Covelo, CA
SFWS 3rd grade May 21-24, 2013
Last week the third grade spent four wonderful days in Round Valley, 60 minutes NE of Willits, CA. Every year the third grade visits Live Power Farm as a culmination of their four years in the garden and as part of their practical activities work. Live Power is a biodynamic farm run solely with horse, human and solar power. http://www.livepower.org
Gloria and Stephen Decater, the farmers and owners of Live Power, strive to ensure our students have days filled with important and meaningful farm work. The children participate in the morning and evening animal chores (feeding, moving, and milking) and during the day rotate through a series of farm tasks. These included harvesting dry corn, splitting wood, digging up fodder carrots, planting beans, weeding garlic, and washing burlap sacks.
In addition to these regular chores the children sheared a sheep, plowed behind the draft horses Pete and Laura, and frolicked in the near by river.
This trip is an important opportunity for the children to put their garden skills to work and sharpen their overall strength and stamina. On our last night the children performed parts of their Noah and the Flood play as a thank you to the apprentices and then we all enjoyed a bonfire and singing together.
looking for a wedge 
making a wall so the animals run the right way into the pen
plowing a field for the first time in 40 years 
discing in cover crop
Stephen explaining horse team work 
the children pulling a sled as horses do
scenes from Noah and the Flood 
how to herd animals
shearing 
splitting wood
the river! 
ready, set, go
working together as horses do
the plow
Pete and Laura
Milking Bess
Splitting wood 
on the sled
the herding wall
how to split wood 
milking
splitting wood 
shoveling manure for the compost pile
crank turn corn kernel remover
running behind the sled
Gloria 
collecting logs
feeding Gypsy
plowing
taking off the kernels 
gopher snake
Pete eats some cover crop
dinner time!
mowing cover crop
corn 
plowing
Joy's calf
animal chores in the morning
getting ready to plow
bringing in the animals
wood splitting 
