Originally posted on March 30, 2012
Michigan Farm Bureau sponsors a program called Project Red, or Project Rural
Education Day. The organizers of the program in Ingham County did a wonderful
job this week with 800 students attending from around the county. The program is
geared to those in the 3rd grade. Children have the opportunity to visit several
booths displaying a variety of farm life from water conservation to maple syrup
to potatoes and corn, products made from grains and cuts of meat. Children learn
where their food comes from, how seeds grow and what animals eat. They get to
sit on the big tractors, try some maple syrup cotton candy and eat popcorn.
For several years our 4-H club has brought livestock to Project Red for the
children to touch and experience up close and personal. This year our 4-H
families brought different breeds of rabbits, poultry,and sheep along with
several breeds of goats including Nubian, Saanen, Alpine, Boer and Angora. It is
always fun to watch the faces of these youngsters as they come through the
barns, many meeting livestock for the first time. I loved watching and listening
to their comments. I was also proud of my 4-H members that willingly
participated, getting animals loaded up early and in the barn before that first
bus arrived. Members (ages 7-17) did a great job enthusiatically talking to the
school children and their parents.
With only one of my own children still eligible to participate in 4-H (his
last year) it does my heart good to see these young members excited about their
livestock projects. There is also an empty spot in my heart as we no longer have
baby goats and little chicks in the barnyard to care for. Just two old boer
goats left in the back now with a few barn cats taking up space in the barn. Oh,
I don't miss the chores! All those freezing cold days in the barn milking goats,
making sure the little kids were kept warm, and being out in the barn in the
middle of the night. But I do miss watching the silly antics of little goats
running in their sideways gallops across the barn or the little peeps of tiny
chicks.
Life does move on and the kids grow up. All the years of 4-H gave my children
a wonderful opportunity to experience life on our little farm where they learned
how to work by caring for the livestock. We experienced the wonders of
bouncing baby goats, new litters of tiny bunnies and watching fuzzy chicks turn
into feathered hens. These memories linger and events like Project Red bring them to the forefront again to remember how blessed we were to have those days of life from our farm.
Michigan Farm Bureau sponsors a program called Project Red, or Project Rural
Education Day. The organizers of the program in Ingham County did a wonderful
job this week with 800 students attending from around the county. The program is
geared to those in the 3rd grade. Children have the opportunity to visit several
booths displaying a variety of farm life from water conservation to maple syrup
to potatoes and corn, products made from grains and cuts of meat. Children learn
where their food comes from, how seeds grow and what animals eat. They get to
sit on the big tractors, try some maple syrup cotton candy and eat popcorn.
For several years our 4-H club has brought livestock to Project Red for the
children to touch and experience up close and personal. This year our 4-H
families brought different breeds of rabbits, poultry,and sheep along with
several breeds of goats including Nubian, Saanen, Alpine, Boer and Angora. It is
always fun to watch the faces of these youngsters as they come through the
barns, many meeting livestock for the first time. I loved watching and listening
to their comments. I was also proud of my 4-H members that willingly
participated, getting animals loaded up early and in the barn before that first
bus arrived. Members (ages 7-17) did a great job enthusiatically talking to the
school children and their parents.
With only one of my own children still eligible to participate in 4-H (his
last year) it does my heart good to see these young members excited about their
livestock projects. There is also an empty spot in my heart as we no longer have
baby goats and little chicks in the barnyard to care for. Just two old boer
goats left in the back now with a few barn cats taking up space in the barn. Oh,
I don't miss the chores! All those freezing cold days in the barn milking goats,
making sure the little kids were kept warm, and being out in the barn in the
middle of the night. But I do miss watching the silly antics of little goats
running in their sideways gallops across the barn or the little peeps of tiny
chicks.
Life does move on and the kids grow up. All the years of 4-H gave my children
a wonderful opportunity to experience life on our little farm where they learned
how to work by caring for the livestock. We experienced the wonders of
bouncing baby goats, new litters of tiny bunnies and watching fuzzy chicks turn
into feathered hens. These memories linger and events like Project Red bring them to the forefront again to remember how blessed we were to have those days of life from our farm.
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