Wee Lad's show and tell

[Stonehead]

The Wee Lad's playgroup had harvest show and tell today, so we set up a real treat for the littlies with him as the narrator.

First, he showed them his table of fruit and veg from our gardens: plums, apples, raspberries, tatties, beets, carrots, cabbages, lettuces, beans, peas, squash, cucumbers (at last!), courgettes (ditto). Plus eggs of course.

Next, what we make from our harvest: jams, pickles, chutneys, preserves, relishes, drinks.

Then, over to a box of four week old chicks - and best of all as far the littlies were concerned, they were pooing everywhere.

And then Wee Lad's finale, outside to the park where Pa (moi) had Thunderpig waiting along with a couple of handfuls of blackberries so each of the littlies could give him one.

He was very, very pleased with himself and with good reason. He did an excellent job naming all the veg, showing what veg/fruit went into which preserve, describing how the chicks came out of the eggs, and then talking about how Thunderpig starts off small, then grows "huge" and then gets made into sausages.

But, I think some of the mums found it more eye opening than their kids did!

[Shirley]

Good for him.... he's a clever Wee Lad!!

[Chickpea]

That's brilliant. Sounds like he's well on the way to making self-sufficiency cool amongst his friends. Got to be a good thing.

[Stonehead]

I was interested to see which mums (no other dads present) couldn't identify which veg.

Baby squash had quite a few scratching their heads, as did beetroot (very large, still leafy). Most knew their beans and peas (still in pods), but a couple only knew vaguely what they were but couldn't be specific as to which was which.

The purple tatties were quite a surprise (except to the farmer's wives/daughters).

The plums also caught some out (ours are oval, not round, and gold to red, not purple).

It's fascinating to see how supermarket shopping with its limited fresh varieties and heavy "value-adding" has so changed people's ability to recognise fruit and veg.

If I'd put out standard supermarket types or had the veg pre-prepared I'm sure most of the stuff would have been identified in seconds.

[red]

The Wee Lad's playgroup had harvest show and tell today, so we set up a real treat for the littlies with him as the narrator.

thats cool

But, I think some of the mums found it more eye opening than their kids did!

ah yes. having lived in the country for years, with dairy farmers for neighbours, wyou wouldn't believe how many times I have had to explain to the parents of visiting kids where milk comes from. the bit they just dont get is *what happens to the calf*

" you see" i try " if the calf were still there, he would be drinking the milk, so the calf has to be removed, and turned into meat"

I think they thought milk was a slaughter free product....

[Chickpea]

I think they thought milk was a slaughter free product....

It's the same with eggs.

To have eggs, you have to have hens.

To have hens, you have to have chicks.

But half of all chicks are cocks, and you don't need them.

What happens to the cock chicks at the egg farm?

They get minced.

This food stuff isn't simple, is it?

[hedgewizard]

Ah Stoney that's brilliant! Tell Wee Lad that we all say "well done!"

[Stonehead]

All of the fruit and veg, plus the eggs and all the jars along the back are the Wee Lad's. The straw, jar of oats and can of barley were brought in by a farmer's grandson.

The Wee Lad took the others through apples, raspberries, plums, cucumbers, courgettes, shallots, beetroot, baby squash, cabbage, carrots, onions, garlic, beans, potatoes, peas and eggs. Then three different jams, pickled carrots, pickled beetroot, pickled eggs, pickled courgettes and chutneys.

The Wee Lad's also been teaching them an old sowing song:

Thus the farmer sows his seed,
Thus he stands and takes his ease.
Stamps his foot, claps his hands,
And turns around to view the land.
Oats, peas, beans, and barley grows.
Oats, peas, beans, and barley grows.
You don’t, I don’t, nobody knows,
How oats, peas, beans and barley grows.


And yes, I know it's a sowing song but most of the the harvest/reaping songs I know are too long, like John Barleycorn.

(He's also learning Froggy Went A Courting at the moment - which he loves - and Harvest Home.)

[Sarahcook]

Wonderful!

Is he available for hire?

My children have no idea about this stuff. Even my 3 year old knows more than my class do.

Sarah

[2steps]

awww well done to him

my daughter is 5 so still gets a portion of fruit or veg provided at school each day. The fruit is often brought to the classes as I am dropping her off in the morning and one morning a few weeks ago they had cherry tomatoes on the vine so she shouted ' oh look mum, there just like our growing tomatoes' and I showed her how they had picked the whole truss rather than each indivual tomato. At fruit time she had told her teacher all about this, who later asked if it would be possible for me to bring in some pictures. So the next day my daughter took in photos of the plants and close ups of the fruit growing and a baby tomato plant (grown from a picked out side shoot, little experiment we're doing) and did a show and tell for the class

she once told her nursery teacher she didn't want some sweets that had been brought in as they were nestle

[Chickpea]

That's great 2steps. My daughter came home in the spring with a runner bean growing in a jam jar, like you do. So we planted it at the allotment, and last week she took a pound of runner beans into school as show and tell, much to the teacher's amazement. I gather none of the rest of the class actually planted their beans, just let them die in the jam jar.

[Stonehead]

Unfortunately I've had to take him out of playgroup for now, thanks to the OH's car having a terminal breakdown. While it's only two miles into town, that's two four-mile round trips walking for me and takes too much time out of the day. (We do walk in and out but doing it twice in three hours is a bit daft.)

I now have to work out some way for him to play with other little 'uns at least once a week.

Either that or get a pony and cart!!

[2steps]

aww stoney, thats a shame

that's really good Chickpea sadly your most likely right about the rest of the beans

[hedgewizard]

Ah, Stoney - if you've heard of Cosmic Ordering it might be time to try it. I'd be just about desperate enough in your shoes!

Perhaps the Apple Fairy might do a sideline in car spares? Get thee to the scrappery!

[Stonehead]

Ah, Stoney - if you've heard of Cosmic Ordering it might be time to try it. I'd be just about desperate enough in your shoes!

Perhaps the Apple Fairy might do a sideline in car spares? Get thee to the scrappery!

I'd try dancing naked around the standing stones but I have a feeling that while my neighbours didn't mind when it was naked young women dancing, they might have a problem with crusty, hairy old fart like myself...