The Heavy Snow Begins in the Tahoe region. Mr. Connor's on break....

 

Winter Tahoe Trip

 This winter was used fire some training and conditioning and to check out some old rain gear. It rained or snowed pretty much every day we were Tahoe. The one clear day we had we used for snow shoeing. Turns out some rain gear I have from 2009 is no longer waterproof 😕 time to look for something new

Out on the Farm

 Just hanging around...

The Interior Garden

We have both hot and sweet peppers growing indoors at the moment. We are using old serving carts to hold the plants. LED lights are placed on a timer and are providing light for 16 hours a day.

 

Students add perimeter fencing

 Students add perimeter fencing on the north perimeter of the citrus garden. We shrunk the existing perimeter fence to use to add around the citrus grove and for use in some raised garden beds to allow plants in the garden to climb.

Inside Garden

 We are using two cafeteria food service containers (for lack of a better word) as plant holders. The students placed a 4' LED light and we now have approx 60 hot pepper plants growing in soil in a bed of fertilized water.

Cull

 We, unfortunately, had a large roo population and were unable to give the roos away. We made the best of the situation. All of the culled roos have been given to families for a meal for free.

New Hatch of Chicks

 We had 10 Chicks hatch on Monday, November 28th.

We Have Rain Today!

It began sprinkling yesterday and today the clouds have let loose. We have rain!

 

Students Move Fencing on Farm

 We have decided to shrink the size of the farm a bit by removing some of the existing fencings that had been placed when we had goats and chickens. Parts of the fence that are being removed are being reused in the garden area.

The Three Sisters

 

The Three Sisters

Beans, corn, and squash are the ultimate companion plants in the gardening world.1

 This top-notch trio is typically planted together in indigenous peoples' gardens and is collectively known as "the three sisters." Legend describes these three plants as "gifts from the gods," noting they should always be planted, eaten, and cherished together.

Each "sister" adds her own unique offering to the garden ecosystem. The beans (or any legume, including peas) pull nitrogen from the air and fixate it into the soil. Nitrogen-fixing plants benefit all other plants—especially heavy feeders like zucchini and squash—by providing the nutrients they need to grow. Corn, with its tall, sturdy stalk, gives vining plants like beans a backbone on which to trellis themselves.

Two more climbing fences installed

 Per 1 and 7 were at it again installing more posts and fencing to two more raised planters. The three raised planters with the fencing have had snow peas planted. If you read an earlier post, we made a fall planting about four weeks ago but had the chickens get into the garden and pulled the young plants out of the ground.

We are planning to plant brown and red onions later this week when we make the next raised planter center fences.

Chicks moved to Coop

 The October 6 hatching of 7 chicks has been moved out into the coop chick cage on Tuesday, Nov 1. The chicks were set up in the cage on Tuesday Nov1. A heat lamp, food, and water bowls were installed in the chick coop. The chicks will stay in the chick coop for approx two to three weeks until they have reached at least 1/2 the size of an adult chicken.

Installation of Pallet Wall Planters in Garden Begins

Today students hung two pallets that will eventually become wall planters in the near future. 

Installation of Climbing Fence

Students in Per 1 and 7 installed some fence posts and two 4'x8' wire sheets to form a pea climbing fence.  We test-planted some snow peas and will plant the rest on Tuesday if they survive the chicken test! Part of the pea fence was wrapping the raised garden with bird netting.

The Coop is getting some new "Blue Rock" ground cover.

 

Feeding the Chickens

 We picked some grapes and fed our chickens

Students Remove Wood Pallets from around Raised Planters

 Last year with the student's help we placed wood pallets at the end of each raised garden. We then placed an orange flexible plastic fence material over that. This was done in an attempt to keep the chickens from eating the vegetable plants. For the most part, it was a success. We decided this year to try something a bit different. What that is, is still in the works.

The wood pallets will be used for projects in the construction class beginning next week.

Photos of the Garden this YEAR!

 

Repair of Gate between Citrus Trees and Garden

 

Student remove wood Pallets from garden

Last year attempt to build barriers around the raised gardens to keep chickens out of the garden was removed.  Last year students installed wood pallets at each end of the raised garden, then placed orange safety fencing we had around campus on them.  The idea actually worked but made the garden look crowded. This year we will be trying something different. The students will be researching farms that have both chickens and vegetables to find out what might work in our garden to keep chickens out!

Leaf Peeping. Who knew?

 This past weekend October 7-9 Mr. Connor and his wife drove to an area near Bishop, CA. Bishop is located approximately 300 miles from the city of Upland. They drove to the area to see the leaves changing color! It turns out that taking part in this is called Leaf Peeping! 

Students Add Bark to Citrus Tree Area

 Mr. Connor's periods 1 & 7 worked diligently at placing bark around the 12 citrus trees in the school garden last week.