Our Labor Day Weekend 2010

Daniel Murphree Log Cabin

This weekend has been a busy one. With the children growing older, I guess we should expect that, but we live a simple life here in Alabama. Friday, September 3, 2010, we went to Palisades Park in Blount County, Alabama. It is a beautiful park which has a lot of nature to explore with the added bonus of some history. They have several buildings within the park from the early 1800s. We took some pictures mainly and just enjoyed the scenery. Maybe next time we can hike on some hiking trails or something.


Blackwood Log Cabin

Saturday, September 4, 2010, we took another trip to a historic site located in Ohatchee, Alabama. I’ve been hearing about Janney’s Furnace for several years and wanted to take our family on another historic Alabama outing.


Janney's Furnace

During the Civil War, it was discovered that there was an abundance of iron ore in the Ohatchee area, and a businessman named Alfred A. Janney bought a tract of land with the intention to build iron furnaces. Though the furnace was built the Confederate soldiers were overpowered by the Union soldiers who sent men to destroy the two furnaces in the area; Cane Creek Iron Works and Janney Furnace. It is believed that the Janney Furnace was left intact because it had never been in operation. They also have a Confederate and Native American Museum. One side of the museum has artifacts from the Civil War Era. The other side of the room has local Native American artifacts. Admission to the Museum is free. There is the world’s largest black granite Confederate Memorial at the site as well.


Confederate Memorial

Website: http://www.janneyfurnace.org/
Website: http://www.blountcountypark.com/

August 9, 2010 Homestead Harvest Field Trip

Have you ever been to Alabama in August when we have 100 degree temperatures outside? Well, that was the climate in which we went on our first field trip for what is the first week of school for those who attend public school around here. We were supposed to be at Jerry Marsh Farms at 8 a.m., but we were running behind when we had trouble finding the farm. Jerry Marsh Farms is what is called a u-pick farm where the owners plant the vegetables or fruit, and you go pick what you want and pay for it. We had fun picking Tommy Toe Tomatoes, Chili peppers, Green and Red Bell peppers, and Jalapeno peppers. We also exchanged recipes with the other home educators who came to this field trip. It’s always good to know creative ways to cook what you’ve harvested from a garden.

After we’d paid for our farm fresh veggies at Jerry Marsh Farms, we decided to go a little way down the road to another farm where they had u-pick blueberries farm. I thought that blueberries were actually out of season, but we were pleasantly surprised that the blueberries were actually in full bloom and tasting wonderful. We had a fun time picking the little blue fruits. Then, at home, we had a home economic lesson on how to make homemade blueberry muffins. That was some good eating even though it was my sixteen year old son who mixed them up and baked them. I’ll have to get my daughter to mix and bake the blueberry muffins the next time we want a sweet treat since we froze the blueberries we didn‘t eat.

Our Visit To Harvest Farm

On Friday, May 7, 2010, we visited a 27 acre farm in Fairview, Alabama called Harvest Farm. It is owned and operated by nice young family whose family ties to this land goes back at least 100 years. For the last few years, they have planted and harvested about 7 acres with strawberries, corn, green beans, cabbage, turnips, tomatoes, peppers, cantaloupe, and I am sure there are other crops that I may have missed. They also have newly planted fruit trees and some blackberries. This family even raises a few sheep, rabbits, and a good many chickens.

Our visit began with us being introduced to the owners, and they began telling us about their beginnings. Then we toured the farm where it was explained to us how to grow mushrooms, corn, potatoes, kale, cabbage, lettuce, turnips, green beans, purple hull peas, tomatoes, peppers, and cantaloupes. Next, we were able to buy and pick a gallon of strawberries. After that, we were able to take a mile hike through the woods to the fenced in areas where there were pasture grown chickens and sheep. One of the chickens laid a double yoked egg while we were there. There were some guineas in the pasture with the chickens as well. In the end, we were privileged to see a young lamb while the owner told us about the sheep. This was another awesome outing for our family. We all enjoyed our visit to this farm.

Veggie Gardening 101 on April 12, 2010

Have you ever set out in the blazing sun to learn something new? Well, that’s exactly what we did Monday, April 12, 2010. We attended a Veggie Garden 101 class that another home school mom taught. It was interesting, and the younger children were able to plant a seed at the end of the class. They even had a charity garden where all the children who attended have been invited to work alongside this other home school family as they make this garden for those in need within their community.
We learned about cold weather plants, warm weather plants, loamy dirt, sandy dirt, clay dirt, and how start your own compost. I reckon I was most interested in the compost since that was something I’ve never tried in regard to gardening. I have been saving things since Monday that we can put in our compost box or bin. We’ll see how that goes as the Spring and Summer comes along. Meanwhile. we have planted lettuce, cabbage, strawberries, blueberries, squash, and peppers. I can’t wait to taste all our fresh grown food.

A Fun Craft Day and A Visit to Jesse Owens Memorial Park and Museum

After the long trek to Clarkson Covered Bridge Park from our home on Friday, March 19, we had a fun craft day with our church school in the old dog trot cabin that is located on the property of the park. The children were able to make chickens and octopuses from crochet yarn and styrofoam balls. It was a fun craft for them all to do. Afterward, most of the children were able to run and explore the park. They all seemed to enjoy watching the ducks swim the most. It is a beautiful park to visit.

