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Kid-Favorite Plants for Your Garden

Sarah — Mon, 20 May 2024 14:07:24 +0000

Kid-Favorite Plants for Your Garden Sarah Mon, 05/20/2024 - 10:07

It’s time to start planting here in Shelburne, and we’re gearing up to fill the raised beds in our education gardens with veggies, flowers, and fruits. We choose the plants in these spaces with the typical things in mind (sun exposure, heartiness, water needs), but another quality weighs in: how much fun are they?

Hundreds of summer campers and thousands of visiting families learn all about how plants grow and where food comes from in these gardens. The beds aren’t optimized for production, but for an engaging sensory experience. Here are some of our educators' favorite plants that stir up excitement in the garden — try a few in your plot this season:

Sarah Webb

Surprising Tastes

Some pretty unassuming looking plants can pack a lot of flavor. “Kids love tasting the lemongrass and lemon verbena,” says educator Hannah Corbin. “They take a few leaves and stuff their pockets or their water bottles.”

Sorrel — a wild plant that is often considered a weed — can be cultivated in your garden. “Every age is super surprised and excited by the flavor,” says Educator Cat Parrish. “It tastes like sour candy.”

Stevia is another go-to plant: the super-sweet leaves are always a kid favorite.

Crafty Plans

Think beyond options for eating, too. Last year, we planted broom corn for the first time. “Broom corn is great because it grows really tall, and kids can run through the stalks,” shares educator Jed Norris. “And, the squirrels don’t eat it because it doesn’t actually produce corn. But it does produce long, fibrous tassels that you can craft brooms out of.”

Flowers fill a good deal of the raised beds in these gardens, too, a pollinator’s haven. “We’ve found some great options that produce perfect drying flowers,” says educator Mallory Schmackpfeffer. “Then we can use them for crafts later on, like bookmarks and window banners.” Consider strawflowers, globe amaranth [also called gomphrena], and violas. The spectrum of hues also lend itself nicely to a rousing game of color search.

Broom corn (left) forms long, fibrous tassels. Pressing flowers and leaves between sheets of contact paper (right) is an easy craft for all ages. Photos: Sarah Webb.

Quick Bites

“Sometimes I only have a family in the Children’s Farmyard gardens for a minute,” shares Cat. “So I need things that people can quickly find, pick, and taste all in one bite.” Cat’s favorite combination to share is a cherry tomato with a basil leaf wrapped around it. “The tomato plants are really fun to trellis as a tunnel or wall. And they’re really fun to prune; kids have fun learning to pick the suckers out of the ‘armpits’.”

Other abundant, tasty options: lunchbox peppers, peas, and ground cherries.

Off the Beaten Path

“Buzz buttons can get almost any kid excited about going to the garden,” says Jed. Also called spilanthe or toothache plant, the flowers create a numbing effect in the mouth. “We just start with a pinch, and we always let the kids know what is going to happen. It tastes like the pith of an orange, and will make you produce saliva. The next thing you taste will be extra strong.”

And some things are just too cute to ignore, like sour gherkins, or mouse melons. “They look like tiny watermelons, but taste like a cucumber,” explains Cat. “They’re like little watermelons fit for a mouse, and make for a fun pickling activity.”

Mouse melons (left) and buzz buttons (right). Photos: Sarah Webb and Pinrath Phanpradith.

Sarah Webb

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Garden Bugs: Friend or Foe?

Our gardens aren’t just full of tastes, colors, and smells - they are full of BUGS! Meet some of the insects that might be living in your garden.

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Discovering the Wondrous World of Pollinators

On introducing students to native pollinators–and how we can each take actions to support them.

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Summer Learning on the Farm (with Activities!)

We’ve partnered with the Winooski School District to create a summer school program with time both on the farm and in the classroom - read more and get activity inspiration!

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May 20, 2024

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Activity: Make Natural Fabric Dyes

aestey — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 12:38:16 +0000

Activity: Make Natural Fabric Dyes aestey Thu, 03/21/2024 - 08:38

Dyeing fabric is a fun way to get kids connected to where our clothing comes from and how it's made. At center, educator Hannah and young helpers cook up a batch of dye to color white wool. On the right, at King Street Afterschool, kids added felted wool flowers to cotton bandanas dyed with avocado pits.

We talk a lot with children who visit the farm about where clothing comes from; we visit the sheep who provide us with fleece for wool sweaters and socks, for example. Farm educator Hannah Corbin has introduced another layer to this conversation: talking about the dye that colors our fabrics.

In programs with learners of all ages, Hannah uses food scraps—like onion skins—to transform textiles. “We talk a lot about ‘second lives.’ Something that seems like it should go in the trash or compost can actually be given a second life as material to dye fabric,” explains Hannah. “We also discuss fabric production over time, and how people still produce color in various cultures. Plus, making dye is a great way to get kids thinking creatively about working with natural materials.”

