Friday, November 30, 2012

Cooking Lessons For Healthy Farmers


Cooking is one of those favored activities that kids really want to do. It may be a favorite because of the yummy reward in the end. It is really fun to cook with kids. They learn so much from working through the process of planning, reading the recipe, following the steps, measuring out the ingredients and cooking it just right. Many things can go wrong, but that is how we learn. Having a farm at our school has given us access to healthy organic food that is easily harvested by our students. Prepping for a cooking activity for 25 kids takes some time, but the outcome and the culmination of many skills that the kids acquire is a great payoff for all involved. 











We love farm fresh cookin'!

Friday, November 16, 2012

Moss Haven Farm Is Thankful!





We are so thankful for the wonderful relationship that has grown between our school and the American Heart Association's Teaching Garden Program. We continue to learn and grow by leaps and bounds. Here is a look at how we are growing goodness everyday at our school. We have much to be thankful for.




Mrs. Barr students can really grow the veggies. They spend a lot of time out in the farm. They are harvesting cukecumbers to make finger sandwiches. Yum!


These 1st and 2nd grade boys are from one of our afterschool farm teams. They really work hard and get a lot done.


Our morning farm team gets here early to work on farm chores.


This farm friend picked bell peppers the previous day and brought them to school in his lunch. We love our healthy farmers!




Farming in Texas takes a lot of water! Thanks Farmer Luke!




We had a surplus of cabbage, so our neighborhood will benefit and be able to plant in their home gardens too.


One of my farm friends shared some seeds from her orange. Our farm brings out such great sharing spirit!

  

Rather than filling up the landfill with old jack-o-lanterns, this family participated in our pumpkin drop. They will become a part of our compost for the gardens.


Play with your food was an activity for our farmers at home. They created turkeys out of healthy food and then shared the pictures.



Happy Thanksgiving! We are so thankful for our friends, families and our wonderful community! Enjoy your harvest everyone!

Friday, November 9, 2012

Let's Move!



Let's Move! is an initiative that was developed by First Lady Michelle Obama. It is dedicated to try to solve the problem of childhood obesity. Her hope is that children born today will grow up to become healthy adults.


Let's Move! focusses on getting kids on the path to a better future by focussing on healthy living practices. It gives parents information about choosing healthier foods, mandates that healthier foods are served in our schools, improves access to healthy, affordable foods and increases physical activity.


Everybody has an important role in reducing childhood obesity, including parents, caregivers, government officials, schools, health care professionals, faith and community based organizations and private companies. We are all key in ensuring a healthy future for our children. So.., Let's Move!

Friday, November 2, 2012

Worms - Worms - Worms

Vermicomposting is cool! It is one of the many projects that we have on our farm. We have worms in bins. We add compostable fruits and veggies. The worms eat it. They poop. We separate poop from worms and wah lah..., vermicompost for our farm. It is magic for our plants and veggies and so very easy to do. Lots of learning happens from having our littlest farm friends on hand. You can do it too. Check out our Moss Haven Farm Friend Heather Rinaldi's Texas Worm Ranch website to find out all that you need to know about having your own worm ranch.

Separating the worms from their vermicompost is fun!
Worms on one side - Worm poop on the other.
This farm friend was inspecting a new shipment of worms.

The kids shredded newspaper to add to our worm boxes.
Then they added soil to the boxes.
After the soil was added, worms went in with a nice blanket of wet newspaper.
We love worm wrangling on our farm!