Fall Farm Sprouts 2016 – Week 4 (PM)

Hooray for Michigan apples! Today we explored the life cycle of an apple, from farm to table. October is National Farm-to-School Month and we are fortunate to be able to offer educational programs such as Farm Sprouts right at the farm!

We started off with an early literacy sign-in activity which involved having the preschoolers use magnifying glasses to find their first and last names written in tiny lettering on a worm coming out of an apple. Next they moved into preparing apple sauce. They used an apple machine to peel and slice seven varieties of apple to cook for a snack at the end of the program. Farm Sprouts also had some fun with our Chick Life Cycle Exploration Set.

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We greeted each other in Spanish and will begin to talk about our likes in Spanish, such as “Me gusta la manzana.” (I like the apple.) We also read Apple Trees by Robin Nelson, which highlights the different stages in the life cycle of an apple, sang out “Apples, Apples,” and talked through a brief mini-lesson on contour drawing to assist us with our nature journaling.

“Apples, Apples”

Apples juicy, apples round
On the tree or on the ground
Apples yellow, apples red
Apple pie and juice and bread
Apples crunchy, apples sweet
Apples are so good to eat!

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Once outside, we checked on our sunflowers. We noted that honeybees were visiting and that the birds have been harvesting the seeds! Since we’d also like to have the opportunity to harvest the seeds, we cut down the heads and carried them to the greenhouse. Next week we’ll continue the work of the birds by harvesting seeds ourselves for planting next year. While we were visiting the greenhouse, we measured our lettuce and moved it outside with the warm weather in store for the week.

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In the Children’s Garden, Farm Sprouts could choose to make apples prints with paint, pretend to be bakers at the sensory table with cooking tools, cloud dough (5-6 cups of flour and 1 cup of oil), and shakers of cinnamon, or work as engineers to design apple ramps.

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After our engaging “Invitations to Play” near the Children’s Garden, we made our way to the animal barn to carry out our egg experiment. Last week Farm Sprouts decided it would be interesting to test out whether an egg sinks or floats. We tested freshly collected eggs of various colors and some which were a week old. All of them sunk to the bottom. It would be interesting to test out a really old egg sometime to see what happens! They were also curious about whether the “insides” and shell of the egg would sink or float, so we tested both out as well. We learned that the shell floats! We recorded our findings using a chart, introducing the idea of collecting and documenting data as an important part of an experiment, before moving on to interact with the animals.

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We had the chance to observe two sheep closely and handle some raw wool. Everyone noticed it made their hands oily where they had rubbed the wool, which we learned is lanolin, which can be used as a natural ingredient in lotions. Much like the oils on the feathers of the ducks, as we investigated with during our first day, lanolin helps keep the sheep warm and dry.

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Our last activity involved sharing in an Apple Tasting Party and tasting our apple sauce as a part of our “Mini Garden Kitchen”. We tried six different varieties of Michigan apples, including Gala, Ginger Gold, Blondie, Wolf River, and Swayze. Last week we harvested McIntosh from our own farm. Farm Sprouts noted the color, size, taste (sweet or tart), and their preference (like it or not a favorite.) We learned Blondie apples can grow quite large and Swayze apples are small, green, and taste a lot like a pear. Galas tended to be favored by many, probably due to their sweetness. Our apple sauce was delicious!

Farm Sprouts Apple Sauce

Serves 10

Ingredients:
7 Michigan apples, each of a different variety
1 tsp. cinnamon
Sprinkle of water

Instructions:
Peel and slice each apple using an apple machine.
Add the apples, cinnamon, and a sprinkle of water to a crock pot and turn on high.
Allow to cook for 2.5 hours, stirring once or twice.
Use an immersion blender to puree the apples.
Serve warm and enjoy!

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Farm Sprouts are engaging in new experiences, collaborating as a team, and contributing to the farm community to accomplish real and important work, like milking Jenna, one of our Toggenburg goats, coming up next week!

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