Sustainability in farming
After the excitement of last night’s football, there were a few tired looking faces around the breakfast table this morning. This didn’t prevent the children from consuming a man mountain of breakfast items. I’m not sure Mr Britten’s new policy of changing from Frosties to Special K is going to make that much difference in the total calorie count.
The morning was spent with Ruth who is a farmer. She runs a mixed farm with her 70 year old father. Ruth explained to the children about the different crops grown on her farm and about the difficulties faced by farmers in areas with poor soil and exposed land. As well as growing wheat, barley and corn, Ruth also breeds English Longhorn cows.
Most of the animals are sold for breeding although some are sold to the supermarkets for meat. These were mainly castrated males who are sent for slaughter at two and a half. After a tour of the fields the children were able to ask questions which Ruth answered openly. Apparently, bulls become steers at an early age using a rubber ring! Some of the boys are now determined to avoid the local swimming pool.
Lunch was eaten at the farm and our time at the farm finished with a game of fetch with a very friendly collie called Sweep.
The afternoon was spent studying the local ecology and the children were able to count plant species, measure various weather conditions and study insects under a magnifier. Rosie collected so many snails that we may be able to recreate dinner in Normandy this evening. Even Alex, who was convinced everything was going to kill her, joined in and survived the day.
A lot of the learning at the centre is reinforced with fun activities. Today, we had a worm charming competition which was won by William and Remy. A consolation prize must go to Maddy, Isobel and Rosie who not only charmed 20 worms out of the ground but also had a song and dance routine which seemed to be the secret to their success.
The final game of the day taught the children about the importance of warmth and food during the winter months. The children were each given five nuts and an egg. Their instruction was to warm the egg and hide the nuts. Unfortunately, Harvey misheard the introduction and was nearly arrested for indecent exposure before Ben could scream “No Harvey, warm the egg not the nuts!” The game was eventually won by Isabella who provided food whilst keeping her egg the warmest. William collected by far the most food but neglected to care for his egg and it perished in the cold. Multi-tasking not being a skill most males possess.
After the heroics of the English football team – not to mention the myopic referee – most of the children are looking forward to the next match. Tonight, it’s back to normal with an evening activity. The children will be taking part in some team building activities and traversing across a course of low ropes.
Last bit. We have a few more misconceptions to add to Monday’s list. All these were said today by certain nameless children.
1. Leaves make wind.
2. Bulls get lonely in a field full of females.
Despite these setbacks, the children continue to impress us. Their effort, intelligence and behaviour has been first rate all week and I’m certain will continue to be so.
