The new Heifer exhibit opening

About three years ago Sarah and I met with the folks from Heifer International and started a conversation about doing some projects together. Since then we have done work ranging from outreach at events to fundraisers for Heifer projects. One of the most interesting of the projects was an exhibit that we developed together dealing with vermicomposting. Yes, worms. These very important creatures make a profound impact with their ability to recycle trash into rich nutrients for the soil. In the exhibit we have a case that holds nearly 1,000 Red Wiggler worms and they eat everything from vegetable scrapes to old newspaper. Once digested the "castings" can be removed and used as fertilizer for our garden. It is so neat to see how quickly they can take our trash and make something good out of it.

At the opening night we had about 60 friends show up and meet the worms. I really would like to thank Alyson Sowers and the Heifer team for their time and effort with this project.

Moving about the Farm

One of our most popular field trips at Wagner Farm is called Moving about the Farm. This program is designed for preschool through 1st grade children to come visit the farm, meet all of our animals, and do lots of fun hands on activities. Children get to feed chickens, pump water for cows, even pet a sheep or horse! The highlight of the visit is when children get to make butter. How many of you thought you could make butter at home? Well...its easy! Just take heavy whipping cream and warm it up to about room temperature (a half an hour out of the fridge should be just fine). Place the cream in a small jar and start shaking. You want to shake the cream until it becomes a solid formation, with some additional liquid surrounding it. Remove the liquid and you've got fresh, homemade butter!

As you can see from the photos, the 2 groups from St. Davids Nursery School in Glenview and Shepherds Flock Preschool in Arlington Heights had a great time visiting the farm, and definitely enjoyed their homemade butter!

The kids are back from Camp MJ

I have just gotten back from a road trip to Chebanse, Il to pick up Luna, Frances, Miley and Buttercup. They have spent the winter at what one might call a combination bovine summer camp, spa with a little bit of bootcamp mixed in. The past November, we took the calves down to Julie Hemp's farm so that she could take care of them. Julie has an awesome business with a lot of clients. From the outside, it looks like it would be a ton of fun but that's because she makes the titanic amount of work look effortless. Basically, Julie will let you board your heifer (a heifer is a bovine that is yet to have a calf) at her place and she will make a special ration and do extra training to get them ready for the upcoming show season. When you go into her barn it's like a who's who in dairy show circuit.

When we got back to Glenview, I was so eager to kick the kids out to the pasture and let them run and play. With their exploring and bucking, you could tell how happy they were to be home at Wagner Farm. I included a picture of little Buttercup trying to move up in the "pecking order". With most every animal there is an order for who gets to go first. This is established with a little game of push and shove. Boo made sure to put Buttercup in her place. Maybe next time BC.

Come by and say hi to the kids.

Soda fountain floor

This week we had the new floor installed in the soda fountain. This was something that was suggested by Kristen and Andy to give it that "finished" feeling. I must say that I was kind of hesitiant because it seemed like this project was never going to end and the concrete floor looked ok. I am big enought to admit when someone is smarter than I. Nice job guys this looks great. The picture really doesn't do the floor justice so might I suggest our reader to come and check it out for themselves. The parlor opens for business on May 16th. That is also the day of our Springtime on the Farm special event.

This is going to be so much fun.

The Sheep Have Arrived !

As parents, we have all been in the place where the our child asks, or more like begs for a family pet. For the kids of the Glenview Clovers 4-H club that begging is likely not for a dog or cat but a lamb, pig or cow. As members of the club they get the chance to actually purchase and raise farm livestock and take them to the county fair. The first step in the journey is actually getting the animal. Last Saturday we caravaned down to Culver, Indiana to Kelly Hoffman's farm to pick out lambs. When we got there Kelly had all of the 13 lambs in a pen. As an introduction, Kelly talked to the kids about what to look for in a market animal, breed characteristics and even some showing techniques. After the demonstration it was time to have the kids pick out their animals. It was so neat to watch them select which lamb was to be theirs. I walked around the pen and asked some of them how they had arrived at the animal that they had chosen. While some of the kids recited points that Kelly had mentioned in his program others gave the honest answer, "this one is the cutest". Days like this are the reason that I do the job that I do. To see the kids having so much anticipation and fun makes it all worth it.

Worm invasion

In preparing for the new Heifer International exhibit on composting we have moved in the smallest of our farm livestock. With the help of Stephanie from Urban Worm Girl, we placed about a pound of Red Wiggler type worms in the cases. Have you ever wondered how many worms come in a pound? I did and it ends up about 1,000 or so.
Cassidy and Stephanie started the process by putting in a base of top soil in the bottom of the cases. Then layers of newspaper and wet coconut coir were added. Next came the worms. Then a final topping of dried leaves. One of the things that Stephanie told us might happen that I thought was interesting was the worms might flee. It seems that if they don't like their new home they will try to escape and find better digs. I am happy to say that this did not happen. We have started adding food for them to digest. This will be a great learning opportunity and a lot of fun.

