our farm classroom

we may finish up our on-farm classroom this week. we've been working on this one for months, thru the busiest time of the year in farming. mark, adam, kevin, megan, adam and ana have been chipping away at it and i think i see a completion point. i imagine we'll be continuously improving the site with educational additions (a bee hive will be one of the first!). i have a lot of hopes for this little 20' yurt-classroom!! our first class will be coming this tuesday-- here we go!

spring biodome finale

our last spring class with the montessori 2nd/3rd graders was a lot of fun. after tending to the raised bed gardens for weeks, we got to reap our rewards. we had salads!! we broke into teams- we had harvesters, washers, sorters and identifiers! the students enjoyed salads that included an all lettuce mix, arugula, radishes, sugar snap peas and some nasturtium. the kids loved it.  thank you mark & kevin for all of your help this season!

ecology day!

on may 1 the kampe foundation joined with US forest service and the colorado department of  wildlife to host the hotchkiss K8 3rd graders in an ecology day fair. we looked at food webs through the eyes of a consumer (humans!). students participated in a food wed sorting game, we went through many human food options that we find on the shelf at the grocery store (beans, crackers, chicken, mushrooms). we sorted all these foods into trophic levels. we got their wheels turning!

what good is compost?

we finalized two of our 6 week growing experiments in the biodome last week. the nfcms 2nd/3rd graders got a hands on lesson on the value of compost. earlier this spring the students amended half of a  4x10 raised bed, ran a ribbon down the center, and planted identical crops in each side. time, sunshine and water were some of the ingredients that helped reveal what turned out to be a important lesson in the value of compost. there were obvious differences, and the students measured, counted and took in more subjective information on the differences between the two beds. during the final check-in on the compost bags it was evident that our native soils compost much slower than store bought potting soil. the students had a great time trying to identify the items (apple cores, tissue, bread, leaves, nails, among other things) they put into the bags earlier this spring.  the students are very observant!