Keeping Busy

Posted by Allyson

The farm has been busy this month with school and scout programs during the week, birthday parties on the weekends, and lots of visitors coming out to enjoy a nice spring day on the farm (or a rainy day inside the Heritage Center with the hands-on exhibits!).  As visitor activity picks up, so too has the work of our dedicated volunteers.  They've been out greeting families and teaching them about farm animals, getting the grounds and gardens ready to bloom, keeping Bob and Sue in shape, and making sure all of the tractors are in good working order.  Lots of volunteers have also offered to lend a hand with preparations for Northshore Baconfest and Orion Samuelson's visit next week.  This week, Zac and his job coach Jon cleaned the windows in the Midwest Grocery Store and washed away the dust that had gathered on the rocking chairs this winter.  Thanks, guys!

New 4H animals have arrived!

Posted by Sarah

Come by and visit the lambs and pigs that arrived at the farm this weekend.  We have Hamp Cross pigs and Suffolk Lambs.  These all belong to the Glenview Clover's 4H Club kids who will take care of them throughout the spring and summer. 

Fieldtrips are in Full Swing!

Posted by Sarah

We know when spring has officially arrived at Wagner Farm when we hear the many voices of school kids throughout the farm.  Schools from all over the Chicagoland area visit us to learn about dairy farming, animal care, and life in the 1920's.  If you know any school's that would like to visit, give us call!

Milking parlor is taking shape

I wanted to give a  follow up to Allyson's April 6th post on the updates to the milking parlor.  This week it was our staff's turn to work on the wall. Having been left with concrete blocks we need to come up with a way to cover them and keep it attractive.  We decided to use some of the left over ceramic tiles that are from the interior of the parlor.  Only trouble was no one on staff had ever installed wall tile before.  Jeff, Andres and Andy put their heads together and came up with a plan.  Andy consulted his son Jason who has done this type of job before and stole Carlin away from programs and started work.  The outcome was fantastic.  Next step will be to fix the broken drywall and then repaint.  We are pushing hard to have the job totally completed before Orion's visit on the 24th.     

Cassidy's first program

This week Cassidy had the chance to lead her first school group.  The subject of course was dairy and the star was her Jersey girl  Buttercup.  Activity has kicked into full gear this week with a solid week of morning, afternoon and evening classes. It is great to be back in tour season.

Spring Tractor Restoration Project #3

Posted by Allyson

There's lots of work being done on the farm's tractors this spring as we get ready for the planting and growing season. In addition to the restoration of the Case tractors, volunteers Bob, Dick, Paul, and Scott are working on the farm's 1960s International tractor. The tractor was originally donated to the farm by the Society of the Divine Word in Techny, IL. The crew plans to focus their restorative efforts this spring on the back half of the tractor so that it can be used to pull the hay mower in the pastures once the grass starts to grow again. Also to note is that the tractor will be getting a new coat of International Red instead of yellow. There was a bit of a debate about which color to paint it, but red won out in the end.

Buzzing in the Greenhouse

Posted by Allyson

The greenhouse has been buzzing with action this spring as Be@the Farm, a partnership program with the Northern Suburban Special Education District (NSSED), gets underway for its second year. The program is a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) entity similar to a booster at other schools or districts. In essence, community members buy a membership or share of the CSA and then receive a box of fresh produce from the garden each week during the growing season. Support from CSA and booster club members provides funding for program uniforms and greenhouse, outdoor planting and winter project supplies used by the students – all of which are costs that fall outside of what is traditionally budgeted for instructional programs. This community-based experience provides students in NSSED educational programs and in local school district programs with the opportunity to receive agricultural instruction outside of the traditional school setting and to develop the confidence and skills to pursue future endeavors in the horticultural and agricultural fields.

If you're interested in learning more about the partnership program and possibly getting involved either as a volunteer or as a supporter, you can e-mail NSSED at volunteer@nssed.org or visit them online at www.nssed.org/beatthefarm.

Clean & Spiffy

Posted by Allyson

The milking parlor is getting a bit of an update before spring programs get underway.  When Andy and Carlin were touching up some paint in the parlor this winter, they noticed some structural defects in the wall beneath the parlor windows.  Everything has since been repaired, and the new cinder blocks will be tiled over in the next few weeks.  We're working on making sure the farm is clean and spiffy for the start of the new season and Orion Samuelson's arrival at the end of April!

Completing the Sweater Project

Posted by Andres

So, I know it has been a while since I blogged last, but after 9 or so months, I have finally finished my sweater project. Before I go into pictures of the sweater, I would like to recap on how I got to this point. Last summer, I made a trip out to Stockton, IL to help a wool farmer with her harvest; a great experience for which I was rewarded with 2 wool fleeces. I then washed the fleeces using the old ringer washer on the farm and then had to wait for them to dry before spinning it into yarn. In a second, I will go into the steps of how the wool was converted into yarn, but I would first like to thank a few people for their key roles in helping me accomplish this task. First, I would like to thank Todd, for giving me a lesson on how to spin on a spinning wheel and for letting me borrow his drum carder. Without his help, I would probably still be carding wool with brushes and getting frustrated with my spinning wheel. Second, I would like to thank my parents for my early birthday present, which was my spinning wheel, without which this project would not have been possible.