Even if you don’t explicitly talk about these connections with your young learners, seeing the transformation happen has an inherent “wow” factor. “Every time I’ve done natural dyeing with kids, it feels a little like playing with magic potions! Marigolds, which are red and orange, make a lime green dye. Avocado pits, which are greenish-brown, make a pink dye. Kids are always blown away.”

Young learners hang marigold-dyed bandanas to dry in our Adventures program. (Video: Sarah Webb)

Here are Hannah’s tips for making your project a success.

For natural dye, choose natural fabric. For a natural dye to really work, you want a natural fabric, “like cotton, wool, or even silk. This is another way you can get creative with giving things a second life. We recently used a white cotton sheet that was sitting in storage, unused, and cut it into bandana-sized pieces to dye.” You could even give new life to an unworn shirt in your closet, or a thrifted garment.
Pick your dye material. We’ve experimented with all kinds of materials. Hannah recommends yellow onion skins (produces a yellow-orange dye); the water left over from soaking black beans (blue dye); cleaned avocado skins and pits (pink dye); or marigolds (green dye).
Follow a 3:1 ratio of dye material to fabric. You’ll want to collect enough material for a 3:1 ratio of dye material to fabric by weight. If you’d like to be precise, you can use a kitchen scale to achieve this ratio, but we’ve had success estimating amounts, too.
Add a mordant to help your color set. A mordant prepares your fabric to absorb the dye. We’ve experimented with a variety of mordants, including white and apple cider vinegar; citric acid; or alum powder. Follow a ratio of 10% mordant to fabric (for example, for 100 grams of fabric, use 1 tbsp. of mordant). You can use a kitchen scale to determine how much mordant to use—or, just eyeball it, which is what we’ve done! No mordant? No problem! You can easily do this project just for the fun of seeing what you create.
Tie the dye to cooking. “I like cooking with kids first. I have them save the scraps from what they cook, and then mix up the dye as we talk and snack.” A few ideas: make tasty cheddar and black bean quesadillas with guacamole, and save the water in which you soaked your beans and the avocado pits for dyes. Use a lot of onions in your cooking? Save your onion skins over time to make a batch of dye. Hannah did this with our Junior Iron Chef team: they collected a bag of onion skins as they made dozens of batches of cheddar and onion pierogi to prepare for a cooking competition!
Give yourself several blocks of time. This project involves three steps and some patience—prepping the fabric, making the dye, and dyeing your fabric. We like doing this project over the course of several afternoons. At home, you could even do this project over the course of a weekend.

Hannah stirs up a batch of dye over the fire in our outdoor classroom. (Video: Sarah Webb)

Instructions

Adapted from Closet Core Patterns

We’ve used the following steps with all kinds of natural materials and plant parts. Dyeing fabric can be messy business, so consider using aprons to protect your clothing, placing towels nearby, and prepping an outdoor area to let your project air dry.

Materials

Dye material of your choosing, see options and quantity notes above
Natural fabric, like cotton, wool, linen, silk, or hemp, freshly laundered
A mordant of your choosing, see options above
A large pot, bucket, and strainer
Tongs and a large spoon

Step 1: Prepare your fabric

Fill a large bucket or pot with enough warm water to cover your fabric. If using mordant, add it to the water and mix well.
Add your fabric and let soak for 1–2 hours.
Remove your fabric from the mixture, gently squeeze out the excess mordant, and rinse. Note: You can reuse your mordant bath for another project.

Step 2: Make your dye

In a large pot, add your dye material and cover with water. Note: The amount of water you use will affect the brightness of your dye! More water will give you more dye, but the color will be diluted. Less water will give you less dye, but with a more vibrant color.
Place the pot on your heat source and let the mixture simmer for at least an hour. If you’re using a tougher material like avocado pits, use a spoon to break material up as it softens to release more colors. Once it’s been removed from heat, you can even let your mixture steep overnight.
Your dye bath is ready! To remove the natural materials, pour your dye through a fine mesh strainer.

Step 3: Dye your fabric

Add your dye bath to a large bucket or pot. Make sure your dye bath is warm as it helps the fabric soak up the color. If necessary, bring your dye bath back to a simmer to reheat.
Place your fabric in the dye bath, anywhere from 15 minutes to overnight depending on your preference and desired results. Experiment with tie-dye or other patterns by folding or bunching your fabric and tying with strings or rubber bands.
Remove your creation with tongs, rinse under warm water, and let it air dry before placing it in the washing machine. Ta-da!

Andrea Estey

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April 12, 2024

A Journey from Sheep to Sweater

admin — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 19:59:40 +0000

A Journey from Sheep to Sweater admin Mon, 02/07/2022 - 14:59

Originally posted November 2020.

