As spring spreads it’s wings and embraces our beautiful valley I begin to realize how short this season really is on the farm. The bursts of flowers on different fruit trees, the cycles of different bird calls, new growth on plants, and the momentous buzzing of bees turns the valley into a virtual soap opera of production. As important as it is for students to see the fall season and its bountiful harvest from the farm, I feel like the spring season is almost more important for their deeper understanding of “where food comes from”.
From a biological standpoint the students get to learn the life cycle of the plant, how the six plant parts function, and the ways that we as humans use these parts. They get to see the actual transition from a plant to a seed to a plant again. And taste all six plant parts.
We have had twenty school groups to the farm this spring, (including our weekly and monthly visitors) and we have been having a lot of fun! The baby goats were born the first week of April, and have been a big hit! Our baby chicks arrived last week, just in time for the last couple of tours. We have been enjoying our strawberry crop (though we just discovered that we have a mite issue in our Discovery Field) and are looking forward to our summer crops!