Week 5 Q1 Sept 23-27 On the Farm

Due This week!

1. Week #5  Blog Write up. (write about what you did in class this week)
2 This week we continued removing weeds. Oh, so many weed from summer.
3 We continued building the raised garden planters.
4 Cont. collecting eggs and checking the farm in am and pm.



This week we continue to clear the weeds from the garden. We are now to the nitty-gritty.

We also have begun in earnest construction of raised garden planters.

 

We relocated the galv. top work table next to the storage bin.

On the chicken coop working on the existing doors to the 3 door coop.

Once the planters are in, we will line them with building material to keep moisture away from the wood sides. We then will backfill with soil and add an irrigation lines to each planter box.

Completed Projects !

Raised Garden - A 3 high 2' x 6" raised garden eight feet long was created by the students. This is the first of approx. six that we propose to build this year. The trouble we have had the past two growing seasons is the encroachment of the what we call the devil grass. This past summer it began to overtake our garden. Mrs Havers farm class has done an excellent job of weed abatement in the garden!

We will wrap the inside of the planter with building paper to help prevent moisture from reaching the wood and slow rotting.

Two inside Chicken Coops: Two inside coops were made by the students and in doing so created three separate areas. The main area is now where we keep the chicken and goat feed in trash cans. The chicken feeder is also inside the main area away from Felicia!

Roosting Poles - Allows Chicken easier access to nesting boxes. The boxes have been in the coop since May. The only box that would get used on a regular basis was the box that had the blue feeder in front of it. Since the students add the 2"x 4" wood all of the hen boxes are getting used.

Compost Areas #3. Students built compost area #3 and filled it with green waste.

Sink and Compost area#2 Students added the shelf to the sink area and installed a new larger sink.  The student split the front of the compost bin and added both green and brown waste.

Brought out Picnic Benches

Clearing of GARDEN weeds!

Week 4 Q1

Week 4 September 16-20

Work continues on the garden and chicken coop

Week 3 Q1

At the Garden, on Monday we realized we had a predator attack and kill one of our new roosters on Sunday night.  We had two roosters staying in the bachelor pad as a precaution to check on their health. The predator (what appears to have been an opossum) killed our new silver Amearaucana bird.

Immediate repairs were made to the bachelor pad cage on Monday at school by both the garden class and by the construction classes.

Activities this week will include

1. Continue to pull weeds in the garden
2. Continue to clean the chicken coop.
3. Continue to work on standards procedures when collecting eggs and reporting count.
4.*Repair Bachelor Pad Cage
5. Work on a new access location into the farm

New Chicks.
3 Marans, 2 Easter Eggers

Added a third compost bin, while repairing one of the existing compost bins.

New compost bin

 

Edged and mowed lawn inside the Farm perimeter.

Installed a larger sink to the farm table.

Feeding time is always fun!

Week 2 Q1

OK, we are started! Items that we need to attend to.

1. Place all of the blue recycling bins into each classroom
2. Clean the Chicken Coop!
3. Design and build a new goat house.
4. Weed the garden and pick vegetables.
5. Continue collection of eggs.
6. Begin sweeping/blowing the walkways into school.

Other items planned for the quarter.

1. Design and build window planters for school
2. Update and present a new recycling program at the school.
3. Build two raised garden planters

School is back in session. The 2019/2020 school year has begun

The school year began on Wednesday, August 28th this year. On August 7 I placed 24 eggs in an incubator. On Aug 27 three eggs hatched, one on Aug 28 and one on Aug 29th. The rest of the eggs did not hatch. The eggs were placed into a new incubator. For most of the time the eggs were not observed, we are trying to figure out why many of the eggs made it to about week 17. Disappointing batch. However, with that said, we did hatch two Orpingtons, two Plymouth Barred Rocks and, one Wyandotte.


Other updates:

Falicia was brought back to campus on Aug 23 along with a new goat named Moonshadow.

The younger of the two Brahma rooster males was given away to an elderly couple.
The Rock Star Polish Rooster was sent off to breed with a Polish Hen in San Bernardino.

We lost two hens, a Plymouth Barred Rock on August 26, appears due to a preditor and one on Sept. 2, our old white Leghorn. I found her in a hen box, appears from natural causes.

This brings our hen laying population down to 20. We start the year with just one rooster, A big Brahma.

The garden is a bit overgrown.

Our new goat...Moon Shower...