Did you know that Shelburne Farms has a flock of 60 sheep? The main breeds that you will find in our flock are Border Leicester, Dorset, and Navajo Churro, and they’re raised for both their meat and their wool. Keep an eye out for them along our walking trails—they’ll be there for a while longer until they move inside for lambing season!

So, how do you get from a white woolly sheep to a beauuuutiful blue sweater? The process is quite simple.

First, the sheep must be shorn. Once or twice a year, depending on the breed, our sheep get their haircuts just like you might. It doesn’t hurt the sheep, but it's best to hire a professional who can do the job gently and efficiently. The wool that is shorn from the sheep is called its fleece.

Skirting removes any unusable bits from the sheep's fleece.

But, a sheep's fleece is usually greasy with lanolin, scratchy with hay, and maybe a little smelly with manure. We don’t want a wool sweater like this! So, the next step is to remove any unuseable bits from the fleece before washing. This process is called skirting. Learn more about this important step in the video below:

After skirting, it’s time to wash the wool. Dish soap works well for cleaning small batches of wool, especially since it’s got tough grease-fighting power and wool is greasy with lanolin. If you ever have the chance to pet a sheep, you’ll find that that lanolin will actually soften your hands. Lanolin is an oil that protects the sheep’s wool and skin and creates a waterproof “raincoat.” So when you see sheep out tending to their regular business in the rain, you can rest assured that their bodies are staying warm and dry!

Now, I would like a blue sweater, but my wool is from a white sheep. What’s one to do? I need to dye it! By using dyes made from plants, food coloring, or even food scraps, I can turn the wool into any color of the rainbow! Did you know that avocado pits can create pink dye and wild goldenrod can create yellow dye?

The tools for washing wool, and wool hanging out to dry after being dyed.

Ok, now my wool is washed and ready for the next step: carding. I need to card the wool, which means to brush out its tangles and line up the fibers to help me spin it into yarn. The process is similar to brushing your hair, and it has the same results. Check out this video to see how I card the fiber from our Angora rabbit, Willow:

My dyed wool is now ready to be spun on a spinning wheel, by hand with a partner, or by using a drop spindle. The wool is stretched out and twisted around and around until it forms into yarn. To further increase its strength, two or more strands of this yarn can be twisted together to make super duper durable yarn.

Spinning wool into yarn with a spinning wheel, and a beautiful collection of handspun yarn.

What beautiful yarn we’ve made! I can knit, crochet, felt, or even weave my beautiful yarn into not only a sweater, but a matching hat and mittens, too! Have you ever felted or finger knit at our “Sheep and Shear Delights” program? Watch this video to learn how to do this simple and fun craft!

Mo and Snickerdoodle modeling their fleecy outfits.

Here is Mo, one of our shepherds, and Snickerdoodle the sheep both modeling entire wool outfits from head to toe. Do you have anything at home made out of sheep wool? Can you think of any other animals whose fibers (or hair) can be spun into yarn?

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I weave Navajo style on a standing loom. A few years ago ad dear friend in North Carolina sent me some wool yarn as she crochets and knits using yarn other than wool. I got a skein of hands-on yarn spun by Nancy Wilford. There was no date on the tag that surrounded it. I really enjoyed your video. My wife while in High School showed sheep in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Peace, Kurt

Do you process others sheep wool? I am looking to have a friends wool processed and turned into something for her as a gift. It’s a very small batch so would probable need to use other sheep yarn to make anything. Thank you!

Unfortunately, we do not. While we save a little wool from our flock for education programs, most of it gets sent to Green Mountain Spinnery for processing. They return it to us in skeins of undyed yarn.

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Shearing Our Flock of Farmyard Sheep

admin — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 19:31:40 +0000

Shearing Our Flock of Farmyard Sheep admin Mon, 02/07/2022 - 14:31

Originally posted April 2020.

April is the time of year when we’d typically be celebrating all things sheep with you — families, teachers, students, and fellow farmers. However, since our programming is currently put on hold and our barns are closed to the public, we decided to bring our annual “Sheep and Shear Delights” main event — shearing with professional shearer Mary Lake — to you!

