Kids, Lakes, Loons and Pines

Taproot Magazine::Issue 44::Emerge

 Taproot Magazine - Issue 44::EMERGE is in print!

I recently received my copy and was able to see the product of my most recent contribution to this lovely magazine in my own hands.  

In this issue, I shared both text and images for:

"Hatch - A Beginners Guide to Hatching Chicken Eggs"

Writing for magazines is a creative outlet that I thoroughly enjoy. Thoughts and ideas formulate in my mind, then are transferred thoughtfully and intentionally to words in print on my computer screen.   My completed articles are then sent to my editors, who polish my words, and graphic designers or illustrators who complement my writing and work their magic with the layout on the pages. When all is ready the magazines are published and sent out into the world for others to read.   When I pull up to my rural mailbox and receive a magazine that includes my contribution, I always get a rush of excitement and a feeling of joy and accomplishment!  

And, as I have mentioned before, writing for Taproot Magazine is a certain kind of special. 

I hope you find the opportunity to get your hands on a copy and read the article that I wrote highlighting this special activity celebrating new life and the wonder and joy that comes with new beginnings!

Kids and Eggs - Hatching Chicks

I am hatching chicks again this Spring in my kindergarten classroom!

Here are some snapshots I took with my phone using this egg scope when I candled the eggs. 

They reflect the development of the chick at day 8.

I plan to candle the eggs once more next Tuesday with hope of a hatch the last week of April.

I will keep you posted!

 

White Meat Work Party

This weekend we had our annual work party with neighbors and friends, "turning chickens into meat."

The whole process is not a small undertaking.  But when it is all said and done, we always feel it is worth all of the effort in the end.    The meat superior to anything we could buy at our local grocery store. And, the experience, from start to finish, offers many natural opportunities for learning and understanding that we value sharing with our children.

We are grateful for healthy, home grown meat readily accesible in our freezer and for the experience of community getting the job done!

An Exciting Week in Kindergarten!

It was a busy and exciting week in kindergarten!  

Monday morning we celebrated the efforts of our spring sugaring with a classroom pancake party.  

Then, on Tuesday morning we had our first chick hatch in the classroom!  For the rest of the week, we had the opportunity to witness several more chicks hatch and I shared the experience of observing and handling baby chicks with my students.  

As you can imagine, it was quite an exciting week for these young learners!   This teacher-mama is ready for the weekend!
 

 

 

First Egg!

We had pleasant surprise in the henhouse this afternoon.  Our first egg!

Our hens, which we got as chicks late August, are starting to finally mature into productive laying hens.  

We look forward to the return of fresh eggs from the coop - and the quirky, mini pullet eggs and extra-ordinary double yolkers that will surely be produced in the initial weeks of the hens' laying cycles. 

 

 

chicky cuteness

Who are the cutest chicks on the block?  My kinder-chickies of course!  The peeping in the classroom will be ending soon as sending them all off to be adopted by kindergarten families by the end of the week.   

Spring Hatch

 

It is that time of year again in kindergarten!   This year we are proving to have a very successful spring hatch.   Yesterday I was able to say good morning to these 5 chicks that had hatched over night, another one hatched right at the end of the day and I am guessing a few more hatched overnight.    (I will be making my way into school later today when weather improves to check things out as school was canceled today due to freezing rain.)

I got a new learning tool this year and was able to learn and share more about candling eggs with an OvaScope, confirming fertile eggs and watching the embryos grow.

This is always such a fun and exciting process.  I truly enjoy sharing this experience with my kindergarten students!

Around here....

inside

• saying "good morning" with wild blueberry scones
• meal prep for the week ahead 
• a little bit of experimentation (dried tansy in a dye bath)

outside

• A little bit of wandering - trying to soak up a little sunlight during this dark time of year.  We lost a lot of our snow during a stretch of rain last week.  Today we got a dusting over a layer of ice that has accumulated.  Temperatures are below freezing, so there is some hope that our lakes will start to freeze and we will gently transition into our true winter.

Wishing you a good start to your week, from my little corner of the world to yours!

pumpkining in kindergarten

Here are a few snapshots from short, busy and fun week in kindergarten.  

In the lesson plans were:  pumpkin investigations!

Monday:  Pumpkin seeds (My garden was generous this year I grew 16 pie pumpkins - and I had a couple donations - so each student was able to investigate their own pumpkin.  I brought home one 5 gallon bucket of pumpkin "guts" for the chickens - and two 5 gallon buckets of cut and seeded pumpkins.

Monday night:  The kindergarten teacher (and husband) roasted pumpkin seeds, the kindergarten teacher also bandaged the blisters that she got from slicing and cutting the tops off of 18 pumpkins.

Tuesday:  Roasting pumpkins.   In class we roasted a crockpot full of sliced and seeded pumpkins throughout the day, sharing with the kiddos one way pumpkins can be cooked.

Tuesday night:  Roasting pumpkins - I had two crock pots going at home roasting pumpkins overnight and during the daytime to make the most of our harvest.

Wednesday: Pumpkin puree and pumpkin smoothies.  In class I showed the kids what part of the pumpkin that we make into pumpkin puree and we celebrated our efforts by making (and enjoying) pumpkin smoothies.

Wednesday night:  Before we went out and celebrated our anniversary, I finished up making pumpkin puree from all of the baked pumpkins.  I was able to put up over 26 cups of fresh pumpkin.  (I freeze it in 2 cup servings in quart freezer bags.)

Another successful year of pumpkining at home and school - done!

Now I just need to make it through a Halloween on a Monday night.

If you are looking for some pumpkin inspired ideas, check out my recent post on mothering.com:

Not your average chicken nugget - chicken work party

Today was the day that we gathered with neighbors and friends to "turn our chickens into meat."   Every year we go in on a big order of cornish rock broiler chickens (also known as 'meat birds').  We all raise them on our own, then we gather after about 9 weeks to butcher the chickens - work party style.  

It is always a productive gathering with the added components of some playing around and a pot-luck style meal to celebrate our efforts.   We now have 22 healthy, home-grown chickens in our freezer to feed our family.   And - our kids have a concrete understanding of where their food comes from.