Thursday, February 25, 2010

Field Trip To Farmer Ground Flour

Here are some pictures from our field trip to Farmer Ground Flour.
The mill is located in the old Grange building at 125 Cayuga Street in Trumansburg.
It was used by Regional Access until recently and now is the home of Farmer Ground Flour.

Greg talked to us about how he started....from a simple conversation with a local farmer and an idea...




With an electric powered mill stone he grinds locally grown organic grains into flour. Most of the grain is grown in Newfield. You can purchase 25 pound bags of his flour at Regional Access or buy it in bulk foods section of Greenstar. He also sells a great deal of flour to specialty bakeries in NYC.

Greg makes spelt, wheat, buckwheat, corn, and polenta flours from these grains...





Bran is sifted out to make a finer baking powder....sometimes the extra bran is fed to the pigs at The Piggery...



The children asked great questions about distribution, timelines, safety, and more. They are inspired by his work and can't wait to get back to school and do some baking.
Here are some related links you may want to check out:


An Education of the Senses

"We cannot create observers by saying "observe", but by giving them the power and means for this observation and these means are procured through education of the senses."
--Maria Montessori (1870-1952)
"The most effective kind of education is that the child should play amongst lovely things."
--Plat0 (428BC-348BC)

"Children have to be educated, but they also must be left to educate themselves."
--Earnest Dimnet










Saturday, February 20, 2010

Dragon Dance and Chopsticks

Continuing with our Lunar New Year celebrations we performed a dragon dance to welcome spring. We also made rice & peas and rice noodles & carrots for snack. To make it even more fun we ate our snack and lunch with chopsticks!





































Monday, February 15, 2010

Totally Amazing Toddlers

If you want to learn how to live in the present, be incredibly mindful, and find joy in every moment hang out with a toddler.