Hi Peppers! Today was our fish and sheep day! We finished up in the morning learning about our animal friends on land. In the afternoon, we had casting practice for fishing tomorrow and we explored the pond.
“Eyes in the front to hunt, eyes on the side to hide.”
Today we learned about and rode horses. We groomed the horses with the different types of brushes. We used rubber curry combs, which are like a massage for the horse and loosen dirt and debris for other brushes. After we loosen the dirt and debris, then you use a stiff brush to remove the most fine dust from the horse’s coat.
Mr. Alan showed us how to use the hoof pick. We saw the middle of the foot, which is called the frog. Horses have to wear shoes, just like we do. The farrier or blacksmith puts the shoes on the horses. The shoes are specially made for each horse and after the hoof is trimmed can sometimes be reused, if they aren’t too worn. The shoe is put on by putting nails through the insensitive hoof so this doesn’t hurt the horse. Another way to apply horseshoes is to glue them.
Each pepper got a chance to ride the pony or percheron horse and had so much fun! Look for all of the photos at the end of camp, here.
We tie dyed shirts that we will get tomorrow. We had a lot of fun picking out each color for our shirt and then trying a cool pattern. I can’t wait to see how everyone’s shirts look tomorrow!
We made stir fry in garden kitchen to see how vegetables would taste raw vs. cooked. We used peppers, carrots, tomatoes, kale or cabbage and ate them with rice.
During our casting practice, we identified parts of the fishing pole like the reel and the bobber. We talked about how you will see the bobber move when you have a fish and when to reel it in to make sure you catch the fish. Each pepper got the chance to cast off the top of the hill to prepare to cast into the pond for tomorrow.
We went out to the pond where we collected water and studied it. The organisms in the pond’s ecosystem are broken down into three categories: producers, consumers, and decomposers. The producers are the plants that grow in the pond like phytoplankton, which are microscopic algae. The consumers include invertebrates (animals without backbones) like centipedes and zooplankton as well as vertebrates such as fish and frogs. Decomposers are the bacteria and algae that break down the dead plants and animals to release the nutrients back into the water and air for the plants to absorb. We also found tadpoles among all the algae!
We learned about sheep’s fiber and the process it goes through to become yarn. It starts as raw fiber and is covered with lanolin. Lanolin is a protective coating for the wool that guards against bugs when they are in the field. When it is carded, the fibers get pulled to go in all one direction. It is washed then made into roving, which is a rope-like strand of the fibers that is easily broken apart. Once is it at this step it can be made into yarn or felted. It is made into yarn when it is tightly twisted and pulled. This can be done with a spinning wheel or a drop spindle. When you are felting, you dip the roving into soapy water then agitate the fibers until they are unable to be pulled apart. We left our felted bracelets in kool-aid filled jars to dye them overnight.
Since it was sheep day, we made “shepherd’s pie” using kale, onions, and silken tofu. Each group made the pie crust using flour, butter, and water then added their pie to cook. These types of pies were first introduced as being so easy to make with different layers for a hearty meal.
Tomorrow is our water day so bring your swimsuit and an extra change of clothes! Skits will start at 3 pm. We will have songs and short skits that the kids came up with throughout the week.
Garden Kitchen Recipes
“Shepherd” pie: a kale-and-onion pie with silken tofu
1 pie crust
1 bunch kale
1 package silken tofu (1 lb)
1/2 onion
Preheat oven to 375. Wash kale and take leaves off the stem. Dice onion. Mix these ingredients with kale then pour into pie crust. Check after about 10 minutes. When done it will be slightly crispy on top.