Farm work is going on as planned, and the Children’s Farmyard flock still needs to get their yearly haircut (our larger herd that lives at the Dairy and out on pasture gets shorn in February). Watch below to see shearing in action and learn about the equipment and process:

As you’re learning at home, or sharing through your virtual classroom, here are some additional resources and activities to explore further:

Sheep to Shawl Activity Cards: See if you can figure out how to get from a white, woolly sheep to a beautiful blue wool sweater! You can check your answers with the provided answer key.
Dress Up a Sheep: With some items you probably already have in your home (if not, you can get creative with what is on hand!), dress up with some sheep props and explore the parts of a sheep.
See how many things you can find in your house that come from sheep: like a wool sweater, or sheep’s milk cheese, or yarn.
Book suggestions from our Education Team:
- Farmer Brown Shears His Sheep: A Yarn About Wool by Teri Sloat
- Charlie Needs A Cloak by Tomie dePaola
- Sheep to Sweater from Lerner Publishing Group
- Feeding The Sheep by Leda Schubert

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Have been trying to see the sheep shearing for years and always missed it. Thank you very much to whomever is responsible for taping it
Frank Galipeau

Lovely. Thank you so much for sharing this. It was somehow comforting to see this ages old method of shearing sheep done by a woman who clearly loves the sheep and loves her work. I felt enclosed by a warm, thick wool sweater.

Amazing! I needed that! Thank you, Kat, Mary, & Rhubarb.

Thank you for making and sharing this wonderful video and resources.

Yay, that was so fun! I want to grow up to be a sheep shearer!! (..and, I'm 56) I too have always wanted to make it to watch the shearing and never have, so thanks for the video. I had read an article about Mary in a magazine and it was a total treat to see her in action.

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Make a Snowflake - A Project Seasons Activity

admin — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 17:27:01 +0000

Make a Snowflake - A Project Seasons Activity admin Tue, 12/07/2021 - 12:27

Most of us have learned that snowflakes are six-sided, but cut paper snowflakes usually only have four sides, just like the piece of paper they're made from. In the spirit of winter, we're sharing some simple instructions from our publication Project Seasons for how to make six-sided paper snowflakes. They're fun, easy, and beautiful. And next time you head outside in the snow, they'll help you appreciate the delicate beauty of snowflakes!

Download the PDF of the activity.

Looking for more wintry explorations? Check out our "Winter Wildlife Detectives" blog series, starting with "Who's Out There?"

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Good winter activity for anyone who works with children.

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Winter Wildlife Detectives: Print, Pattern & Place

admin — Mon, 15 Mar 2021 16:32:37 +0000

Winter Wildlife Detectives: Print, Pattern & Place admin Mon, 03/15/2021 - 12:32

This is the third part of our Winter Wildlife Detective series on our For You & Your Family blog. Check out Part One: Who’s Out There? and Part Two: Animal Clues! for more.

Finding animal tracks — whether in the snow, sand, or mud — can be very exciting. There are so many more questions to ask than just, “whose tracks are these?” I like to wonder: Where do the tracks go? Where are they coming from? Are these fresh tracks or have they been here a while? Why is this animal doing what it’s doing? How does this animal move? These are just a few questions you can use to investigate any animal tracks you find.

You can use the tracks along with surrounding clues to create your own story of what happened! Think of the “3 P’s” of tracking — Print, Pattern, and Place — when creating your own story of the secretive lives of wild animals.

Pattern

It wasn’t until I moved to Vermont, a place that often has a layer of snow on the ground throughout the winter, that I started to learn more about animal tracks. It seemed so overwhelming in the beginning, and every track looked like the next to me.

But, I learned that different groups of animals leave certain types of track patterns in the snow, which allows us to narrow down the possibilities of who it could be. Now, these patterns aren’t always exact because track patterns change depending on how fast or slow an animal is moving (just like our tracks will look different depending on whether we're taking a nice stroll or running a race!). But knowing these patterns is an excellent starting point. As you learn about the different types of movement, see if you can mimic the different styles and make different types of tracks in the snow, sand, or mud!

HOPPERS

These are animals that move by hopping. They place their front feet onto the ground and then their larger back feet swing forward. Can you think of some animals that hop? Their tracks often make this type of pattern in the snow:

Some animals that leave hopper tracks are rabbits, squirrels, and mice:

[Rabbit photo courtesy Craig Newman, rabbit tracks photo courtesy Steve Severinghaus]

WADDLERS

These are animals that tend to move one side of their bodies at a time as they walk. Often, their tracks make this type of pattern in the snow:

These animals often move slower than others, so they have what I call “superpowers” that help support them in the wild. Some super powers include:

Opossums - prehensile tail, “playing dead,” and opposable thumbs
Porcupines - quills
Skunk - spray
Raccoons - incredibly clever

See a raccoon's tracks in both mud and snow below:

STRAIGHT WALKERS

This is the category that humans would fall into. Take a walk through the snow. Do you notice how your tracks show one foot stepping in front of the other? There are animals that walk in that same way - walking with each foot stepping right in front of the other often stepping into the same track that the foot in front has made.

When you follow your grownups or friends through deep snow, do you step in the tracks that they have made? Why? Because it’s so much less work! It’s easier because it takes less energy to step into a track that’s already made than to step into deep snow. Wild animals are always finding ways to save energy in winter because they need that energy for hunting/gathering food, finding/building shelter, and staying safe from predators.

