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Friday, June 29, 2012

Teacher Workshop: AG In The Classroom

Thursday I attended an all day teacher workshop. It was mostly held outside and it was hot! When I got in my car it said it was 106! I had some heat trouble and landed in the ER after the workshop. I got dehydrated, its been slowing me down and I don't like it. Even though I had massive trouble after, I am glad I spent the day with AG in the classroom. I learned a lot, planning on writing a grant, and have a few things I can do in with my third graders next year via a book of lesson plans. I am hoping that my July workshop ends without a trip to the ER!

Here is a recap of my day..

First we started off with a few talkers including the runner up to Miss America and 2011 Miss Oklahoma, who grew up living on a dairy farm and shared many positive aspects about children and milk. Click here to get more information to share with students or just for yourself about the benefits of milk and excercise! She also spoke to the importance of FFA and 4H programs in schools and said that her success as a beauty pageant winner stemmed from her experiences with public speaking contests sponsored by these programs. My own children are involved in these programs at school. They are great organizations!


Garden  FUN
Next we headed off to the experimental gardening. I found a grant opportunity for my home. All I need is an acre to plant, I may give it a try! I found the processes they were speaking of interesting. Look at the pictures, you can see that the plants are being grown in rows of big black bags. They put a hole in the bag and place the plant in it. They install an irrigations system and have a fertilizer delivery system as well. They are having a fall garden as well. The grant will install one of these gardens on one acre of your own property. It would be great to be included in research on this project hand start a garden that is of the caliber of the property I moved from.  





Goats!
Next we headed off to a goat dairy. We just took a look of the facilities we did not see any goats getting milked. We did get some sample bars of goat milk soap.  I got an unscented and scented bar both decorative. Check out another farm that makes goat milk soap here! Pictured is a friend of mine viewing the goat milking room. I was hoping to learn more about the goats because we have some goats ourselves but it was just a quick overview of their program.



The Mission...
A building associated with the US Indian control project from Indian Territory to educate the indians in white ways of life now is part of  Redlands College. My favorite quote of the history of the place is Give me a white boy and I will teach him to be indian! Let's do share the what's best in our cultures and make a better place for all of us! The truth is this facility has been many things since old IT times including an orphanage, drug rehab, and a quail hatchery. The old mission building is being restored so I did not go in it. This was my view from where I sat at lunch. You can see to the left of the building... The vineyard!








Wine?
Yes, in an elementary workshop....

I was shocked this was part of the tour. When I thought we were going to look at the plants in the vineyard we were actually learning about the associates degree program for becoming a certified winery/vineyard in Oklahoma. It was interesting to hear about the program and see the facilities an visit a wine tasting room (no tasting). I would have loved to have spent some time with the plants! So in Oklahoma it takes land and about $5,000 to start up a vineyard and people from all over the state are putting this together for their "what now" retirement package! I will probably not have a vineyard but I do have an area of my land I want vining fruit to grow!

Masters of living history

Don't call them reinactors, they don't like it. These are professors who do living history skits. Today was Annie Oakley! It was wonderful trick shooting and all. They may look familiar they have been on the history channel and have made many of the authentic looking costumes for hollywood. They gave an account of Annie Oakley's life according to research hey have conducted, no propaganda! This husband and wife team travel the nation doing skits they pretend to be other historical figures too I wish I could remember all the names they rattled off.

Herding Dog

The herding dog surprised me, she was such a gentle dog with the sheep. What was really neat is we got a book and a signed card from the author of Brave Dogs, Gentle Dogs: How they Guard Sheep by Cat Urbigkit. I am sure going to enjoy sharing that book along with my personally acquired signed addition of Grady Is In The Silo.  At this point in the workshop it was so hot and we had been outside for a long time, even for lunch I think this was my nearing my max point heat wise!

Cow Tipping....Point!

Just getting a small demonstration about cows from showing them to their physical structure. BINGO, looking back this is the point in the tour I think heat was starting to win the battle, I had reached my tipping point. I hardly remember this presentation all I could think about was getting back on the bus and getting some cool air.





GREEN HOUSE!

Or.. at least we were suppose to see it. It was just too hot. We did look at the large garden at the Leonard Farm. This is an certified organic farm that sales now mostly to local restaurants. I enjoyed seeing another garden and taking in some new ideas! We could see the outside of the greenhouse, I really wanted to hear more about it but at 106 you can imagine why we didn't go in.

At this point the day was over unless you wanted to go to the farmer's market or do a wine tasting but I was done! I could take no more. This is when I got in my car and tried to start cooling off, but it was too late. I stopped at a gas station and got a Gatorade but I had started to get massive muscle cramps, I got back in the car and got down to road a little further and I was throwing up. I texted Marty told him I was in trouble to tell my mother I needed help and I got it she came and got me to the hospital by the time she reached me I was really out if it though. I probably should have called 911 from the Taco Bell I waited at. Thank you Mom, Aunt Linda, Taco Bell El Reno and El Reno hospital for helping me!

1 comment:

  1. sorry for any mispellings spell checker on blogger wouldn't work and I am still feeling really weak so this post is what it is... finished! :)

    ReplyDelete