Hi!
Today was our “settling the land” day so we learned about things we can get back from the land.
We made “three sisters” soup today. These vegetables grow really well together. The beans absorb the nitrogen from the air and convert it to nitrogen, which keeps the ground fertile. The beans use the corn stalks to wrap around and grow. The squash helps cover the ground and prevent weeds.
We practiced canoeing today on land. Tomorrow we will be getting in canoes in the water. To get in the canoe you need to stay low and always have three points of contact to be most stable. The stroke we learned was the J-stroke and it is called that from the J motion it makes when the paddle is pushed away from the canoe.
It was raining all morning so we did chores that were inside. The chickens really loved their food when we gave it to them!
To wait out the rain, we played with the parachute in the conference center. We played a game where we tried to knock all of the balls off of the parachute, tried to keep all the air under the parachute to make a “fort”, and tag, where two people would run under the parachute and switch spots.
We tie dyed shirts today and some of us accidentally tie dyed the shirts we were wearing (oops!). Everyone loved making the different designs on their shirts with all the colors we had!
We went on a maple sugar hike in the woods. There we identified what kind of traits maple trees have so we could accurately identify them. Maple trees have rough bark as they get older, horizontal tree branches, and the leaves are often hand shaped.
We went to check out the garden and clean up some areas we will plant. The areas we helped pull out weeds will be used to grow melons and then lettuce and other plants that need shade will be grown underneath the lattice of the melon.
Tomorrow is canoeing day! We will be canoeing in the pond and wearing life vests. But be sure to bring an extra pair of clothes, just in case.
Garden Kitchen Recipe
- 1 onion
- 2-4 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ acorn squash
- 1 fresh corn cob
- Cup of frozen lima beans
Saute onions and garlic in a soup pot until translucent
Add vegetable stock
Chop acorn squash into small, diced pieces so that it will cook quickly
Shear corn from fresh corn cob
Add ingredients to soup to cook (add corn last)
Add rugged herbs like thyme and rosemary
When nearly complete, add fragile herbs like basil
Season with salt and pepper to taste