Below you can see a bobcat track direct registering: it is stepping directly into a track that it has already made. Bobcat tracks also make the straight walker pattern:

Deer tracks also make the straight walker pattern:

[DEER PHOTO COURTESY CRAIG NEWMAN, DEER TRACKS PHOTO COURTESY LARRY WADE]

Straight walkers don’t always walk in a perfectly straight line (animals need to make left and right turns, too!), but they are typically walking by putting one front in front of the other. Some examples of straight walkers besides humans are deer, fox, coyotes, and bobcats.

Remember I said that wild animals are usually saving or conserving their energy for survival? Well, pet dogs who have food, shelter, and safety provided will usually behave a bit differently than a wild coyote or fox. You may not alway see their tracks creating a straight walker pattern since they are often playing and not focused solely on their survival. There’s no need to save energy when your human is going to give you a delicious meal when you get back to your home!

Place

Where you find your animal signs tells you a lot about what animal could have possibly left the clue.

If you see a hopper track leading to a tree, and then it just vanishes... it’s likely an animal that climbs trees! Now, I would LOVE to see a rabbit climb a tree but it’s just not possible. Perhaps it’s a red or gray squirrel. They hop - check. They climb trees - check.

What if you find animal tracks out in an open field? I’ve never seen a squirrel out in a field away from the safety of the trees. It’s probably not a squirrel.

Do you have a favorite local animal? Read up on its unique behaviors! For example do you love coyotes??? Did you know that they will often leave scat (a fancy name for wild animal poop) in the middle of trails in order to mark their territory and communicate with other coyotes? See how the location of the animal clue can help you narrow down which animal it may be?

Print

There are hundreds of prints out there and you can have a blast exploring and playing detective without learning each and every one of them. Here are a few of my favorite tricks and tips I have learned along the way:

X vs. C

At first glance, cat and dog tracks look very similar but take a closer look. Can you draw a perfect X through the track? Then, it belongs to a canid, a member of the dog family — coyotes, domestic dog, red fox, or gray fox (LEFT). Can you draw a sideways C through the track? Then, it’s a feline — a domestic cat, a feral cat, or a bobcat (RIGHT).

CLAWS OR NO CLAWS

Another trick is that claw marks are often very visible in dog tracks while they rarely show on a cat track. Do you have a pet cat? Have you noticed how they keep their claws tucked into their paw as they walk around? This is the same for wild cats like bobcats. They can bare their claws when necessary, but otherwise the claws stay retracted into their foot pad.

LOOK MA, no claws!

TRACKS LIKE STARS

Opossums have five fingers on their front feet that create tracks that look like stars or the hand of a small child. They also have opposable thumbs on their back feet which make their tracks very unique:

TAIL TRAILS

Animals with tails like mice and opossums will often leave an extra track in the snow — tail prints! — as they hop or waddle along:

TRACKS THAT LOOK LIKE LOBSTERS

Rabbit tracks remind me of lobsters... anyone agree with me? Creating your own mnemonic is very helpful!

I hope you have enjoyed learning about Vermont animals in winter and that you have a few more tools to add to your animal tracking and exploration toolkit!

Resources

Track Patterns from Shelburne Farms' Cultivating Joy & Wonder
Forest Animal Track Templates from Shelburne Farms' Cultivating Joy & Wonder
Signs in the Snow from Shelburne Farms' Cultivating Joy & Wonder
Animals on the Move from Shelburne Farms' Cultivating Joy & Wonder
Tracks in the Snow by Wong Herbert Yee
Our favorite waterproof tracking guide, Mammal Tracks and Scat: Life-Size Tracking Guide
Animal Tracks by Arthur Dorros
Tracking and Art of Seeing by Paul Rezendes

Cat Parrish

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Very nicely done Cat. The photos and the categories are terrific.
On my last ski outing on the Farms, a week ago, I encountered fisher tracks in two locations. One spot was east of the Duck Pond and the other was on the south side of Lone Tree. Everybody is out and about!
Thanks

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Winter Wildlife Detectives: Animal Clues!

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 16:53:56 +0000

Winter Wildlife Detectives: Animal Clues! admin Tue, 03/09/2021 - 11:53

This is the second part of our Winter Wildlife Detective series on our For You & Your Family blog. Check out Part One: Who’s Out There? and Part Three: Print, Pattern & Place for more.

Wild animals are quick, sneaky, and can be hard to find out on the land, but they often leave behind signs or clues that they’ve been around. On your next outdoor adventure, you can use many of your senses to discover these clues:

Animal Clues: Look High and Low!

