Rain, Rain, Rain!

It's been a week of almost solid rain...
with only a couple of brief respites.

It's during those brief interludes that everyone ventures out
for some snacking...


and to check on the garden...


I'm happy to report that all of the babies are doing great.


Both ducks and chicks are very robust this year.


Hubbs and I took a quick trip off the farm yesterday to attend a recipe testing 
demonstration that Amanda had orchestrated.
It took place at the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank.
Amanda was the MC of the event... which was great fun.


She had held a contest for vo-tech students to write and test a recipe using the types of foods that are available through the Food Bank.

Three sets of students were selected to present their recipes to a panel of judges.
Those of us who were in the audience were also given a taste of the prepared recipes.
Eventually the recipes will be published in handouts available through the Food Bank.


Amanda, through her work with the Pa. Nutrition Education Network, 
is committed to helping to bring healthy food to low-income families while 
teaching them how to maximize their food dollars.

We took some country roads on our trip to town that we had never before travelled,
and saw fields of this yellow flower.
At first we thought them to be weeds, until we realized that they were coming up
in neat rows.


These are fields of rape (a member of the mustard family).
Rapeseed is used to make rapeseed oil, canola, and biodiesel.
Regardless, the fields were breathtaking!

When we returned home, we found a thank you note from the preschool class that had visited us
two weeks ago.


Here is an excerpt:

"We asked the kiddos to tell us their favorite thing about our field trip to Bee Haven.
Here's what they had to say:

Ellie:  She letted me go in with the goats.
Liam B:  I like when I gave a cracker to a chicken, he letted me pet him.
Aleczander: the playground (pirate ship)
Luke:  the horses, the pities and the goats.  The turkeys and every single else animal. And then the water, the fishies and the ducks.
Ryan:  Climbing THAT hill... the one I climbed up!
Matthew:  I liked when I gave the cracker to the chicken, he licked me.  I liked the baby horse when we just got there and Miss Beverly was walking with it.
Blake G:  My favorite thing was when I was like, when there was like, I got to pet the cat and that's it.
Miles:  I liked the pirate ship also and I liked underneath it cause I like climbing up the stairs.
Cooper:  Petting the horses.
Kruz:  I liked the pigs.
Rachel:  the pigs, the pirate ship and the goats and the sheep and the chickens.
Siobhan:  The pirate ship!  I like the pony!
Jade:  The pirate ship.  I liked the horses, they ate my bow.  It was pretty funny.
Jax:  My favorite thing was the fireman pole cause I went down it all by myself.
Mason:  Pigs!
Caleb:  The pigs were spiky.
Jameson:  The pirate ship.
Temperance:  I like Pirate ships.
Liam W:  The pirate ship.
Chloe:  The horses. The sheep.
Colton:  The pirate ship.
Kylee:  I really liked the horsies because they were so nice.  He was just eating Miss Bobbi's hair.
Blake H:  I liked the pigs because they give you piggy to eat.  (we did explain that ginger and MaryAnn are pets, not ones that will ever be eaten.)
Mallory B:  I liked the dogs
Quentin:  I liked the sheep.
Coen:  Me liked the pirate ship.
Claire:  I liked that all the doggies came at the end.
Zachary:  The doggy, the black and mixed ones.
Blair:  I liked the horses, the one that tried to eat my hair.  And Aunt Bea was with me.
MacKenzie:  I liked it.
Mallory F. :  Margaret and Daddy!
Landen:  That big horse... we took a picture of it.  It was holding REALLY still and we got a really good picture.
Kylee:  Judah's pappy found a piggy egg.  It was laying right on the ground."

All I can say is... it's practically unanimous... every farm should have a pirate ship!!

Despite all of the rain, the farm is looking lush and beautiful right now.


The garden is bursting with growth.
It's going to be a great gardening summer!


Comments

Out of the mouths!...lol..

I love those turkeys standing guard over the raised beds.
jaz@octoberfarm said…
i love what amanda is doing! i should do something like that here. those kids will never forget your farm! i see rape growing all around here. it is breathtaking! your place looks fabulous!
Those comments from the kids are adorable!
littlemancat said…
Like Luke, I love "every single else animal!" And love what Amanda's doing, the kids' comments and pic, and how the two turkey guys are standing watch over the garden bed - onion and rhubarb?
Mary
Patsy from Illinois said…
Those comments from the kids made me want to throw my arms around each and every one of them. They are all blessed gifts.
Lynne said…
I would be enjoying that asparagus . . .
(Asparagus country here . . . we will be “greening it up” big time very, very soon!)
Amanda and her efforts/teaching . . . impressive . . .
Love the school kiddie comments . . .
Great “field trip” for school children!
Debbie Nolan said…
Great post - so enjoyed reading the kid's comments. What a great endeavor too about creating recipes of nutritional value for low income families. The farm and animals are looking good. Have a great weekend.
diane in northern wis said…
Looks like you've got turkey guardians of your garden....probably a good idea! Can't wait to see the runner ducks when they're big and getting to know their way around your place. How did you get all the rain and we didn't get any? How did it get past us! We surely need it with all these forests! Love your blog Bev. I'm still wondering what a piggy egg is! :)
This N That said…
It's nice to see that Amanda's devotion and dedication is paying off..How exciting..Happy for her. Love the children comments..Out of the mouths...... What is a piggie egg? A misplaced guinea or chicken maybe?? That was a field trip they will always remember...Enjoy your weekend..
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An American in Tokyo said…
That is a LOT of asaparagus!
And the rape fields are beautiful!
The kiddie comments are too cute! They LOVE your pirate ship!

I wonder if the food bank could make a recipe book to sell to raise funds?
When I was growing up in California, some churches used to make them just to share recipes (not raise funds). They could ask people to submit recipes and then someone could print out/copy the recipes and simply spiral bind the pages together (it's not very expensive) and then sell them(?).
An American in Tokyo said…
OR, they could give the recipe books to the low income families with the food!