Greenhouses and Goats

Our 4H club enjoyed a behind the scenes peek at a greenhouse.  So much more goes on there than meets the eye.

Some of it is right before our eyes, but I just never noticed.  For example, each one of these hanging baskets has it's own drip irrigation.

Another thing I learned is that those first two tiny leaves on a sprout are called cotyledon. I feel so garden smart now. 

Seeing all these plants got me itching to get a couple seedlings started.

A small sample of bird feeders they had.  If there is something to stick out in your backyard, they had it there.  Everything was so, so cute, I didn't see one thing I wouldn't want.  The only thing that kept me from backing the car up to the front door and loading it up was that all that cuteness comes with quite a price tag. If we lived where it was nice out most of the year it might not seem like so much, but here in Minnesota, where our first and last frost dates only span about 4 1/2 to 5 months, it sure does.  

Next stop was the park for a meeting, Subway lunch and knocking a volleyball around.

We finished up the day with a visit to a goat dairy.  Nothing will make you say "ahhh" faster than 80 plus goats all together.  This pen held over 25 newborn kids. Made me think we needed more goats, but then I came to my senses.  Dancer's goat Jamal is from this dairy so I scoured the mommy goats to see if I could see the one that might be his mom. There were a couple that would fit the bill so there will be no definite  family reunion for him. 

Llama Clinic

Time for the llamas to have their annual check ups.  We are fortunate that a number of vet students from the U of M come out to a local farm and hold this clinic every spring.  It is very hard to find vet familiar with llamas so this is a huge blessing.  The girls got a good once over, their teeth checked, shots, dewormed and toe nails trimmed. 

Marceline in the chute getting her shots.

Honey Bear and Dancer.  Honey Bear was all done and very interested in sampling the hay. She has been eating hay out of the same field all year so perhaps this hay from another field was a real treat for her.

Minnesota State Fair

State fair was a little different for us this year.  Dancer started school and wasn't able to bring a project this year, but she still wanted to be able to go to the the fair. To make this work we had to work around her class schedule and Spark needed to attend the encampment (where the county buses the kids to the fair and they stay in the 4-H Hilton on the fair grounds). He went down the day before us and we dropped him off for the bus. I don't know if he was more excited or I was more nervous.  The next day we picked Dancer up from school and headed down, which was an adventure all on it's own.  It took us almost as long to find a parking spot as it did to drive there.

Spark did great, he earned a blue ribbon for his pelargonium. The judge said she wasn't impressed with his plant, but she was impressed with his in-depth knowledge of it. 

Our county also had a team in the "Chef for a Day" competition.  The kids get an hour of instruction and then they have half and hour to prepare a salad with meat for the judges.  It is similar to the t.v. show "Chopped."

I took the two pictures above and then had my phone in my purse. The only other picture I snapped the whole day was of Paul Bunyan made out of recycled goods. We will just have to remember the rest in our minds like in the good old days. 

4-H Favorite Food Show Potato Salad

Favorite food show is a project where you highlight one of your favorite foods by constucting a theme (Spark's was obviously 4th of July) and complete a menu around it and then present it to a judge. This year Spark chose Potato Salad.  You can never go wrong with homemade potato salad and this year it won him a blue ribbon.  I can actually brag about our potato salad recipe because when there is a potluck, often times we will get requests for our dish to be potato salad. It's not a family secret so here is the potato salad recipe.

Spark's potato salad was a little harder to make this year than usual because our stove died and we haven't gotten around to getting a new one. To boil the eggs and potatoes he had to haul out the camping stove so he had a little extra twist to tell about his dish. The rest of his meal was a burger, baked beans, chips, sweet iced tea and, if you can see the little flag on the top of napkin, mini Resees Peanut Butter Cups arranged as a flag.

To complete his theme he wore a USA t-shirt.

Besides making the food the kids also need to know what nutrients are in the the meal, how much it costs and anything else the judge can think up.

Dessert Sushi

The 4-H camp counselors made these for evening snack at the bonfine to complment their Under the Sea theme.  The ingredents are: Rice Krispies, fruit roll ups, Swedish fish, gummy worms, marshmallows and butter.

Make a regular Rice Krispie bar recipe.  Smoosh it out flat on a big baking sheet.  Quickly, very quickly, while they are still warm, put on Swedish fish and gummy worms.  Roll the sushi up the long way to make a long roll.  Wrap the fruit roll ups on the outside of the roll, this helps to hold it together.  Put it in the freezer for about five minutes until hard enough to cut. Slice with a surrated knife.

Dancer goes to camp

Things changed this year when Dancer was getting ready to go to camp. When she was younger I use to help her get ready, make sure she had everything she needed and brought her to camp. This year she planned out her entire session she's teaching by herself, got all the supplies together, packed her dufflebag and loaded up her car. Only thing we did was take her out to lunch before she left at McDonalds.

Then she got in her car and drove off. This is the last year she can be a counselor, if she wants to go again she has to wait a year until she's 21 years old to be a chaperone. Spark will be a first year counselor this year, he goes on Wednesday and we will be bringing him. Dad is going to be the camp nurse for two of the days so we will see Dancer and Spark during the week or I would really be sad at Dancer's new independence.