Use the right and left arrows to explore animal signs you may see outdoors:

Here are some fun facts about the animal clues you may see:

Scat - This is what we call wild animal poop. (Do you know what we call farm animal poop? Manure! )
Antlers vs. horns - Animals with antlers shed them every year and grow a new pair. Animals with horns, on the other hand, keep and grow those horns for their entire lives.
Deer vs. rabbit - One way to tell whether a branch or twig has been nibbled by a deer or a rabbit is by the angle of the nibble. If the twig has been nibbled at a 45° angle, then it was a rabbit that was snacking. If it is nibbled straighter across and is rough and torn, then it was likely nibbled by a deer. Of course, if the tree has been nibbled five feet up, then that will help you figure out if it was a deer or a rabbit as well.
Hair - Did you know that deer hair is hollow and traps air? This provides insulation to keep them warm. Keep an eye out on your forest walk for any large ovals of melted snow. They just might be deer beds! Deer curl up in the snow when resting and their body heat will melt the snow, leaving the large oval. If you find a deer bed, make sure to investigate closely because you will likely find hairs the deer have left behind!
Animal urine - Ok, hear me out. So, you’ve found some urine alongside tracks that you think may be from a coyote, fox, or dog. One way to further investigate is to breathe on the urine to heat it up. If it then emits a skunk-like odor, that’s one more clue that the tracks may belong to a red fox.

Can you think of more clues that animals leave behind? We only talked about signs you can see. But you can also listen for clues, like birds calling, squirrels chattering, coyotes howling, twigs breaking, or leaves rustling. Try watching your cat, dog, chicken, or any other pet as it moves about. Does it leave any clues behind? The more you practice, and the more senses you use, the better detective you'll become!

Before you head out to explore, create a tracking backpack with wildlife detective gear! You can include a waterproof tracking field guide like Animal Tracks and Scat, a ruler or measuring tape, magnifying glasses, binoculars, and a camera or journal to capture your finds. Make sure to warm up your eyes, ears, and nose before heading out on your winter walk with these activities:

Handful of Sounds from Shelburne Farms' Cultivating Joy & Wonder
Owl Eyes from Shelburne Farms' Cultivating Joy & Wonder
Camouflage from Shelburne Farms' Cultivating Joy & Wonder
Scent matching game:
- Gather at least four small containers with lids (e.g., film or spice canisters).
- Punch small holes into the lids.
- Wrap each with a piece of cloth or paper, if needed, so that you can't see what is inside.
- Add spices, or cotton balls spritzed with liquid scents to the containers. Make sure you have two containers for each scent (e.g., two containers with oregano).
- Mix the containers up and try to rematch the pairs by scent!

Now check out Part 3 in this series: Print, Pattern & Place for more fun ideas!

Additional resources:

Shelburne Farms Trail Map
Animal Signs in Winter from Shelburne Farms' Cultivating Joy & Wonder
In the Snow: Who’s Been Here? by Lindsay Barrett George

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Winter Wildlife Detectives: Who’s Out There?

admin — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 21:38:00 +0000

Winter Wildlife Detectives: Who’s Out There? admin Mon, 02/15/2021 - 16:38

This is the first part of our Winter Wildlife Detective series on our For You & Your Family blog. For further reading, check out

In order to become a winter wildlife detective, it’s important to know who’s out there and who isn’t. Who thrives in the cold Vermont winter? Who takes a long winter nap? Who says, “My bags are packed and I’m out of here!”? And who waits for only the warmest winter days to peek their head out?

When winter comes around, I wear the puffiest, warmest winter coat I have. I turn on the heat in my car and home. I drink yummy hot chocolate. I build fires in the fireplace! How do you adjust to winter? Do you do anything differently than you would in the summer? What winter activities do you enjoy?

Just like you and me, animals adjust and adapt to the cold Vermont winter in many different ways, which we are going to explore in this blog!

Introducing… an all star cast of local Vermont wildlife!

A special thank you to Craig Newman of Outreach for Earth Stewardship for the use of so many of his beautiful photographs!

Survivors and Thrivers: Those That Remain Active in Winter

Some animals are built to take on cold temperatures and snowy conditions. They have special skills, body parts, and behaviors (these are called adaptations) that help them survive and thrive in winter. These adaptations help them stay warm, stay safe from predators, and find food and shelter. When you are out on a winter walk, you can often find clues that these animals left behind while they were outside hunting or gathering food. Let’s learn who some of these animals are a little about their winter survival adaptations!

Some animals that are active in the winter include canids. Canids are doglike animals in the family Canidae. In this family are canines which include dogs and coyotes and vulpines which refers to foxes. Growing warm, thick fur coats is one way these wild animals adapt to winter living.

