Bring in the Bees

Posted by Jen

Flowers are a terrific addition to a vegetable garden. Flowers attract pollinators and other insects beneficial to a garden. Veg like tomatoes, peppers and most beans self-pollinate, but squash, cucumber and melons rely on pollinators to transfer pollen from their male to female flowers. The best pollinator in our area is the honeybee, although other types of bees also pollinate well.

Dollar Drop In Activities for the Week of July 30

DAILY ACTIVITIES FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 30


Monday, July 30 10-11 am: No Activity Today

Tuesday July 31 10-11 am: Drive a Tractor
4 pm: Storytime with Mary Beth (free)

Wednesday August 1 10-11 am: Animal Cracker Dioramas

Thursday August 2 10-11 am: Meet the Team: Come for a Ride
4 pm: Storytime with Mary Beth (free)

Friday August 3 10-11 am: Make a Pig and Chick Cookie

Summer School

Posted by Allyson

For the past two months, a hardworking group of summer school students from GBS and GBN have been volunteering their time at the farm on Thursday mornings. During their time here, the students did a variety of different jobs inside the Heritage Center and around the farm grounds as they learned about the different jobs available at a farm and museum and what they entail. Some of the students became really good at dusting exhibits and cleaning windows and others honed their weeding and gardening skills. I don’t think the Heritage Center has ever been so clean week after week, and the NSSED garden where they often worked has grown in beautifully this summer! We are so appreciative of the students’ dedication, time, and hard work. We’ll miss seeing them here on Thursday mornings but hope that they enjoy the rest of their summer vacation.

Thriving during a drought

Posted by Jen

Drought has been an on-going concern this summer, but you might not know it looking at our Community Garden. Thanks to multiple waterings each week from the overhead irrigation system and the dedication of our gardeners, the garden is thriving.

Glenview Clovers Visit WGN

Posted by Sarah

The Glenview Clovers visited WGN Monday morning to talk about the Lake County Fair.  The kids brought cows, sheep, chickens, ducks and bunnies to delight the morning viewers.  Good luck this week everyone!

Volunteering Featured in Glenview Lantern

Posted by Allyson

If you read the Glenview Lantern last week, you may have noticed an article by assistant editor Jamie Bradley about volunteering at Wagner Farm.  The article comes just at the right time as we are beginning to step up our recruitment efforts for this fall's special events.  Also featured in the article is a great photo (above) of Kathy, a volunteer livestock interpreter and teamster, in action as she introduces some visitors to our draft horses, Bob and Sue.  If you're interested in volunteering at Wagner Farm or the Glenview Farmers Market, contact the farm by calling 847-657-1506. 

