Winter Fun! January Update!

Hi there! While we have been taking a hiatus from our regular Farm Food Forest programming with our elementary students, the entire school has been buzzing with activity while we move through the chilliest months!

Our Wild Grapes in Story Time have been joining Chef Zach and Emily in the kitchen on Pizza Day to help out! We've spread sauce, sprinkled cheese and helped to create what we call "Green Goo Kale Pesto." It has been great for Zach and Emily to have help in the kitchen and for the Wild Grapes to get their hands on some pizza before lunch!

Last week, Emily brought in some great animal tracking guides that were waterproof so we could take them out on our nature walk! We talked about the difference between straight walkers, hoppers, waddlers and bounders and proposed what we thought we might find! On our nature walk, we found some prints and enjoyed the snowy weather! Can you guess what track we found?

In the elementary school, we have been preparing for our FFF short courses, coming up on January 26th and February 2. Students selected their courses yesterday (Tuesday) and we are all very excited! 

Listed below are our selection of short courses and descriptions! 

TWIGONOMETRY: Have you ever wanted to be able to call a tree by its name? Have you ever wondered how some people can identify a tree JUST by looking at its bud? Here in Twigonometry, you'll learn how to walk through the woods and know the trees you're looking at using lots of different tree'ish characteristics. We'll spend time up and close to your favorite trees finding what makes them unique and fantastic! Come learn the forest with Twigonometry!

An indoor/outdoor course.

Paired with:

Bekah's HodownShowdownRodeoPalooza

Say that three times fast.

Join if you dare.

Vermicomposting with Sally! Come have fun exploring the worm bins!  We will get our hands dirty as we harvest worm castings to use this early spring for starting plants.  We will learn how to look for worms, worm eggs and make the worm bin clean again for our resident worms. Yay for worms!

Eggs 101 with Chef Zach!

We'll cover: the determining factor for egg taste, How to tell how fresh your eggs are, taste test conventional vs farm fresh, discuss the various cooking methods, and make hard boiled egg penguins.

Extreme!! Food of the Day with Emily

Are you a Food of the Day fanatic? This course will take Food of the Day to the extreme! We will dive into the world of just two foods to find out as much as we can, from the tasty facts to the weird and wacky ones too! Let’s experiment, taste test and trivia our way to becoming Food of the Day experts! Foods to be determined!

Chicken Breeds with Corie!

In this course, you will learn all about different types of chicken breeds! Why do some chickens lay blue eggs? Is there a difference in egg taste between a Buff Orpington and a Rhode Island Red? Test your new knowledge and imagination by creating your very own chicken breed!

Some of the Schoolhouse Deltas spent the day honoring Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday. We joined other student volunteers at the Essex CHIPS teen center. We helped to prepare lunch at the Essex Senior Center as well as helped out at the fire station washing trucks. Overall, it was a great day! We quizzed our peers on some MLK trivia over the delicious lunch and got to hang out with other teens from the area.

The Deltas have also been spending Wednesday afternoons in the kitchen with Chef Zach, acquiring lots of kitchen skill with an emphasis on traditional Central American foods.  

Here is a list of things the Deltas have made with Zach so far:

-curry powder from scratch and a home style curry

-improvised soup making

-guacamole

-traditional picadillo with fried plantains

-homemade tacos with chorizo

We have also been working hard on our knife skills. 

Stay tuned for some kitchen tips and tricks we have learned as well!