1. Red fox (Craig Newman) | 2. Coyote (Craig Newman) | 3. Gray fox (Cincinnati Zoo)

Felines, animals in the cat family, also remain active. Have you ever seen a bobcat in the wild? Maybe not because their fur coats help them camouflage into the forest background. Some grow a gray coat that camouflages them even better among the empty winter branches as they hunt for small mammals, which are active in the winter as well.

4. Bobcat (Yellowstone National Park)

We can’t forget about squirrels! You’ve probably learned that squirrels gather and store nuts and seeds for the long winter. Gray squirrels hide tiny caches of nuts and seeds in lots of different hiding spots. Red squirrels hide most of their nuts in one big hiding spot. Whose method would you choose when it comes to hiding food, gray squirrels or red squirrels? Consider the pros and cons of each method.

5. Gray squirrel (Robert Thiemann) | 6. Red Squirrel (Craig Newman)

In Vermont, we have many birds that tough out the wintertime. Some of my favorites are barred owls, turkeys, and woodpeckers. Barred owls have super cool winter adaptations. They have feathers down their legs and allll the way down to their talons. Their hearing is so incredible that they can hear mice traveling under the snow and know exactly where to swoop down and catch them.

7. Barred owl | 8. Woodpecker | 9. Turkey (all Craig Newman)

Some other examples of animals that are active in the winter time are rabbits, deer, moose, voles, and porcupines. Can you think of some adaptations that help these animals survive the cold?

10. Porcupine | 11. Vole | 12. Deer | 13. Rabbit (all Craig Newman)

True Hibernators

Vermont has three types of true hibernators: bats, jumping mice, and groundhogs.

You will not see a true hibernator or any evidence of it in winter. They find a cozy spot and their breathing and heart rate slow wayyyy down. Their body temperatures lower significantly for an extended period of time to conserve energy . For example, the body temperature of a groundhog drops from 99°F (just a little warmer than the human body temp of 98.6°F) all the way down to as low as 37°F (that’s nearly ice cold!). If you came upon a true hibernator, you may think the animal had frozen!

14. Ground Hog (Craig Newman) | 15. Little Brown bat (J. Jongsma) | 16. Jumping Mouse (D.G.E. Robertson)

Sleepers: Snackers and Nappers

These animals have got a solid winter plan that is similar to the true hibernators. They minimize their activity, their hearts beat slower, and they breathe less. But, their temperature doesn’t drop as dramatically. This makes it easier for these animals to wake up and leave their homes to find food on warmer winter days. On colder days, they stay in their homes, become inactive, and are able to live off of the fat stores they have built in fall. On a warm, sunny winter day, you are more likely to find the tracks of (or even see) these animals.

17. Black Bear (Vermont Fish & Wildlife) | 18. Raccoon (dusan veverkolog) | 19. Chipmuck (Craig Newman) | 10. Skunk (crAig Newman)

Migrators

Some birds decide to leave their summer home entirely for more southern locations. Why would they do this? Let’s think about it! Did you know that there are a lot of birds that eat insects? Bats aren’t the only ones who love delicious, juicy bugs! But in the winter, there aren't any insects out and about. I can go outside without getting bitten by mosquitos and I don’t see any insects crawling along the frozen ground. If these bug-eating birds can’t adapt to eat other types of food, then they must fly south to warmer temperatures where bugs are still plentiful.

Does anyone wonder why a turkey vulture would migrate when they are typically eating carrion, the decaying flesh of animal carcasses? Well, turkey vultures rely heavily on their incredible sense of smell, but frozen carrion loses its strong odor. Also, vultures rely on thermal currents (air rising from the sun heated ground) to help them soar effortlessly through the air, but during this cold and cloudy time of year the thermal currents are almost nonexistent.

What if your favorite food is a delicious fish but your pond or lake has totally frozen over? Try flying a little further south until you find open water and can continue to fish!

21. Osprey with a fish | 22. Bluebird with insect | 23. Kestrel with a snake | 24. Vulture (All Craig Newman)

Vermont is FULL of wildlife, and we only mentioned a few animals! Do you have a favorite Vermont animal that we didn’t list? See if you can figure out what it does in the wintertime and what special adaptations it may have for surviving and thriving.

Resources

Coping with Cold from Shelburne Farms' Project Seasons
New England Animals in Winter from Shelburne Farms' Project Seasons
A Winter's Meal from Shelburne Farms' Cultivating Joy & Wonder
Winter Animals Cards from Shelburne Farms' Cultivating Joy & Wonder
Forever Wild - a story of the A Shared Life: People and Biodiversity in Vermont collection (for older students, adults)

Books about animals in winter

Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner, art by Christopher Silas Neal
Mousekin’s Woodland Sleepers by Edna Miller (out of print, but you may be able to find used or in the library)
When Winter Comes by Nancy Van Laan, art by Susan Gaber
Animals in Winter by Henrietta Bancroft and Richard G. Van Gelder, art by Helen K Davie
Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit: A Book of Changing Seasons by Il Sung Na

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Lambing Time!