My first sweater

posted by Andres

So, here at Wagner Farm we currently, and for another week or so have lambs. The lambs we keep here on the farm are 4-h animals, who in about a week’s time will be going to the lake county fair. These animals are grown for meat and stay lambs because once they become sheep (1 year and older) the meat is not as good. Up until a week and a half ago these were the only type of sheep/ lambs that I have ever dealt with or even seen in person. I then arranged for myself a unique opportunity to visit and help on a farm where sheep are grown for wool. The farm, which was out near Stockton, IL, is a 40 acre parcel of land which is mostly pasture for the sheep with some tenant farmers growing corn on the rest of it. The farmer, Suzy, bought the land a while back in order to start raising her sheep. Currently she has approximately 30 full grown sheep, about 18 lambs that were born this year and one llama who’s job is to protect the herd from coyotes. Now, normally Suzy would not need help caring for her animals but one day out of the year she takes what help she can get. That day is shearing day.
Despite Suzy having gone to shearing school she is not as proficient at it as she would like to be, so she calls in a professional. She also calls in any extra hands that she can find because dealing with the sheep, the lambs, and the fleeces after they are shorn is no small task. This year her help consisted of her, her husband and myself, which apparently is 1 less than she would have liked but we made it work.
My day started at about 4:30 am when I left the house and set off to Suzy’s farm to be there by about 7:30 when the shearers were scheduled to arrive. I arrived at about 7:15, met Suzy and her family, talked for a few minutes and set off to work. I was not sure what to expect except for the heat (it was the day temps reached 104), but was ready for anything. First thing was to get the sheep in the barn, separate the lambs out (for they were not to be sheared) and then get the rest of the herd into a holding chute where it would be easier to catch them one by one to be sheared. Right off the bat Suzy had asked me if I wanted to pick one to shear myself to which I replied, I will watch first and then see if I’m up to it. I’ll tell you what, after watching the first couple get shorn I decided that it was a task better left to the pros who were cruising through a shearing in an average of 4 ½ minutes. Judging by the work they were doing and the speed, confidence and precision they were doing it with I estimate that it probably would have taken me an hour or more to shear a single sheep. A challenge which normally I would not back down from, but with the heat and my inexperience I figured I wouldn’t make anyone (human or animal) suffer through it. The 30 or so sheep took between 2 ½ and 3 hours to shear, and that was with frequent water breaks because it was so darn hot. Once a sheep got it’s hair cut, the fleece (which all came off in one piece) was hauled to the top of the barn and laid out to dry.
Once, the shearing was done and we got everything cleaned up and all the fleeces laid out we had some lunch. After lunch we went back down to the barn and I helped Suzy band her lambs, a two man job that I was more than happy to help with. Once all the work was done Suzy offered me a couple of the fleeces to take home. I politely accepted her offer. She helped me skirt the fleeces (tear the dirty, manure and burr filled wool off the edges), and packed them up in garbage bags for me. I stuck them in my truck, thanked Suzy for the fleeces and the opportunity to help her out and was on my way home with a pure merino dark fleece and a hybrid merino white fleece. Now all I have to do is wash it, card it, and knit it into a sweater… Wish me luck.

Wagner Farm's Demo Plot in the Community Garden

posted by Jen

Several weeks ago, the Wagner Farm camp kids helped to clear weeds and plant seeds in Wagner Farm's Demo Plot. The Demo Plot is a space for showcasing gardening techniques and ideas, and the kids had a lot of fun planting beans around the bike wheel trellis and creating a checkerboard with different colored lettuce. We're also showcasing different mulching techniques: using flowers as a "living mulch" versus using thick cardboard "paper". So far, the tomatoes, peppers and eggplant like both techniques very well!

Kings Hill Farm

posted by Christine

The Farmer's Market has been noticeably missing one of our favorite new vendors the past couple weeks. King's Hill Farm joined us this year, selling a beautiful variety of organic produce. You can see from the picture (take three weeks ago) that their presentation was lovely! Unfortunately, they have been hard hit by the drought. King's Hill is located in the heart of S.W. Wisconsin where they haven't had a drop of rain in over 60 days. Joel, the farm manager, told me that their farm is a 95% total loss. At this point, they are just trying to figure out how to keep solvent for next year. Like most organic farmers they do not carry drought insurance because of the cost. "Farming is a high risk game", Joel told me. I'm very sad for them but also really impressed with their hard work and determination to bounce back next year. Everybody pray hard for rain!

Dollar Drop In Activities for the Week of July 23

DAILY ACTIVITIES FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 23

Monday, July 23 10-11 am: Buttermaking Demonstration

Tuesday July 24 10-11 am: Meet a Cow: the Basics
4 pm: Storytime with Mary Beth (free)

Wednesday July 25 10-11 am: Prizes in a Haystack

Thursday July 26 10-11 am: Make a Vegetable Puppet
4 pm: Storytime with Mary Beth (free)

Friday July 27 10-11 am:  Meet the Team: Grooming and Care

County Fair

Posted by Todd
This week the Glenview Clovers will be heading to Lake County to compete at the fair.  The livestock will be going up on Tuesday the 24th.  All of the kids will show on Wednesday with the dairy at 10:30, the sheep at 11:00 and the swine at 1:00.  The Open Show for sheep will be on Thursday the 26th at 9:00 and the swine will be at 1:00.  Friday will be our last show day with the dairy judging at 9:00 that morning.  The famous Battle of the Barn (mud fight) will be on Friday at 6:00 that evening.  If you would like to support the kids the livestock sale is Saturday, July 28th at 1:00

Dollar Drop In Activities for the Week of July 16

DAILY ACTIVITIES FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 16


Monday, July 16 10-11 am: Design your own Chicken

Tuesday July 17 10-11 am: Make and Take a Pig Cookie
4 pm: Storytime with Mary Beth (free)

