4H County Events

Yesterday, was our yearly 4H County Events. Both kids got 1st place in their class, and will be able to move on to Districts, which will be on Caitlin's birthday this year. But, I did discuss it with her, and we will it on another day. She also has two friends with birthdays that same weekend, so it might get interesting this year. It will also be in Taylor County this year, which is a bit of a drive. DJ played Fix You, by Coldplay, on the electric guitar, and sang of course. Caitlin did Fashion Revue with her embellished clam digger pants. I thought I took a picture of them, but apparently I did not. I think I will have her make a matching shirt for Districts. This will be Caitlin's first year at Districts. Not because she didn't qualify before, but because she didn't want to. I am pushing her a little bit more this year. She also started Gymnastics last week, and she really loved it. She was sore the next day, saying I used a lot of different muscles. I hope she sticks with it, and has found something she can really love and get into. I would load the video of DJ playing, but I am not sure how, lol. Next up for 4H will be the Suwannee River Youth Fair, in March.  We usually do photography, but maybe they will both want to enter a wood burning project too.  Caitlin can also enter her pants in that fair too.

County Events and Three Sisters for Gardening

Our 4H County Events, is coming up at the end of this month.  This year we have a new 4H director, so it will be interesting to see how she sets it up.  County Events is where the kids get to showcase their talents, and skills.  Since 4H is not just for Agriculture anymore, it opens up 4H to a whole new world to children who have no place to do Agriculture.  We have used 4H project books, as part of our homeschool curriculum, in years past.  We don't have time to fit them in anymore, they are really in depth.  We do a project book with our group each year, so we still get to do them.  Caitlin will be doing Fashion Revue again.  This year she is going to embellish a piece of clothing.  I will share the results when they are finished.  Hopefully she will go to Districts, and then she can save the item for the N Florida fair entry as well.  DJ will be doing a demonstration, and Share the Fun.  Share the Fun, is where they get to showcase various talents.  He will be singing and playing the guitar, this year. 

We studied Native Americans, a few years back, but we were watching a National Geographic special on the Pilgrims and Native Americans.  They mentioned the 3 Sisters planting method that the Native Americans taught the Pilgrims.  I actually do not recall ever hearing that term before, so I looked it up.  The 3 Sisters is planting corn, beans and squash all together.  You actually plant the corn first, and when it is about 4-6 inches tall, you plant the other two right in the same basic spot.  The beans will grow up the corn stalk, and the squash will shade the roots of all the plants keeping the soil moist.  Brilliant!  So, even though it has been a mild winter here in FL, Caitlin and I will be testing this 3 Sisters method come say end of March.  We have been learning gardening for years, and we get a little bit better each year.  I wouldn't say we are good at it yet, lol.  I do well with flowers, and my tomatoes and peppers were awesome last year.  Anything else I have tried has been pretty much a flop.  There are two websites below that will talk about this method of planting.  The one adds a fourth, the Sunflower.  My little sunflowers do quite well, and the pollinators love them.  So, I would say they are very beneficial, and mine come back each year with no replanting. 

http://rodaleinstitute.org/the-three-sistersand-that-fourth-sister-no-one-really-talks-about/

http://blogs.cornell.edu/garden/get-activities/signature-projects/the-three-sisters-exploring-an-iroquois-garden/how-to-plant-the-three-sisters/

Some Cool Science Things To Try

I read somewhere, and if I could remember I would give the credit, that if you put the end of the celery into dirt it will grow new celery. So, today we put the end of the celery and lettuce, you know the parts no one ever eats, and planted them in dirt with plant food. We will see if they actually do anything. Of course if it gets real cold we will have to place them in the garage.

DJ finished his National Zoo bear book today. This was a lengthy assignment and he is very proud of the results. If you don't wish to go to the National Zoo website, here is basically what he did. You will need an opening page with basic information about bears in general. You can pick any bears you want to cover, I think there were eight total on the curriculum. The child will need to look up pictures of each bear chosen, and draw a likeness of the bear. Then each bear needs a page of info for each bear. After all that, the last page is dedicated to how we can protect bears in the wild, and conserve for their future. DJ used his Polar Bear painting, that he did in Art class, as his cover. We stapled it together and it is a lovely reference type book he can use over and over again. He will get a very good grade on this. He worked hard and put in a lot of effort.

We also walked to the 4H extension office to turn in the County Events paperwork, and the photo he has chosen to enter this year. I will share the pic later. Caitlin has to turn in the dress she helped my mom make, next week, and the demonstration will go in the day of County Events. DJ is nervous about speaking in front of others, but he is a great orator and he will do fine. I will share that project once the board has been completely assembled.

On top of all that we did a full day of lessons. Whew I am tired now!

Social Saturday: 4H County Events

I know Saturday is almost over, but this is the first chance I had to do this post. Sorry for the sideways picture it is a cell phone picture and it won't rotate for some reason.

Anyways this was our first 4 H competition event, called County Events. As the name implies it is competition between 4H members in Gilchrist County. Each county holds one, and the winners in each category get to represent their county at District Events in May.

DJ's Marley picture took first place in his age group and class. Now that picture goes on to District Events. Because this was our first time it was also a learning and observation experience for us. They will definitely do some more things next year. All the kids did awesome, and what a bunch of talented kids we have here in Gilchrist County. The next event before District Events, is the County Fair, which Caitlin can enter her painting as a Clover Bud. It was a whole lot of fun, and a little bit of chaos.