Robotic Cow Milker Field Trip

Our 4-H club went on the coolest field trip, we toured a dairy farm with a robotic milker. I am happy for anyone who is able to put this kind of milking parlor in because dairy farmers work long hours each and every day of the year. This means they can have a life outside of the farm, even if that only means going out for diner. This is the cows all lined up eating their lunch. They were very interested in us, not sure if we were checking them out or they were checking us out.  There are so many cows in this building that it isn't heated and you could almost go without a coat.  I say almost because it was about -15 below zero.

Every half hour this robot, which I called an automatic pitch fork, came by and moved the food closer to the cows.

This is what does all the work.  It has a sensor on it that recognizes the cow when it comes into the milking chute.  If it is time for her to be milked, she gets a treat, if not, no treat and she knows to move on and come back later. They said some of the cows are in the chute almost to the minute that they are able to be milked again.  

When she gets in the chute her udder get a good cleaning off with scrubbers and a sprayer.

Next a laser comes out to find the teats and the milker hooks up.  Some cows milk in as little as two minutes and some over 10 minutes.  Ten minutes is not ideal because a line starts form at the milker. Think of it as someone needing a price check in the check out line at the store and you already have all your items on the belt. 

This girl, who had the name Jumping Frogs Splash, yes they are named by the owners daughter, was wondering why all these people where watching her be milked. I think she sassily said, "Take a picture it will last longer." I told her I already did.  

The calves are also automatically feed.  No need to wait for the farmer to come around with the bottle, food automatically mixed and is available all the time.

The babies are all together where they are so friendly and wanted pets and scratches.  Dancer would love a calf so if she could have smuggled that one out she would have had it in the back of the car.

Kayumba

Spark got a new little goat for a 4-H project.  He named him Kayumba and rode on Dancer's lap on the way home. We bought him and then had a 4-H meeting where he was a huge hit, but how can you not love a baby goat. 

He is about 10 days old here.

It took him a couple of days for him to get used to taking a bottle after being use to his momma.

This kids worked with him a lot to get him to be a successful bottle drinker, even bringing him in the house for snacks at night.

Finally he is a pro at it and can down a bottle in what seems like seconds.  

He has really grown.  This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago, I'm not sure Spark would even be able to pick him up any more.  Next to our other goats though he is still a little guy.

And he loves to do chores.  He follows Spark around like a dog and panics when he doesn't see him.  Like all baby goats, he is so cute!

Llama State Project Bowl

Our team the Stearburne Spitters.  Llama was new in our state this year and the kids did really well. The kids got together several times in the months prior to the bowl to practice together and then also did a lot of studying on their own. 

Spark made a llama cake for lunch.

This was lunch and it gives you and idea of just how many people were there.  This is just a very small part of the room we were in and there were other rooms and people sitting in hallways.  

4-H Knowledge Bowl Pratice Cake

After the Minecraft cake Spark was on a baking spree.  We had our first llama knowledge bowl practice at our house and he made another layer cake with a llama on top to spur on the llama learning.

4-H Winter Party

Snowman or cat contest. Dancer's group

Spark's group.  I guess no one made a snowman.  They also played ball on the ice, ice skated, treasure chest, and a potluck breakfast.  Yes, the party was a 9:30 in the morning.

Llama walk

We have a really great leader of our llama club who plans tons of great activities for us.  So when she suggested someone plan a llama walk we took on the challenge and quick got one planned.  We held it at a beautiful county park that has a river that winds through it.  

Afterwards we roasted hot dogs and made S'mores.  This was a lot of fun and we already have ideas on how to make it more exciting next year when we have more time to plan.  

Llama Herdsmanship

At the 4-H awards banquet, the kids won the award for llama herdsmanship at the fair.  That means that they kept the stalls and area clean and the water buckets and feeders full.  The llama kids in our county all work together as a team and take of whatever they see isn't up to par when the walk through the barns, but it is nice to be recognized anyway.  Actually, I am more proud that they all are willing to take care of someone else's animal than worry about winning the award just for themselves.  

Halloween Goodies and Goblins

Trick or treats in a Snapple bottle.  Spray paint the covers orange.  Adorn with ribbon and stickers.  Make sure the jars are completely dry before putting in the candy or you will end up throwing it all out, rewashing the jars and refilling with new candy you have to run to town to buy.   

We were suppose to have a Halloween themed dish for the 4-H party.  Low on time and motivation we grabbed a container of cheese balls from Sam's Club and drew a pumpkin face on it.

For our homeschool co-op party I was more organized.  This is a pan of lasagna with RIP in green olives.  If you don't like green olives (I don't) just eat from the bottom of the pan.

Also for co-op, pumpkin biscuits.  These are those biscuits that come in the tube and make your heart stop while you are waiting for it to pop upon opening.  Lay them out on your baking sheet and then cut slits around the sides.  Cut one biscuit into small pieces and stick on top for the stems.

Co-op trick or treating.  We had Sonic, Little Mac, and Mario.

In about one hour between the three of them they brought home about 30 pounds of candy.  A good chuck of Sparks went to the hospital with Dad.  Nurses love candy :)

4-H Halloween party, Mario and Mary Poppins.

The funniest game they played was trying to eat a donut tied from the ceiling without using their hands.

Dancer's dead and scarred pumpkin.