Anyway, converting wool into yarn… I have made a numbered picture reference to go along with the explanation.

1. Take a chunk of raw wool. At this point, I would go through and try to pick out by hand as much of the larger debris in the wool as possible.
2. Card the wool. Luckily, I had the use of a drum carder which could do a fair amount at one time. Otherwise, it would be done with carding brushes which is way more labor intensive, and you get far less carded wool from each brushing.
3. Peel the carded wool off of the card drum.
4. End result is a “sheet” of carded wool.
5. I would then divide the sheet into roll lags (smaller more manageable strips of carded wool).
6. Spin the wool. This part causes great frustration at first, but once you get the hang of it, it is actually very relaxing.
7. Two full bobbins of single ply yarn. These are then spun together (in the opposite direction of the original spinning) to form a two-ply yarn, which is stronger, thicker and easier to knit with than single ply.
8. The 2-ply yarn is then transferred to a knitty noddy (the blue pvc thing) that serves 2 purposes. It serves as a measuring device (one time around all 4 pegs is 2 yds.), and it puts the yarn into a skein. ** Between step 8 and 9 the skein is soaked in hot water to “set the twist” on the yarn and then allowed to dry which normally took a few days.
9. The dry skein was then rolled into a center pull ball of yarn using a nostapinne (a tapered stick, I cut down a table leg).
10. Finished center pull ball of yarn.

The carding and spinning process was by far the most time consuming part of making the sweater. All together, I spent about 2-3 hours a day for 5-6 months carding and spinning wool. Mind you, some days was more time, and some days was less time, and I took about 3 weeks off around the holidays to do some Christmas present projects. Either way, this portion of the project took me anywhere from 550 to 650 hours. Once the whole fleece was carded and spun together, I had almost a mile of yarn, 1,498 yards of yarn to be precise. Now, the pattern I had picked out for the sweater called for approx. 1,350 yards of yarn. Needless to say, I was little worried if I had enough yarn to complete the sweater. I did not let this deter me. I figured that there was only one way to find out...

So, I began to knit my sweater. This is the part I really enjoyed. All of my work up to that point was now coming together. I could finally see the sweater taking shape, and I really enjoy knitting. I found the pattern for the sweater on-line; it was a simple, sewn together, shawl collar with some decorative cabling down the center front and along sleeve seams. I began work on the back panel, and I used the largest ball of yarn, from which I was hoping to gauge if I would have enough yarn. It wasn’t until I had one sleeve and the collar left to knit when I was like, “Okay, I think I might just have enough.” It was a relief when I finished the collar and had approx. 40 yards to spare. It took me 5 weeks and approx. 200 hours to knit the sweater which is actually about what I expected it would take me. Then, after the last stitch was knit and the pieces sewn together, it was time to block it. This is a simple process in which you pin out the piece on a foam board into the ideal shape and size and steam it to “set the stitches.” Once it is dry, it can be unpinned and worn.

Lucky for me I finished the sweater a few weeks ago before the weather started warming up so I have had many opportunities to wear it out and show it off. The sweater itself feels and is quite heavy (3lbs, 2oz). It has a thick hand to it and is a bit stiff; but it is a WARM sweater, and the stiffness should wear in as the sweater is worn more. I am really proud of my sweater and really enjoyed making it; however, I am glad it is finally done. This blog post, for me, closes the book on the sweater project. So, with over 750 hours over a 9-month period, 1400+ yards of yarn and endless determination, I can now mark it off of my list, enjoy my creation and move onto the next project. 

Saying Hello & Goodbye

Posted by Allyson

Spring is finally here and so are the livestock!  Yesterday, Emma and her calf Schmidt returned to their home at Volkening Heritage Farm in Schaumburg since their farmer is back from paternity leave.  Rayann will take over for Emma in our milking programs from here on out.  She comes to us from Golden Oaks Farms in Wauconda, IL.  Stop by the barn the next time you're at the farm and introduce yourself.  I think you'll be surprised at her size.  She's a Holstein so she's quite a bit bigger than the Jerseys like Emma and April that were here before her.  Also make sure to stop by the chicken coop and meet our new hens.  They'll be vacationing here at the farm for the next week or so and starring in school programs until our new chicks arrive.  Also still to come in the next few weeks are the 4-H lambs and pigs.  We've almost got a full house (or farm)!

Special Delivery

Posted by Allyson

 The bacon is here!  Oscar Mayer has generously offered to provide 15 pounds of bacon to each restaurant participating in Northshore Baconfest.  As you can see, all of the bacon was delivered yesterday.  We'll be distributing the bacon to participating restaurants over the next few weeks.  Many thanks to Kraft and Oscar Mayer for donating the bacon for Northshore Baconfest!  To check out the restaurants participating in the event and purchase tickets, be sure to visit www.northshorebaconfest.com.  VIP tickets are sold out, but there are still a few general admission tickets left!