Calendar Items:
UPCOMING EVENTS: Just because it’s nice to know, here is the next month or so I’ve got planned. (All plans are subject to change, of course.)
Feb 15th – Sariah is coming back to teach us about Utah’s native plants and Brother Williams will guide us through making the healing salve we started. Bring an empty, washed-out milk jug AND 3-4 nature journal pages and 2 reaction papers due!!!
Feb 22nd – Mini-lessons by Liberty and Ivan, Sister Mock teaches Food Forests.
Feb 29th – Mini-Lessons by Isabelle and Simon, Brother Williams takes the second hour.
Mar 7th – TBA
Mar 14th – In-class field trip to Canyon Glen Park. Erik, from Making Tracks, will be teaching us about animal tracking and bird language. If you want to learn about bird language BEFORE the 14th, you would do well to read “What the Robin Knows” by Jon Young. This is one of my very favorite books! I believe Erik was once one of Jon’s students, or at least he was a student of one of Jon’s students. That book is on the book list, so you can read it and write a reaction paper for it if you’d like. For this field trip you MUST have a waiver signed. I will get all that info to you ASAP.
Homework items:
READ 10 Essential Herbs chapter 5 on Comfrey (pages 105-138)
BRING an empty, washed-out milk jug to class next week!!!
FINISH 3-4 nature journal pages and have 2 reaction papers ready to turn in!
Review of Class Today
I got really excited about the prospect of being able share any sightings of bees and whatnot with actual organizations that track that sort of stuff. There are so many ways to really get involved in fun activities that are worthwhile and make a difference. Here are the two resources Sariah showed us in class today.
This first video is from the Utah Pollinator Pursuit. If you look up their YouTube channel they have a few videos, one on how to use their app. Here is a link to their website as well… https://www.utahpollinatorpursuit.org/
And this is the website to Sageland Collaborative. Sariah mentioned they lead a variety of projects out in the field. So if you want to join up with them, this looks really fun! https://sagelandcollaborative.org/
Additionally, Utah County has a Beekeepers Association you can join if you are interested in keeping your own bees. I think they focus more on honeybees. They meet the second Thursday night of each month. They have a program for kids/teens called “Bee a Beekeeper” or BAB for short. In January (so we just barely missed the cut off for this year) students can apply to be a beekeeper. The Association will provide you will ALL the gear and everything! You would have a few responsibilities, such as showing up to a couple meetings and reporting on how your beekeeping is going, etc., but they will mentor and support you 100%. The woman I talked to suggested that those interested in the BAB program start attending a few meetings so they can learn more about beekeeping before they jump into it. Here is their website. You can read all about the BAB program here, too. https://utahcountybeekeepers.com/
And finally, I just thought I’d share some photos from class today. Some of you asked me to get photos of the honey with labels in case you wanted to purchase some. All the labeled honey I bought off Amazon, but the honey in jars and plastic tubs came from Les Curtis who lives in Payson. He sells raw local bulk honey, but the South Dakota Clover and the California Orange Blossom came from him, too. Sometimes he has some other fun stuff. He let me try some Isreali honey a few years ago and it was VERY different – but good. I’ll give you his number if you want it. There are a number of places down in southern Utah County to get local honey as well. Rocky Mountain Fruit is another one. Their honey would probably be more fruity! So that would be fun to try. (For some reason, I’ve lost the photo of the Manuka honey from New Zealand. If you REALLY liked that one, you can buy it here.)
