I am so sorry that I have not been able to post more comments on all of your awesome blogs. There is so much going on right now and I am just so pressed for time. Please forgive me. In a few weeks my schedule will be much more open and I am looking forward to reading and commenting regularly on all of your food and adventures, even just your posts about daily life.
With that being said, I have these pictures from a field trip that I took some 6th and 7th graders on last week. These students had been studying organic farming in school, some information about food and the environment. The unit came to a close with a debate between the students on organic farming. As with all good school debates, they were given one side and had to argue their points. As a treat, we took the students to the local organic farm to learn about the process and how this effects the economy and environment.
If you read my blog back in January, when my friend Marie was here, we went to the farm and had a nice 2-3 hour tour/presentation on the process. The farmer here also works on the US base, so farming is his part time job. His land is on his father-in-laws property. He worked for about 20 years as a conventional farmer before switching to organic farming about 11 years ago. Over the years he has perfected his technique and belief system. His organic greens are also sold in a few of the local restaurants as salads.
He has been approached by other countries to write manuals for sustainable organic farming with his unique principles. He has read over 100 books on the topic and lots of research. He has combined various techniques used by US farmers, and even uses only US shovels because the local shovels are too short and hurt the back.
He gave the students a tour and an presentation, and even let them taste a few things right out of the ground. Here are some pictures taken inside his green houses. There was quite a difference from February, when these plants were much smaller.
It was a lot of fun and the students really enjoyed it too. It was great that they were able to arrange this.
Speaking of vegetables, I had a mushroom craving the other night. Although they were not the best looking portabello mushrooms, they were all I could get, so I made sure to eat them quickly before they got any worse.
I also added in the left over red pepper from the mango salsa we made the other night.
I sauteed them in some olive oil, then added some balsamic and a little olive mustard.
When it was all ready, I filled a whole wheat pita with my veggies.
This was one delicious dinner!
QUESTIONS: What was your favorite field trip when you were in school? Do you like mushrooms?
10 comments:
I am sad but I enjoyed going to a power station and love mushrooms!!
I use to not be the biggest mushroom fan but I like them more and more now!
You know cause you lived in Vegas but I love the Lied Discovery Museum. That was my favorite!!
I remember a field trip to the McD factory...that was most memorable to me! :D
Dont' worry about the commenting thing, Melinda...just focus on what you need to get done...I hope things calm down soon though, so I can "see" you more online! :-)
My family never cooks with mushrooms so I grew up just thinking I didn't like them - then I married a mushroom lover and they are definitely a staple in our diet and I love them!
I am so jealous of your farm adventures. I REALLLLLY wish I could find a farmer here and get a variety of farm grown veggies...YOu are so integrated into the community.
What a fin field trip! I'm sure the kids learned a lot. We should all know where our food comes from and I think its a great lesson for kids to learn!
Hope things quiet down for you soon. When life gets busy, blogging is the first thing to go in my world. I always enjoy when I am able to catch up again with all of my "blog friends."
I love mushrooms!
We never went on very exciting field trips when I was in school.
This sounds like an awesome field trip for the kids! I'm actually currently getting a taste of working a little in a greenhouse myself. And I LOVE mushrooms...I really wish I could add them to everything.
I think it's fantastic that you brought the kids to an organic farm! It's so good to show them where food comes from and have them taste it (although maybe farms are more common there?). I love mushrooms, especially shiitake and morels (too bad they're so expensive!). I think sauteeing them and stuffing a pita sounds like a great meal :)
My favorite field trip was to a place called Ameraflora. It was a green house in Columbus that was taken over by flower gardens and mazes of flowers, and everything FLOWER, outside and in. It was awesome. However, I think this would have been my most memorable trip, had I had the chance to visit such a wonderful place. This just sounds SO NEAT!! Those students are very lucky, what a great experience.
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