In School - The Worms Are Here!!

The worms came today!

It was very exciting, at first. Then I remembered that I still had a little work to do on my worm bins. I did it though.

I had to drill holes in one that I hadn’t done yet.

I had to moisten the newspaper.

That was a lot of newspaper, for those of you who are thinking about doing a worm farm here’s a tip, if you are using newspaper and are shredding it before hand plan on shredding at least twice the amount per bin, I made that mistake while doing it.

For my experiment we are focusing on weight.

So, we were separating the worms (1000 of them) into two bins. We had to measure out half of them for each bin.

In other words we (I) had to get in that bag of 1000 worms and pull them of the bag and measure out half the worms.

I have to admit that when I saw that bag of worms I didn’t really want to do it. So I could get the feel for it my dad pulled out one worm and placed on my hand.

(I also have to admit that it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be).

That’s the end of my first day with the worms. They are all settled in. Now I just have to figure out how to keep up with our 1000 extra house guests.

In School - JJ's science fair project

The other day I brought home a book from the library. It's called The Earth Moved by Amy Stewart. It's about earthworms. I've enjoyed Amy's blog Garden Rant, and thought I might find some ideas and inspiration in her book. I'd brought the book home intending to start it as soon as I finished my current book. But JJ stole it, and hasn't put it down. We seem to have a budding oligochaetologist in the family. Next thing I knew she was planning a worm composting project for the science fair, ordering 1000 worms, and writing posts for the farm blog. Here's what she has to say today.


Worm Scientists
(Oligochaetologist)
Need Support


The past few days I’ve been interested in worms. The other day I was reading a book about earthworms and I found out that worm scientists aren’t getting very much popular support. The scientists were surprised to find that many people were not as interested in worms as they were. I think that the scientists aren’t getting enough support because not many people realize how important worms are and what they do for our environment. Worms may not be as pretty birds, butterflies, or bees but the birds wouldn’t have the seeds they like and the butterflies and bees wouldn’t have their nectar if the soil wasn’t good for plants like flowers and trees. The worms that we may think of as slimy pests actually do a lot to help our environment. So if we support our worm scientists then instead of feeling down when they discover something because besides them nobody else seems to care they will feel happy and excited because they know that everyone else is too. All we have to do is support them.

We will post updates about the science fair as things progress over the next month.

Civic Duty

We watched the President's speech today. Most of the school kids in our area didn't because it wasn't "part of the curriculum." It doesn't seem like it was all that long ago when civics (good citizenship) WAS part of the curriculum. The kids should have been excited and honored that the President of the United States of America would take time out of his rather busy schedule to talk to them about things that were important to them. I was excited. My kids were excited. So we watched it (I'm the teacher so I can get away with such curriculum manipulation.) The kids thought it was cool, that everyone did a great job, and that the President had some good advice and was funny. I was disappointed. After all the hoopla I thought there must be at least a bit of a subversive political message buried in the text. There wasn't. The President was trying to encourage kids to stay in school, keep trying even when they failed or things were tough, and follow their dreams. He challenged them to become the leaders we need for the future, their future. If it was brainwashing we could sure use some more of it.

I should have known better than to expect anything but the best from the President. But the fledgling optimist on my right shoulder kept whispering that all these people can't be totally wrong. So I watched for something subversive and didn't find it. The crusty old cynic on my left shoulder laughed and said "See, people are stupid! I've always told you to assume that people are stupid until they prove otherwise." They rarely do.

Fall is coming!

It's been chilly here the past few mornings. It was in the 40's this morning when I went out to do the chores. Fall is coming. I posted a bit about that over at NDIN. The chill has certianly put some hurry up in my life.





Besides the chill and the crops changing color, there is another thing to remind me that Fall is here and Winter is coming. School! School started for us last week and we have been adjusting to the new schedule. Even though the kids are quite independent in their school work, it still takes up about half my day. Finding time to get through all the fall projects and keep the kids moving is sometimes a challenge.





One new thing this year has been a visit from the Music Man. Band is an option this year and JJ wanted to get a jump on things. She has started the flute. RR, not to be left out, opted for the trumpet. An instructor is still being sought. Right now we are using the 'think method' with a little guidance from me (I did play the trumpet for a few years as a child) and CC (who played the flute and french horn). These two new instruments added to the Strumsticks and ukuleles they already play for choir has increased the noise level in the neighborhood considerably. I don't know if it is joyful yet, but it is a lot of noise.

Busy!!!

We have been going flat out here for the past two weeks. The farmer's market started the first Saturday of May and had us hopping to be ready. Week two, this past Saturday, went smother, but was much busier. We are hopeful that things will continue to pick up at the market. We tripled our sales the second week. (obviously we can't do that every week, but I'd like to at least double last weeks sales by the end of the month.)

The kids are in the home stretch for school. We can't wait to be done. It's been a good year, but we all need a break.

The potager is creeping towards completion.

On a political note, the president made me laugh. That's a change over the past president. (He made me laugh too, but it was at him (in a grim sort of way) rather than with him.) The tracker shows no movement on the bills I've been following, but they haven't gone away. No movement means they are in committee getting fine tuned. People concerned about the continued availability of locally produced food should be in contact with the committees and their state reps. When they come out of committee it will be too late for the little guys. I was interviewed by Robynne Boyd from Mother Nature Network about the potential impact of these bills on small farmers. Check out what she wrote and stay informed. We all need to be active on this issue, or it will get passed into law as it is and create a real mess in the future.

Tomorrow I'm posting about small farms and the future on Not Dabbling In Normal. I'll post a link and a few more details then.

"...when death is on the line."

Kids and knives. Cub Scouts. Shavings and Chips has come around and we are in pocket knife mode. So, how do you teach an eight year old about knives, safety, and political correctness. Growing up we all had knives and guns. No one ever got hurt because we all went through training and lived with them every day. Guns and knives caused real, irreparable damage. That was what you learned when you were eight, ten, or at least by the time you were twelve. If you killed it you ate it. That was the world I grew up in. So, now it is time to help my kids with their first real knives. Knives that are illegal in most schools, airports, malls, stores, public spaces, etc. They are sharp. I spent the past hour with a tissue pressed against a nick on a finger from a carving demonstration. So, we have an adapted knife pledge from the Bear Cub Scout book. Both kids Girl - J and Boy R are doing this program. We went out and got knives today. Not the Swiss Army type, but basic two blade pocket knives. Both kids have the basic safety rules down and have started their basic skills demonstration carving. (I bought a 12 pack of shower size Ivory soap for them to use.) All three of us are sporting band-aids covering nicks from carving demonstrations. Neither feel ready to take responsibility for the knifes we bought for them. THAT is a GOOD thing.
These are REAL tools that they are learning to use and respect. This is the way to safe respectful use as adults.