In Farm & Garden this week, we honored Groundhog’s Day, and the world underneath our feet that remains alive and moving, even in the frozen days of winter. We talked about Candlemas, a celebration of halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, and what that means to people and animals. To both people and animals, it means we have more daylight. To people, especially in terms of Farm & Garden, we are beginning to prepare for spring. In many places, this marks a time in the year where we begin to prepare for lots of hard work preparing the ground, soil, and greenhouses for the seeds we get to plant in the coming months.

Emily talked about how she had been walking out in the yard and could hear something underground. She stopped and looked around… was it a mole burrowing under the snow? Maybe not.  She heard the sound again and looked around more. It was the apple tree roots nearby. Even though the trees don’t look alive right now, because there are no leaves or buds on them, they are still very much alive. Even in the cold, cold winter days we’ve had this week! Come spring, what will be waking up underground? We decided worms would be! Roots! Seeds! Caterpillars! Groundhogs!

We used watercolors to bring what we thought was underground alive. We saw some wonderful and creative paintings and depictions of the underworld. Some of the Mountain Lions used salt as a finishing touch on their watercolor painting to truly bring it alive. The salt makes some neat splatter effects and also changes the absorbency patterns of the water and paint. Ask your Mountain Lion what they think is alive underground this time of year!

This week during Farm & Garden, we learned more about alpacas, and how we can use their fiber. We began each day by reading Alpacas All The Way: A Slightly True Story by Joyce Talmadge. The story is about a group of alpacas, their social hierarchy, what they eat during different times of year, how they get shaved, and how their fiber can be used.

On Monday, we read the book and then worked on drawing and naming our own alpacas. We made sure their necks were really long, and that they had two eyes, two ears, four legs, and fleece! We used actual alpaca fleece on our drawings to complete the picture and to make them look more life-like. We talked a lot about what the fleece feels like, and what it might remind us of.

What does the alpaca fleece feel like to you?

“It feels like blankets!” –Leo

“Yes, a blanket.” –Cash

“A pretty fur coat.” –Dylan

“It feels soft.” –Willa

“Cotton.” –Owen

“Like cotton candy!” –Lily

“Like a pillow.” –Bennett

“Soft like a blanket.” –Brooks L.

“Good and soft.” –Henry

“It feels so good.” –Murphy

“Fuzzy!” –Carly

“It feels good, like strawberries.” –Connor

On Tuesday, we had the opportunity to see some tools that are used make alpaca yarn in action. Emily brought in a large, wooden spin wheel that some people use to spin their spools of alpaca yarn. We also got to try using a drop spindle, and two brushes that are used to separate some of the fibers so the yarn is not so thick. All of these tools take lots of practice to use, and it was not easy! We have a small spool in our classroom now, and we’re very proud of our hard work.