Student Corner

“Dirt made my lunch, dirt made my lunch, thank you dirt, thanks a bunch for my salad, my sandwich, my milk and my munch, cause dirt, you made my lunch!”  

This chorus can be heard echoing across the fire circle as Kim Woodland and her husband Doug “Dirt” Greenfield, finish up a farm tour with Soquel PENS.

Soquel PENS (Parent Education Nursery School) is a small non-profit co-op preschool where Kim teaches children and their parents together.  Doug one of the four local stars of the Banana Slug String Band which produced such hits as “Dirt Made My Lunch”, “Banana Slug” and “Roots, Stems and Leaves”.  Growing up in Santa Cruz, I have to say that it is pretty cool to have such legends on the Discovery Program’s board of directors.

Through out the tour, Kim and Doug act out skits, sing songs and find teachable moments all over the Discovery Garden.

Doug and Kim have been running farm tours for Soquel PENS in the spring and fall for the last few years.  Their teaching styles and songs are great for a young outdoor educator like me to observe and the families on the tours benefit from their enthusiasm as well!

To check out my favorite Banana Slug String Band album, click here: http://bananaslugs.bandcamp.com/album/dirt-made-my-lunch

We had our first home school group of the school year last month.  We were blown away by how many people want to be a part of our group!  As of now, we have 32 families signed up for our September-December monthly meetings!

This year, we have decided to shape each meeting around a specific subject (we did something along the lines of this partway through last year).  September’s subject was apples. 

We toured the farm, took a walk through the apple espaliers, picked apples to munch on as we learned about the history of the farm and the apples in the local valley. We talked about the locally famous Newton Pippin apple, and how planting Newton Pippin trees brought about start of the Martinelli Company in the 1860’s.

  Before the end of the day, we got to make some apple cider of our own! October’s theme will be nutrition based, and we’re keeping the rest of the year a secret!

 Happy Fall! This past weekend we celebrated the autumn equinox, which is derived from “equal night” meaning that we experience about the same amount of daylight and night time during the spring and autumn equinox, but in the spring the days get longer and in fall the days get shorter.  Fall is my absolute favorite season; the scarves, the changing colors, the pumpkin spiced lattes…  Add to that the fact that fall begins our second tour season of the year and you have a winning combination!

We have tours scheduled for every single Monday and Friday in the second half of September and the entire month of October!  That’s fourteen tours in six weeks! And that doesn’t even include the weekly Wavecrest visits, the monthly homeschool meetings or the Wee Ones and Small Farmers drop in programs!

Needless to say we are very excited about fall!  Some of the fun things that we have been/will be doing with our tours are: apple pressing, nutritional relay races, visiting the goats and chickens, scavenger hunts and learning about the history of the apple, the farm and the local valley!

I can’t wait to reap the rewards of good food and good fun on the farm this fall!

 The youth empowerment organization “Food What?!” brought their summer job program to Live Earth Farm.

Each Friday 20 youth came to the farm and worked side by side with farmers, harvesting, planting, sorting, and weeding. This was a great way to integrate young community members into our farming family. It was mutually beneficial for both groups.

The youth got to see and experience the level of skill and hard work that it takes to farm and the farmers got an opportunity to mentor and share the work load. Over the summer the “Food What?!” youth harvested thousands of dollars worth of organic produce, planted thousands of starts, and killed thousands of weeds.

Live Earth Farm is grateful for the partnership with “Food What?!” and looks forward to the possibility of being a site for the Fall employment program. We are also pleased to welcome youth from the fall catering team to Slice, our fall dinner in the orchard.  The youth will both help serve the meal and speak about their experience working with the Farm and Discovery Program.

-Peter Nelson, Live Earth Farm Discovery Program Program Assistant

Last week during Sprouts Camp, we decided to try out a project that was a little different than our usual arts and crafts.

Earlier in the year, Food What?! made salve from herbs collected around the farm. We decided that this would be a great project for the little ones and their parents.

We made four different types of salve–rosemary and calendula, lavender and yarrow, rose and chamomile and mint and comfrey (though after researching the benefits of the herbs we used, I discovered that comfrey can be harmful if ingested so this week we are substituting plantain for comfrey).

The salves are smooth and buttery and great for things like bug bites, poison oak, burns and chapped lips.  It’s super easy to make and makes an awesome gift!

The recipe below is for one batch of salve (remember we made 4 different types) which will make about 8 oz.  We used 1 oz jars found at at New Leaf and Way of Life.

