October’s Sprouts Nature Notes
The autumn leaf colors have been slow to change this October. We have been treated to a slow and gradual transition from green to yellow, orange, red, and even purple. The Sprouts noticed that some of the trees, the ones with the bright red berries, have leaves that changed from green to purple, while most […]
Continue readingSeptember’s Sprouts Nature Notes
With September came the fall. We didn’t notice the signs right away, but slowly over the month, the Sprouts started to notice that some of the leaves were starting to turn brown and some were starting to turn yellow. More and more fell to the ground and began collecting on the trails. The Sprouts have […]
Continue readingSeptember’s Littlest Learners Nature Notes
Harvest – Producers, Consumers, Decomposers, counting, resilience, famous failures, Penology walk/sit spot Our Littlest Learners year always starts in the month of September, and this year we welcome our largest group; some who have been in our programs before and about half who are new to the Farmstead. The month is spent getting to know […]
Continue reading3 Helpful August Plants
Many people are familiar with the destruction this incredibly fast-growing vine can cause, but did you know it also has beneficial uses? The strong vine can be woven into hats or baskets. The fragrant purple bloom is edible, as well as the tips of new growth at the end of each vine! Dock is a […]
Continue readingAugust’s Nature Notes
August has come and gone and so has our last week of Camp Farmstead. While we still see the sights of summer, we have also started seeing signs of the approaching fall. We have still been seeing butterflies frequently but we have also been seeing pea pods ready for harvest and sunflowers bending over full […]
Continue readingJuly’s Nature Notes
July around the Farmstead was filled with lots of warmth, water, and life. The weather has been warm to hot this month and the plants and animals around the Farmstead have been very active. Water has been a big part of the students’ days as we try to stay hydrated and cool. The students have […]
Continue reading4 Local Edible Plants
Red clover is native to Europe and Asia but has been naturalized throughout the world. It has many uses. Ranchers value it for its high protein content which makes it a great feed for livestock. Farmers utilize it as a green fertilizer because it has the ability to fix nitrogen in the soil, which increases […]
Continue readingJune’s Nature Notes
June has been the month of critters around the Farmstead. We have seen so many individual creatures, as well as many different types. We noticed early in the month that the willow tree has a couple of colonies of tent moth caterpillars. They work together to create a tent, trapping some of the leaves of […]
Continue readingMay’s Nature Notes
Growth and change were big themes around the Farmstead this month. May is the last month of Littlest Learners for the school year and we have been getting ready for all of the change that we are about to experience. That change and growth have been mirrored in the emergence of new springtime creatures as […]
Continue readingJanuary’s Nature Notes
Hello all, Mr. Frank here! We have had an exciting month at the Farmstead filled with ice, snow, hail, rain, sun, wind, and much more! The students have been lots of practice making observations and predictions about the weather each day. Most days the weather in the morning has been very different than the weather […]
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