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 15:30:20 +0000

Lambing Time! admin Fri, 02/12/2021 - 10:30

Originally posted February 2020.

Late winter/early spring is very special on the farm. Sugarmakers are busy boiling sap into maple syrup, calves are being born, and the shepherds are in the thick of lambing season!

Lambing season is about a 6-week-long period when the majority of our farm’s lambs are born. In October, three rams (intact, male sheep), join the flock of ewes (female sheep), for a month so that the ewes become pregnant. It takes five months for a lamb to fully grow and develop inside a ewe, so almost all of the lambs are born in February and early March. Ewes typically have twin lambs, but can also have singles, triplets, and occasionally quadruplets. As you can probably imagine, this is a very busy time for both the sheep and their farmers! This year, our first lamb arrived on February 15, and our last on March 29. We finished the lambing season with 94 lambs from 55 ewes. Shelburne Farms raises sheep to provide a local meat source for our community and wool for educational programming.

We hope you enjoy learning a bit more about lambing season below. And the ewes and lambs will be heading out to pasture sometime this April. Make sure to keep an eye out while walking our trails!

Leaping Lambs: A Virtual Scavenger Hunt

Watch the video of this year’s ewe and lambs, and see if you can find the following things:

lamb drinking milk (nursing)
lamb playing
lamb talking
lamb resting
ear tag
lamb scratching an itch
ewe chewing her cud
ewe drinking water
ewe eating hay

Lambing Season 101

Lambing bucket - Before lambing season, the shepherds prepare a lambing bucket with tools that they may need. Some of the tools include:

Iodine solution: A lamb’s umbilical cord is a direct highway into the animal’s body, so we dip the cord into this dark, antiseptic liquid to help keep the germs out and the lamb healthy!
Ear tags: Each lamb is given an ear tag with a special identifying number on it. This helps the shepherd easily identify each lamb, especially when there are about 100 of them hopping around! Rams are tagged in the right ear; ewes are tagged in the left. Also, the color of the tag corresponds to the year that lamb was born.
Record sheets: Lots of data is recorded for every new lamb, including its mother, its weight, and how many siblings it has.

Jug pen - Once lambs are born, they are moved with their moms to a private area within the flock called a jug pen. Here, the ewes and new lambs can bond without being interrupted by the other sheep. The ewes are given warm, molasses water to replenish their energy after lambing, and rich, green hay which they happily devour.

Group pen - After three days, the new mothers and their lambs move to the group pen where the lambs quickly begin to socialize with each other and form play groups. Once the weather warms and the pastures are growing again, usually in April, they will all head out to pasture.

Bottle lambs - For a variety of reasons, a few lambs will almost always require supplemental milk from the farmer. A bottle lamb might be one in a set of triplets that the mom simply can’t make enough milk for. A mom may not make enough milk anyway, or she may be suffering from mastitis, which is a painful infection of the mammary glands. And, sometimes, a mother sheep doesn’t feel the motherly instinct necessary to care for a lamb.

What is Your Favorite Part of Lambing Season?

I asked our shepherds this question. Here are their answers.

“I would say all the babies. You never know how many a ewe will have or what color they will be so it's always a surprise.”

— Renee, lead shepherd

"My favorite part is welcoming all the new lambs into the world, and making sure both the lambs and the ewes are happy and healthy."

— Mo

"The end of lambing season means that spring is just around the corner when moms and babies are out on fresh grass and enjoying the sunshine."

— Megan

"I love that there are so many more sheep to herd. I’m always up for a challenge and lambs are challenging to herd."

— Ginny, herding dog

"I'm still learning how to direct the sheep but it sure is exciting! I also enjoy licking the milk off of the messy faces of all the bottle lambs!"

— Maeve, herding dog

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Discover Maple Sugaring at Shelburne Farms

admin — Thu, 11 Feb 2021 19:17:50 +0000

Discover Maple Sugaring at Shelburne Farms admin Thu, 02/11/2021 - 14:17

Did you know it takes 40 gallons of maple sap to make just one gallon of maple syrup? Join educators Jed and Cat as they introduce you to the sugarbush and the sugarhouse as you discover the story of sap to syrup!

Explore the Shelburne Farms sugarbush with Cat and Jed! Learn to identify and tap a sugar maple.

Let's continue on the sap to syrup journey!

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Does Shelburne farms have a permanent maple education sugarhouse that could be visited next Saturday June 19th?
Thank you
Gianpiero

Oscar worthy performances by both Cat and Jed on this [Sweet!!] documentary on Maple Sugaring.

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