Just Back From Harvest Thyme Herbs

Wow!  What a fantastic afternoon!  We got off right on time and were only a little wild on the bus, mainly because we were all so excited about our trip.  Mr. Phil and Ms. Deirdre had us working right away, digging compost and clearing out some irises (although, I'm not sure they realized how quickly and thoroughly we can clear stuff).  Then they showed us their kiwi vines and fig trees.  We learned how to make compost tea and learned that, no, you probably shouldn't drink it.  Plants do, though.  Afterwards, the Armstrongs gifted us with a new compost tea system and showed us how to set it up.  It's going to be great to be able to make this at school and give our garden beds a great natural fertilizer.  I really can't thank them enough for all that they've done for us.

We watered and fertilized the kiwis and an iris bed with the compost tea before we sat down for our snacks - fresh mint tea to drink with veggies and dip and then the most amazing chocolate brownie kind of thing that Mr. V made.  I was absolutely blown away by how quickly and happily the kids cleaned out all the veggies (peppers, carrots, celery and mushrooms).  I guess all my talk about healthy snacks is maybe paying off just a little bit.

Anyway, I'm totally beat and have lost my voice so I need to cut this short and get some sleep.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves and close by again saying thank you to Phil and Deirdre Armstrong for inviting us to visit and helping us so much.  Also, a big thank you to Mr. V and his family and Lori Ann Stoddart for coming with us and keeping us all on track.

Oh, one more thing,  CHECK FOR TICKS!

We're ready to go.

Max is excited.

Checking out the irises.

Digging in the compost pile.

Ms. Deirdre showing us the kiwis.

Kiwis

Learning how to make compost tea.  Come to find out, it's not good to drink.

Straining the tea.

Putting compost tea in the sprayer.

Stirring and straining.

I think these two were born in the wrong decade.

Feeding the irises and kiwis.

Straining some more tea.

More fertilizing.

One should never underestimate the drawing power of something that's vaguely "icky".

Starting from scratch.  Half a bucket of compost and 1 ounce of molasses.

Add water to about three inches from the top, stirring the whole time.

Needs more water.  After all the water is added it needs to sit and aerate for three days.

After all the hard work of making compost tea and running wild,
mint tea and fresh veggies and dip were most welcome. 

Blake can't get enough of either tea.

After all the running around Kelsea needed a pole to hold herself up.

"It's gooooooood!"

I never even considered that kids would like mushrooms.
These guys love them.

Checking out the cherry tree.

Finishing up for the afternoon by running around in the meadow.
Oh, everybody should check for ticks.