Speciality Highlight January 2025: Farming
Dear Garden Families,
Winter’s chilly embrace has welcomed us back to the farm after our break. The students are enjoying the surprises left overnight in the ice sheets we scoop out of the water trough and the ice crystals that form on the mud in the ditch. We are enjoying close investigations of the crystalline structures that form naturally as water turns to ice, and we have even observed it happening right in front of us as a new layer of ice begins to form over the water. Once the sun touches the farm, the animals enjoy a cozy day with refreshed warm water from the building, and we enjoy the sun on our cheeks while we tend to the animals. All of our movement keeps us very warm!
There are so many rich conversations that come from the students’ endearing curiosities. We've had many chats about how the animals stay warm and what they must like to do while we are away. We talk about how the donkeys and goats have grown fluffy winter coats and keep chewing hay to stay warm, while the chickens are naturally insulated with an underlayer of downy feathers and have the instincts to stay out of the wind and relax in sunny spots. Sometimes, we see the goats pair up with a donkey to snuggle up to in the mornings, and we are observing that they tend to spend more time in the barn and in the three-walled lean-to. We can piece together their after-hours activities with clues of where the donkeys and goats spend their time based on the footprints and the manure they leave behind.
The garden has just a few things still growing over winter. We are proud of our broccoli head that's forming! We have seeded the flower garden and the back pasture with a cover crop. We are making plans for spring planting already and look forward to growing some flax and cotton from seed to harvest in partnership with our handwork teacher, Ki Ieva. It will soon be time to start seeds for our spring garden, but for now, we are enjoying what winter brings.
Warm regards,
Ki Heidi
