Done!

When you think about the types of jobs staff perform at Wagner, book keeping isn't likely high on the list. Still, the Farm is a business and we do our best to run it as such. Each December - January the Park District puts their faith in a bunch of history majors to develop a one year budget. The process is actually fun because it gives us a chance to dream up new programs and offerings for the coming year. From the first draft to the last it really does take about two months and a lot of brain strain. Sarah and I were happy to hand in the completed draft today!

Town hall meeting

Our State Representative, Dan Biss had a busy weekend. On Friday he was given the Illinois Parks and Recreation award for Legislator of the Year. Then on Sunday he came to Wagner Farm for a town hall meeting. It was the first time we have hosted this kind of an event and it went really well. There were over 90 people in attendance.

Our first harvest

Today we had a notable achievement at the Farm. For the last couple months we have been working together with North Shore Special Education to offer farm experiences to their students. Their toil produced a reward in the harvest of their first popcorn crop. The ears look a little smaller than what you might be used to seeing. They used a heirloom variety of corn because we needed something smaller for the space we had in the greenhouse. The students will be able to take the corn back to their school and pop it for the class to enjoy. With the growing cycle complete, the story of what it takes to put food on the table will be something these kids will never forget.

Here's a factoid - Popcorn is the oldest type of corn know in the world. In the late 1940's researchers working in New Mexico found a cave that had human artifacts that dated over 3,000 years old. Amongst the tools and other finds was a cache of popcorn kernals. When the the men got back to their offices at Harvard they took a couple of the kernals and put them in hot oil and they actually got it to pop! No report on how it tasted.

Staking our claim

I'm going to be honest, I am not a big fan of winter. Of all the seasons, the cold and dark that blanket the land this time of year doesn't do anything for me. However, it does give all of us a chance to get ready for the spring. One of the new programs that we are working hard on right now is the Community Garden. For the last few years we have offered a small garden plot program that specialized in heirloom plant varieties. With so many requests to participate we felt the need to expand and enhance the program. Besides the addition of over 60 plots we are also developing programs that will tie into the themes of gardening and food preservation. In December the Glenview Park District board approved the program which allowed staff to get started in earnest. While it is somewhat hard to see the markers in the picture, we did have the area staked out so that we are ready for plowing and fencing as soon as the ground is thawed.

White everywhere

Tapas 1920's style

Last night Allison hosted another great volunteer meeting at the Farm. The presentation tied in with the historic dinners program we offer during the winter. Samples of all of the major dishes were served up with the historical background and the recipe. It is really interesting to research the types of food that were common in the 1920's for this area. Factors such as ethinic heritage, economic level and profession all play an important roll. As an example, the Wagners came from southwestern Germany. The dishes that reminded them of home would have been more along the meat and potatoes type versus the fish that was common in northern Germany.

Tidying up the classroom

With winter here we start to look for those inside jobs that can keep us warm. After morning chores we have been repainting and cleaning up in the milking parlor and science classroom. Even though the building is only six years old it gets a lot of use and especially in the areas where livestock come in. We are able to do this cleaning because during the winter we actually ship the milk cows to a neighboring farm and have them help us out with milking duty. With fewer staff and not a lot of visitors it makes more sense. I have to say, I do like this part of city farming. Still it just seems strange to not have the girls down here.

Winter project

A while back the Farm was given a Massey-Harris 33 tractor. It had a sound body but needed some engine and transmission work. Thanks to the efforts of our volunteers Paul and Dick, the mechanical parts are now working fine. They guys have moved on to the restoration of the metal work and giving the 33 a fresh coat of paint. When I went down to snap a couple of shots I got to start it up and move the tractor back to its bay. There is something very different about a Massey that I find intriguing. Growing up on the farm there wasn't a lot of tractor diversity. The majority of the farms ran Farmall Internationals. The second most popular was John Deere and then a couple families had Allis-Chalmers. There was no one who had Masseys so I guess this is where my real interest in learning and working with this old 33 comes from. If you are used to the sounds the different tractors make the Massey is different in that it actually sounds more like a car than it does a tractor.

As the restoration continues I will post some more pictures to show the progress.

Snow Day!

We are finally getting the first real snow for this winter. With white on the ground we got to test out a recent donation to the farm, a Bobcat snow brush. This attachment for the skid loader spins a plastic brush really fast and clears away up to 7" of snow. So far it seems to be doing a really good job.

Patrick's last day

This week we said good-bye to our 2011 Eastern Illinois Graduate intern Patrick. Over the course of the last six months Patrick has managed the soda fountain, lead school programs, helped with some farm jobs and done a lot of historical research. Best of luck to Patrick and congratulations on a job well done.

Vet visit

Welcome back to the Wagnerfeed. I took a bit of a break from posting but I'm ready to tell a few more stories so here we go for 2012!

This week we had our veterinarian come by for the winter herd check. As everyone in these parts know this has been a very unusual winter in that we have hardly gotten any snow and even fewer days below freezing. While it is hard to cheer against mild weather there are some detriments to not being a "real" winter. For the livestock, it is tough on them to have big swings in temperature and conditions. When we swing from 50 degrees one day and then have 25 the next the bacteria have a hayday and pneumonia becomes a real problem. I'm happy to report that everyone (bovine) passed the check-up.