Live Earth Farm Salve and Lip Balm

1 cup of each herb you would like to use (2 cups total)

1/2 cup of olive oil

1/2 cup of coconut oil

1/4 cup of shaved beeswax

A couple of drops of essential oil of your choice

Double boiler

Cheesecloth

In a double boiler (or a Kerr jar over boiling water in a canning pot) heat the olive oil and coconut oil and herbs for one hour (do NOT boil the oil).  Carefully remove from heat and filter out herbs from oil using a sieve and cheesecloth.  Discard herbs and return oil to double boiler or jar and add beeswax.  Heat oil and beeswax and stir until mixed completely.  Pour into salve jars and let cool.

My name is Julian Ensworth and I am the new intern for Live Earth Farm’s Discovery Program. I was born and currently live in San Diego, CA. My family has always been very active in the great outdoors. As a baby my parents carried me through hikes in Big Sur. When I got a little bit older my family moved to a house on a canyon, surrounded in wildlife and natural beauty. I spent my entire childhood exploring the canyon in my backyard. My fondest memories are climbing through bushes and trees.

Sadly, I’ve found that as I have grown up I have lost my unity with nature. This has really led me to realize that I am happiest when outside, working with my hands to build something. This is why I have chosen to intern on a farm. I believe the best lessons in life can be learned from doing.

I appreciate the ways of the farmer. In this modern day society, I believe the majority of people have lost touch with where food actually comes from. I understand the work of a farmer is tough and demanding, but I am eager to accept this challenge. I want to go to bed knowing the work I have done is honest and important. I respect farmers for their hardships and perseverance.

I know I will feel accomplished if I partake in this work. I am easy to get along with and efficiently follow through on commands. I know the importance of working hard. I am also extremely anxious to learn farming methods to bring home and implement in my own house. I believe that an internship on a farm will be an overall holistic experience in which I will gain knowledge unattainable in a classroom.

 The focus of Wavecrest’s Field Studies in spring is “production and reproduction”.  This means we have been spending a lot of time snuggling baby goats and learning about pollination.

This rotation, we decided to focus specifically on flowers and insects on the farm and in the garden.  We have learned about the “three P’s” (pollinators, predators and parasitoids) an intro to Integrated Pest Management on the farm, and native plant strips.

 We visited UCSC’s Life Lab garden classroom, where we were inspired to make a path through our own garden, hiked around the farm twice–once with Farmer Tom to talk about cover crops and pollination and once with Grace and Peter to talk about native plants, IPM and beneficial insects.

 We have decided our garden project will be to design and implement a flower border around the garden, using both annuals and perennials and utilizing all the space we can!

We have also been talking about birds on the farm and would like to put up the owl boxes that a previous Wavecrest class made, and will be visiting a local apiary and Driscoll’s to learn more about pollination and agriculture!  It is going to be a busy spring!

The Farmer

work all day
we plow the fields
mow the crops
sleep all night

work all day
we feed the cows
clean the stalls
sleep all night

the farmer
the farmer is strong
the farmer is healthy
the farmer is us

~Nate Saxton

Food

Grilled-cheese mayhem.
As I bite into the crunchy texture
of the grilled-cheese sandwich
the soft greasy melted cheese dissolves into the taste buds
An immense pleasure rises in my mouth
a sensation of joy overcomes me
Nothing has ever tasted to good
after a long day of knitting.

Apple delight.
After the cheesy goodness, nothing was better than
sugar-coated cinnamon sparkle golden apples
the abundant variety of flavors was like an amusement park
full of exciting things
fun places and intriguing spots.

~ Kevin Haaland

A Lasting Moment

The leaves rustle softly in the breeze
the sun warm on my back
The air around me, the perfect temperature.
There are no clouds in the soft robin’s-egg-blue sky.
The wind carries the cheerful sound
Of the chirp and chatter of the birds
Everything is quiet.
I could sit here forever.

~Lilly Richards

The homeschool group came out to the farm at the end of January and we learned all about seeds! First, we did a quick review about the six plant parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, seeds and fruit)! Then, we talked about how important seeds are in the plant life cycle, how seeds travel and how seeds look inside a fruit.

We played a seed matching game and then ventured outside to collect some seeds of our own! We collected cilantro seeds, corn kernels and flower seeds from the garden, and then planted fava beans in the field as a cover crop!