 3, and 9 all had a chance to get involved.  Below you can see grade 2 with a grouping of recently poured molds.

Once the molds have been poured and had a chance to set up a little bit, they are moved to another area where they can safely stay after the molds are removed.  Below is a recently moved form waiting to be unbolted.

Before the bolts can be removed, Grace (one of our adult volunteers) knocks off excess concrete with a rubber mallet and chisel.

Here you can see some of our second graders removing bolts so that the form can be released.

Here is a finished section of flow form.

When all was done, some of our 2nd graders went around and cleaned up excess concrete chips.  Got to keep the farm clean!

Emerson Farm is keeping one of the flow forms and installing it in the garden.  Eventually we hope to use it for stirring some of our biodynamic preps.  If you are interested in seeing what our form will look like, check out this link.