"When a schoolboy has diligently used his faculties and energy for eight or ten months of the year in learning those good things assigned to him, then he usually has a vacation that means a rest from school. 

It has been learned that a man's faculties need such a rest of change of surroundings and activities with which the body and mind have been busied. 

Many believe that a school vacation should not be used in laziness, idleness or freedom from hard work. The body must and will breathe as long as it lives. Likewise the mind must be active every day in one way or another. 

If the body does not really exert itself in exercise that also occupies the mind and leads it in a different direction than before, thereby giving rest on the one hand and on the other sound development during vacation, then the body becomes indolent or only eats, drinks and sleeps while mental activity continues in the same direction as in school with the only difference that it believes it should have light and very often harmful reading material. When that boy or girl begins school after a vacation, it is found that neither body nor mind has received any notable rest or growth during vacation. There is no noticeable change other than that they associate with parents, brothers, sisters, friends and relatives instead of with teachers and companions in school. The activity of both mind and body is essentially the same at all times, both in school and during vacation. 

Such school attendance and vacations may well explain the fact that after some years even stout farm boys appear to be nervous, absent-minded, helpless louts who among farmers hardly know "beans from buckshot," or can harness a horse. When such parlor philosophers go out into the work as pastors or teachers they are in many ways an amusing spectacle or comedy in which many might see themselves. In our opinion parents and teachers do not serve students well when they make them believe that hard work during vacation is not good for them. This harmful belief has crept into our society more and more. Good, hard, busy reasonable and useful physical work is the best vacation, ordained by God, for students. We believe the work should rather be in the free air and so hard that the mind loses almost all desire for other mental activity except for what family devotions and church services supply together with the most necessary newspaper reading. Not only my experience as a youth, but also the hard work during the last year and a half while on a difficult journey into the goldfields of the Yukon have strengthened me in this belief."

Rev. Bjug Harstad (my great-great-grandfather), Founding President of PLU
​Aug. 18, 1899 (Dr. Montessori would have been 29 years old at the time)

 Tercera (3a) semana de diciembre:

Hello Farm School Friends,
(Hola compañeros de la Finca Educativa,)

Here's the farm report:
(Aquí está el reportaje de la finca:)

LIFE RECIPES for each farm task
- 3x5" life recipes may be deposited to the Flower Box that is to stay on Irene's desk.
- On one side: the task depicted (labeled in English/Spanish/both). 
- Other side: date/season, your name, sequenced description, any pertinent information
- See contents for examples. Would we prefer them to be listed by category, season, or alphabetically?

NEW STOVE
- We installed a new wood stove! This one heats up the house. (And the old one may still be in a truck in the carport.)

SEED SAVING
(Review Sam's intro Dec 3)

HOPS + BEANS
- We may take down hops (carport) and beans (in current pig pen) to be repurposed as we see fit (compost, burn, distribute supplies.)

UTILITY ROOM
- I cleared the utility room so it is ready for installation of coat racks and benches. We may mount coat racks on the north end and hang chalkboards over the table. There are towels to fold.

TEXTILE ROOM
- I began setting up a sewing/textile room in the first north bedroom (between the utility room & bathroom). Clear containers can be used to reasonably sort textile/sewing tools (as modeled). Drawers may be set up to organize supplies for sewing, knitting, weaving, and the like. (Shall I donate my yarn stash and rocking chair?)

OTHER BUSINESS
- We are re-evaluating storage containers - many of the clear jars (Grateful to Lora) are being used for sorting supplies and making them more accessible on the desk and in the hall.

- The roof was cleaned off. The mossy bits may be swept up and composted as desired (perhaps in the pile in the back yard out by the pond). Or they make for an interesting sensory experience to be walked upon, especially in the rain.

- We may rake up walnut leaves if still accessible in Irene's garden. They inhibit growth of other plants.

- Talk to Elise if you would like to purchase a pig (or go in on it with somebody) in January.

December 17 is the last Farm Day before we resume in 2019.

Looking ahead  -

Wrapping up Cycle 2: 
January 7 (last session of Cycle 2 with whole group.)
January 14 (HMS is not present during Immersion Week.)
January 21 (Observation of Dr. King as desired, I will likely be present.)

Cycle 3: January 22 - March 29 
January 28
February 4, 11, 18, 25
March 4, 11, 18, 25

Cycle 4: April 1 - June 7
April 1, 11, 22, 29
May 6, 13, 20
June 3

What else?

Peace, ♡ Elise

segunda semana de diciembre:

Sunny and fresh
Hace sol y fresco.

Walk to river: salmon life cycles + physics.
Camino al rio: ciclo de vida de salmon + físicas.

Feed chickens and pigs.
​Alimentar a los pollos y cerdos.

visit by Katelyn Anderson of Umber Heart Photography. 
Visita de Katelyn Anderson de  Umber Heart Photography. 

Grateful for: teamwork. ◡̈  
Agradecidos por: trabajo en equipo. ◡̈  

Biochar and Seed Saving introduction by Sam day

We had a great day on the farm. It's been beautiful weather. Many of the leaves have dropped. Pigs are making progress around the pond.