Wednesday July 18 10-11 am: Buttermilk Chalk Painting

Thursday July 19 10-11 am: Ice Cream Making Demonstration
4 pm: Storytime with Mary Beth (free)

Friday July 20 No Activity Today

Summer in a Jar

Posted by Sarah

There is nothing better than opening a jar of peach butter in the middle of January and smelling the freshness of summer.  Farmers canned as a way of preserving the summer's harvest so they could have fruit and vegetables year round.  Home food preservation has grown in popularity in recent years and we had the opportunity to teach some very eager folks how to make jams and jellies this past week. Toni Camphouse, head chef at the Growling Rabbit Cafe in Rogers Park, taught everyone how to make sour cherry jam, blueberry and cherry preserves, and peach butter.  Everyone left eager to start canning and had a yummy treat to take home.

1095 days

Railings

posted by Todd

The silo exhibit continues getting closer to completion. Today was a big leap forward with the start of railing installation.

Dollar Drop In Activities for the week of July 9

DAILY ACTIVITIES FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 9


Monday, July 9 10-11 am: Go on a Scavenger Hunt

Tuesday July 10 10-11 am: Sheep Washing and Leading
4 pm: Storytime with Mary Beth (free)

Wednesday July 11 10-11 am: Learn about Dairy Rations

Thursday July 12 10-11 am: Meet a Chicken
4 pm: Storytime with Mary Beth (free)

Friday July 13 10-11 am: Play Farm Animal Bingo

Evening at Wagner Farm

by Jen

Since the end of May, I've been visiting the Community Garden most mornings and evenings to monitor the garden soil moisture and to determine whether or not to run the overhead irrigation system the following day. It's always beautiful at Wagner Farm, but last night was spectacular.

Cultivating the Corn Field

Posted by Allyson

Early Saturday morning, Paul cultivated the corn field on the northeast end of the farm.  Things got off to a rough start when the tractor wouldn't start up again after Paul readjusted the cultivator, but Mary Beth gave him a pull with the Kubota and helped get it running again.  The field is planted with both broom corn and popcorn.  It's kind of hard to tell in some places what's a weed and what's a plant since the broom corn is still pretty short.  Give it a few more months, though, and it should be towering above all of us!  Thankfully, Paul is a skilled and experienced farmer and was able to navigate the rows with the ease.

It was a hot one! Independence Day 2012!

Silo work

posted by Todd
The final interactives have been installed on our new silo exhibit.  Now we just have some small wrap up jobs and we can open the doors.  After months of work it is so exciting to be this close

Rain or Shine (or heat)

Posted by Allyson

It was another hot day here at the farm, but there were still lots of great drop-in activities going on throughout the day. Without any air conditioning, the farmhouse was quite warm, but Carmen made the best of it and washed the curtains by hand and hung them on the line outside to dry in between tours. They were quite dirty since the windows were open all summer long last year when the shed was being constructed. Storytime went on as planned, too, but Mary Beth moved it from the porch to the classrooms inside the Heritage Center to shelter everyone from the afternoon shower. Rain, shine, or heat, our daily drop-in activities go on!

Our visit to the Horse Progress Days

posted by Todd
Last fall I took a day and went to the Farm Progress Show.  It was really interesting to see all the new farm equipment and lastest in agri-techonology.  On Friday I went to Clare, Michigan for something that was all together different, the Horse Progress Days.  This show is for those who use animals to power the farm.  Now you might think who still does that?  Surprisingly, there are a lot of people who use draft power on small farms.  There was also a large representation from Amish communities. The idea of the show is to have all the new equipment that is being made for draft power on display and demonstrated in the fields.  For those who love seeing big horses this was a real treat.  From 8 horse plowing teams to one horse lawn mowers every job on the farm was represented.  They even had treadmills that powered log spliters and water pumps.  It was like stepping back in time while still having a foot in today.  Next year the show moves to Arcola, Illinois on July 5-6th and I would highly recommend putting this on your calendar.  One other treat I forgot to mention, Amish food and homemade ice cream!

More pictures from the Horse Progress Show