Our next big adventure began with a trip to Lawrence County, AL to visit my cousin. If you have never visited this area of the world, it is quiet beautiful and very peaceful. I guess some folks would not like it, but it has the rural farmland look that always intrigues my family and me. We enjoyed seeing the many horses grazing out in their pastures. Cattle were also just about anywhere you looked as well.

While visiting my cousin, we decided to see a museum in Lawrence County called Jesse Owens Memorial Park and Museum. Jesse Owens was an Olympic track gold medalist who captured four gold medals in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Mr. Owens was born on September 12, 1913 in a little shack on the property where the memorial park is located to a family who were share crop farmers. In 1922, he and his family moved to Ohio to try to carve out a better life for themselves in the still mills. In high school, Jesse began running for the track team even though he worked after school. Around 1933, Jesse began attending college at Ohio State University in Columbus where they valued his track and field skills. In 1935, he broke the world record in the long jump, 220-yard dash, and the 220-yard low hurdles. As my daughter said this was an awesome field trip. We love learning about those who came from such humble beginnings, worked hard, and accomplished a lot.

www.jesseowensmuseum.org
http://www.co.cullman.al.us/Parks/Clarkson%20stuff/clarkson_webpage.htm
http://www.cullmancountyparks.com/clarkson.htm

My Review of the Theatrical Performance at Wallace State Community College

Yesterday we were able to attend the performance at Wallace State Community College featuring the enduring story of Beauty and the Beast. Years ago we’d been able to attend at the same theater and see the performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. At A Midsummer Night’s Dream, we’d been pleased by the quality of the play, but the lighting and sound were not good at all. Therefore, we were pleasantly surprised by the improvements that had been made in the areas of lighting and sound. There were still some problems with the sound which occasionally had the sound of a jet passing overhead. The last song of the play was hard to hear most of the way through, and there were a few occasions when it was hard to hear one or two of the actors.

It was remarkable to me that there was an orchestra that played throughout the entire performance. They did an excellent job although I did hear a sour note a time or two. The conductor of this little orchestra was actually one of my high school band directors. When he was let go at the school where I attended K-12, he took a job at Wallace State Community College, and it is good to see that he is still there after all these years. I was certainly impressed by the orchestra which played along as the actors sang their way through their singing parts.

This theatrical rendition of Beauty and the Beast followed almost exactly the Disney’s cartoon version of this musical. We were pleasantly surprised by this since the last theatrical performance we’d seen of Beauty and the Beast had been a fairly original version that was quiet good but lacked the humor and fun found in the Disney version. We loved the humor of Lumiere and Cogsworth, and they garnered many laughs during the two and a half hours that we watched the play. Belle had a fantastic, professional quality voice that amazed us. The silly girls did an excellent job, and I’m not just saying that because one of them happens to be a homeschooled girl that I’ve know since she was a baby. I also thought the young man who played the part of Lefou did an excellent job of acting his part.

We look forward to the next production from Wallace State Community College, and maybe we need to look into performances that may be taking place at other colleges. The children really enjoyed this outing as did my husband and I. We haven’t been to the Birmingham Children’s Theater in years, but maybe we need to plan on going to a performance next year. I am glad that we took the time out of our busy schedule to see this theatrical musical.

Emu Farm Field Trip

Have you ever had the opportunity to visit an Emu Farm? If you haven’t, I can honestly say that it is worth your family’s time. We had the opportunity to visit an Emu Farm on Friday February 19, and as we are always seeking to show our children how farms are run, we took a homeschool caravan to a tiny town in Alabama. The farm we visited was owned and run by a small homeschool family, and their six year old son delighted in showing us the treasures around his family farm.
We were shown how to candle (check for fertility) an egg by the young man and his mother. They had at least a hundred or more fertile eggs warming in their incubators. The Farmer allowed us to hold and watch an egg as a baby emu was trying to hatch its way out of that egg. It was explained to us that this baby emu would take all day to hatch from its egg. Our tour within the hatchery allowed us the opportunity to see and hold day old emus. From there, we were able to see some emus that were only a few weeks old. All in all, the tour of the hatchery was interesting and educational.
The Farmer explained to us why they raised emus and how they made money from their farm. They sell emu oil which has many uses including treating arthritis and some even use it to treat burns. Another product they are able to sale is emu meat although they tend to lose money when they allow people to buy the emu meat. The emu meat is a healthy source of red meat that is lower in fat, but higher in protein and other nutrients than other red meat. Emu meat is included as an American Heart Association’s heart healthy meat. Although emu meat seems to be a great way to feed the family a healthy meat, emu farmers seem to gain most of their profit from the emu oil.
To say the least, we were quiet fascinated with these awkward looking creatures by the time we visited the pens that held the adult emus. The adult female emu emits a sound that reminded me of a marching band in the distance that has an excellent set of drummers while the adult male emu makes a growling or groaning sort of noise. They would take off running sometimes, and they could certainly run fast. Some were quiet curious about the visitors who were staring at them and taking pictures. It amazed me, but this farm had over 3000 emus in residence. This was such a fascinating field trip.