At farm school today, we:

• collected apples and pressed cider (delicious!)
• cleaned off the back porch
• cut and barked a path
• got through the dishes
• consolidated items in kitchen cabinets
• dusted and washed windows
• phase I of cleaning the mud room
• moved the sewing dresser 
• obtained two chalkboards (thank you, Melanie & Elliott)
• cared for pigs and chickens
• saw salmon in the river
• saw a great blue heron flying over the pond
• observed the new aquaponics experiment
• listened to canciónes en español (gracias, Melanie)
• and many more!

Next Monday, Nov. 12 is Veteran's Day, so middle schoolers will not be present. Please let me know if you plan to attend. ◡̈  

Next Wednesday, Nov. 14 is a Farm Dinner Potluck at 6 p.m. 

Monday, Nov. 19 we will have my Herbalist friend join us for a plant walk! We also plan to complete Phase II of the Mudroom Project. 

P.S. Congratulations to the middle school class for their first (and successful) artisan market in their classroom on Friday! I ended up with one of everything because they were all so great. 

P.P.S. I want to share the quote on brick by Jacquelyn's/Henry's/Eliza's family at the new Manette play ground they helped to build (did you see Henry and his father on the cover of the pink edition of The Kitsap Sun recently)?

Peace, Elise

​

Happy Farm School Monday tomorrow! ◡̈  

A few considerations - 

• Cider press is set up. - We'll want to carefully clean it and press some apples tomorrow. We can pick some from the orchard with the fountain, and I may find out what's available from Marilyn's orchard (cautious of the hive). We'll be careful not to pick all the fujis. Bring containers if you'd like to take cider home. When done, we will wash down the press & the filter bags, and find a good place to store it. Cider is delicious raw, can be spiced, canned, frozen, cultured for apple cider vinegar, or many other things. 
• Chicken tractor was set up today. - There are 3 hens and a rooster on a track outside the greenhouse. We're keeping the pond-side door to the greenhouse closed, but Jenny still manages to get in the field and bark at them. Please feel free to usher her out if you see her doing this. 
• Farm School Sign - (thank you, Jacquelyn) She will bring things to hang it, and I am wondering if we might consider the back porch that we will create as our main entrance. 
• Back porch + entrance room - The house will be vacated tomorrow morning. We can consolidate & move any remaining items and clean for installation of hooks/cubbies (If anyone has a vision, please present it tomorrow at 10 a.m.). We will work room-by-room on approachable work spaces. There may be two new residents, whom you know, moving in for the fall. Visions for work spaces may be presented on paper to Elise.
• Squashes - I've been putting them in crates and they can be stacked (with adequate spacing) 2' up along the sides of the cool room. Refuse can go to the pigs.
• Hazelnuts - picking up and putting them in baskets near the cool room.
• Walnuts - in Irene's garden, 2 walnut trees have dropped walnuts we can still shell to be dried. Next year we'll try to get them a little earlier. Don't worry about the presentation of the outer covering of the shell. They do stain. 
• Pots & Flats Bay - The tables pulled out of the greenhouse may be placed to the Big-House-side of the greenhouse under filberts (once that space is carefully cleared) to be set up for sorting. Similarly, I'd like to find a method for storing tools. 
• Irene's Garden - I spoke with Peggy today about projects in Irene's garden. Walnut leaves can inhibit the growth of plants around them, so they can be raked and removed. We will want to cut the wisteria back hard in 2 places and shore up / build some supports. Child forts sound like a great way to build interactive structures that support plants. The fence on the fountain side wants some shoring up. The grapes will want to be cut back soon by an experienced pruner.  Some plants that sprout up in walkways can be dug up and planted in pots for market. The hoses will be re-plumbed next summer. 
• Pigs - The chanchitos made it almost all the way to the bamboo. Today we cut out a path for them to clean out around the bamboo. I can't believe how much space there was under the blackberries. Now we can see across the pond from the yard. (For safety, the bridge by the bamboo is not available during farm school.) Daily attention: 3-4 gal grain (tossed well inside the pen)  + 1 bucket (already-fallen) apples. 
• Cold Frame - The porch at Eva's house evidently doesn't get much sun. Peggy was thinking it could be out further, and/or we could help to shore up the standing-raised-bed we built for her last year. 
• The flower field is beautiful! It's photo-worthy with the maples changing colors in the background - before the frost hits too hard. We have had more nighttime frost in the valley these weeks than up the hill where we live. 
• 4 Seasons Garden - We planted more leafy greens and bunching onions. We can top-dress with compost (behind vegetable shed), pull weeds, harvest tomatoes, cultivate more space, plant more, and organize our tool spaces. We can always pull weeds along the inner walls (gloves available) and give them to the chickens. We can also create a compost space out by the pond (cautious of the cinder blocks at the end of the greenhouse if overgrown or wobbly). We'll also be careful not to let Jenny in the pen with the chickens if we can. As far as I know, we are still planning to have goats in the adjacent field, then sow cover crop for the winter, and plant the fields with veggies in the spring. 
• There may be some debris left on the carport and in the house tomorrow - thank you for all of your patience. I understand the table will be available, and spaces made more approachable as we work at it. ◡̈  
• español - as we slowly shift to más español, I encourage you to study with DuoLingo, StudySpanish.com, Spanish for Gringos, label items in your house, print and color my learning pages, and practice fearlessly. iSí se puede!

Peace!

​Elise