Tuesday

We had an interesting day yesterday at Ag in the Classroom.  An agronomy professor showed us examples of flowers and many grains and their uses.  I had lunch with Blake and Tamara, then headed back to Throckmorton.  From there we listened to a professor who has instigated a program with fourth and fifth graders where they have an after school garden club.  She and her grad assistants put up non-heated greenhouses and we got to visit one of the sites.  They were collecting data on the kid's BMIs, physical activity, and sedentary activity over a two year period. 

They used raised beds in this one, but in the other three, they did not.  There were a lot of things still growing.  The kid's families and other volunteers are taking care of the garden on a weekly basis during the summer.  There was also an outside area.

Then we went to Horticultural Services and learned of their history in the area and toured their facilities.  It was a great tour, and I really like plants, gardening, etc. but about half way through I was done.  It was hot and humid and I thought - Man I am really getting old - but I was a trooper and kept going.  When we got back to KSU, I went to get something to drink - with caffeine - and then we had a short evening session.  I said something about how hot and tired I was there.  Another lady said she felt the same way but didn't want to seem old and soft, but even the kids who have been teaching one or two years chimed in that they were done.  Of course their interest in gardening might be not fully developed! 

They did carry some things like water plants that our greenhouse doesn't carry, and this lady did a great job.
Then I went to Blake and Tamara's and had a delicious supper of corn on the cob and fiesta chicken. 
Today we tour two Clay Co. farms, a dairy near Linn, and then I am going to leave the group to go to respect calls for a friend's mother.  They continue on to Wheaton, which would have been a new experience for me.  It is somewhere around Blue Rapids.