Cleaning the Chicken Coop

"This week in ATF we cleaned the chicken coop.  I can tell you one thing: they poop a lot.  They pooped all over their house.  The chicken coop should be cleaned every two weeks, and you should give the chickens new straw to lay their eggs in.  What I did was take pictures so we could post them here.  It was a good week in ATF and we had fun taking care of the chickens."
--Alzario, grade 7

Old straw in laying nests

Fresh straw

Rakeem sweeping out the coop

Javion cleaning up

Jamari composting the old straw and chicken waste

How to make rosehip tea

"Today in ATF we made rose hip tea.  Rose hip tea is made from roses and water.  One interesting thing about rose hips is that they came from roses in our garden."

--Alzario, grade 7

"The interesting thing about rose hips is that they only taste good in tea, not when you eat them regularly."

--Jamari, grade 6

"You pick them in the winter.  The rose hips are cool.  They are red and look just like strawberries."

--Cecil, grade 6 

"We made rose hip tea by taking them off the rose bushes, then we took the stems off..."

"...Then we boiled them."

--Alzario, grade 7

"Rose hip tea is healthy.  It doesn't go through factories and processing."

--Cecil, grade 6

"Lastly, we drank the tea.  I have to admit the tea was pretty bitter; needs some sugar."

--Jamari, grade 6

"Rose hip tea tasted very good; I loved it.  It's good for you if you have a cold because it has vitamin C in it. Vitamin C is also in oranges.  Thanks a lot.  We had a lot of fun this week cooking again."

--Alzario, grade 7

Here are some rose hips sitting out to dry so we can store them and use them later.

Soup Sale at the African-American Heritage Celebration

Agriculture Task Force members helped provide healthy food to our community by selling French Onion Mushroom Soup at CJA's African American Heritage Celebration.  The soup and the celebration were big hits!

How to Make Yogurt

"In ATF we made yogurt...

 "...The first day to make yogurt we poured milk into the pot...

"...Then we heated the milk until it was 180 degrees... 

"...When it was 180 degrees we had to bring it down to 120 degrees.  To do that we put the pot into a pan that was full of ice."

--Alzario, grade 7

"Next we added a little yogurt with living bacteria...

"...Then we covered it with tinfoil and left it overnight at room temperature...

"...The next day we checked to make sure that the bacteria had changed it into yogurt.  Then we strained it with a cheesecloth...

"...Finally, we eat!  The yogurt was amazing.  But it was only good after we added honey and jam!"

--Jamari, grade 6

"We learned that there are good bacteria in the yogurt that eat the milk in yogurt and makes it healthy."  "That is not what I was going to expect."

--Cecil, grade 6; Alzario, grade 7

Believe it or not, growing season is coming soon!

"In ATF we searched on the internet for seeds to plant in our garden.  I looked at a carrot seed.  They have lots of different types.  I picked Bolero pelleted carrots.  Another seed I saw was disk arugula and it was shaped like a disk, which was very weird.  The third seed I looked at was a cherritoe radish, which looked like cherries.  We will start planting seeds in March, but we are shopping for seeds now because they are on sale."
--Jamari, grade 6

"I looked up raspberries.  I think that raspberries are expensive and tasty.  I also looked up mini onions.  I think they are small and sweet-looking.  The last seed I looked up was wheat.  I think wheat is the best.  I love bread!  We're shopping for seeds now so they don't run out.  It's kind of like Black Friday."
--Cecil, grade 6

Braving the cold to repair a compost bin

"Today in ATF we fixed the compost bin that broke when we moved it to a new spot.  First, we had to see which pallet would fit the compost bin we had to fix."

--Cecil, Grade 6

 "We froze our toes off while we made a new compost bin.  We hammered in nails with orange holders to attach the mesh onto the bin.  We also had to lift up different wooden tops with wire mesh to find the right fit for the compost bin."

--Jamari, grade 6

 "We had to put nails into it.  We had to put the parts back together.  Then we finally put the entire thing back together.  I thought it was exciting building the compost bin because I haven't built anything in a while.  It was great.  My dad builds and destroys things in our building so I was used to it already."

--Casimir

 "Today we made a compost bin.  It was freezing cold and I got to use a hammer.  It was like when my mom and I build a bird house.  I feel great.  I wish we could do it again to I can learn to do it again."

--Javion, grade 5

"Last, we went inside with all the tools and warmed up.  I feel that what we did in ATF was very constructive."

--Cecil, grade 6

"We went through blood, cuts, and the cold but we got through the pain and got the job done! Go ATF!"

--Jamari, grade 6

Check out the finished bin.  Nice job ATF!

Planning for our garden

"Today in Agriculture Task Force we discussed what fruits and vegetables we are going to plant in the CJA garden.  This is very cool.  We are going to plant tomatoes, onions, watermelons, and strawberries. MMMMMM!  I discuss the future with my family every day.  I wish we could plant grapes instead of strawberries.  Task Force is cool; I really like it.  It makes me feel like I am helping the earth, my school, and it feels like I am doing things in a less polluted way.  :)"
--Cecil, grade 6

"We looked up new foods to plant because all of our plants are dead.  So we need to re-plant them and I suggested we grow some Jamaican plants and carnivorous plants, but we need a different environment for some of them.  It was awesome doing what we were about to do, and I like helping the environment."
--Casimir, grade 6

"Everyone came up with good ideas to add to the list.  We came up with raspberries, blueberries, and other things.  We'll even try a pineapple.  My aunt is going to start getting her garden ready for he spring, too.  She has a book of seeds and plants and she's writing out a list of things she's going to plant and maybe going to plant.  She's going to plant cucumbers and tomatoes.  I feel this year our garden is going to be the best of all the gardens we've had so far."
--Alzario, grade 7