Buttercup

One of these days I'm going to do an introduction of the folks whose names come up in this blog. One name the you will likely hear often is Cassidy. She is my 9 year old daughter. Cassie and I have a shared interest in all things agriculture. She has even told me that she wants to grow up to be a farmer. With the bloodline that runs in my family that would be just fine by us.

So what does a kid living in Chicago do to get ready to be a farmer? Well, one of the great opportunities we do have is 4-H. This is a organization where kids ages 8 to 18 get to try their hands at different projects. These projects then go on to the county fair and sometimes even the state fair to be judged. The choices are almost endless. You might build a rocket or bake cookies. For many of the kids in the Glenview Clovers one of the highlights is the chance to own and show livestock. We have had dogs, chickens, Guinea pigs, real pigs, sheep and cattle taken to the fair.

After a number of years showing, Cassie's animal of choice is bovine. Last year we went to a special 4-H sale and picked up a Jersey heifer that she immediately called Buttercup. Cassie and Buttercup kind of stood out in the crowd because of two things. First she was one of the smallest showman and second her calf was brown, a velvety mocha brown. This color contrasts greatly against the black and white of the Holsteins. At the fair, the two had a great time and really bonded. Over the winter, Buttercup and three other calves went to a special place that works on getting them ready for the show season. We are planning on going to get the bovine crew shortly and bringing them back to the farm. In the meantime, I thought that maybe a couple pictures might show how much little Buttercup has grown!

Chocolate the Pig is safe

For all of you out there that were worried that Chocolate the pig had an elevated stress level from the Glenbrook High School performance be rest assured, - All is good in the pig pen. Joanne is administering lots of TLC!

Kiss the Pig!

A few months ago a young man from our local high school asked if the farm would be willing to help his Key Club do a fundraiser at school. Joey's concept was to pick different departments within the school and then have the students donate money into jars that the different departments would keep. At the end of the competition the group with the most money would be forced to kiss the pig. So it is kind of like a race that you win by coming in last.

Since I am always up for a good time and this was a good cause, I signed on. Well, on April the 15th the contest finally ended. Sarah and I took Chocolate the pig to the high school on one of their assembly days and in front of 1,300 + students their teachers had to pucker up. As you will see by the video, it wasn't just the pig that got a smooch.

Congrats Joey on raising almost $400!

Spring Blossoms with School Field Trips!

Wagner Farm offers many field trip opportunities for area school children, even on a rainy day like today! Fourth graders from Wescott Elementary School in Northbrook, IL visited the farm today to learn all about cows, horses, and chickens. Milking Cows Pulling Plows is a trip designed for 2nd -6th graders to come and learn about farming in the 1920's. The children get a chance to work with our draft horses, milk a cow, and collect eggs from the chicken coop. Each area highlights the animals contribution to the farm and how that extends to helping the surrounding community.

One of the program highlights is when the children collect eggs and learn how they would have prepared and sold these eggs to make money in the 1920's. The children also learn how to candle eggs. A light is held up to the egg and allows you to see inside the shell, almost like an x-ray machine. Candling eggs is done to find out if an egg is fertilized with a baby chick. Children have to decide if that is an appropriate egg to sell or perhaps keep in order to hatch out more chickens. What would you decide??

The return of the Egg Exhibit

Even though the exhibits are only a couple years old we needed to send our popular egg station back to the exhibit designer for some touch up work. Because of tons of use, the nesting boxes were starting to show some wear. The great people at Murphy/Catton redid the faux straw and box outs and now it is as good as new.

New crop

We like to try new things so this year we are going to plant a small patch of broom corn. There is a common misconception that all corn is the same. In fact, there are many differnt types. Most people are familiar with sweet corn which is the type that we eat. There is also field corn, indian corn, flour corn and pop corn just to name a few. The broom corn looks much like it's relatives but out of the top will be many spikes that can be dried and used to make the bristles for your brooms. If our experiment is successful we would like to start making brooms in programs and for the gift shop. To see if the seed we purchused would germinate we did a small test and the picture is of the results.

First planting

Warmer weather, robins and tree buds are signs that spring in almost here. For us it is time to start planting. One of the things that sets Wagner Farm apart from what many people would consider a traditional farm is that it was a truck farm. Truck farming was raising vegetables for commercial markets. With Chicago just to the south of our farm there were many viable places for these farmers to market their crops. One of my favorite books on the subject happens to be a fictional work by Edna Ferber called So Big. This winner of the 1924 Pulitzer Prize chronicles the challenges of truck farming in Chicago in the 1920's.

The first step in having a garden is propagating the young plants. For the last couple days Jeff and Beth have been working in the greenhouse planting seed stock of tomatoes, peppers, onions, egg plant and cabbage. Spring is on its way!