4/15/19
We tackled some pretty cool things today in our Farm Fusion lessons! First, the class learned how to make sure conditions are sanitary for goat milking. We milked the goats, fed all the animals, and talked about Farm News. Then, the class had a little chemistry lesson as I walked them through the steps to pasteurize milk and make chevre, a simple goat cheese! Throughout the process they learned about acids and pH, curds and whey, how to read a thermometer (reading and estimating between the numbers on a thermometer), and more. As the kids took turns constantly stirring the pot of milk, the class listened to the history of John Deere tractors. We also talked about humidity and its importance to a healthy hatch of duck eggs. We even candled some duck eggs as we moved them from the big incubator into the hatching incubator. They could easily see the developing embryos moving around, one egg that showed no development at all, and one that was rotten inside! After disposing of the bad eggs, we placed the healthy ones in the hatch box. Hopefully more ducklings will start pipping in the next few days!
After our milk hit the correct temperature, we did a little math with fractions to decide how much vinegar and lemon juice to add to the milk. While the curds began to form, the class "got their wiggles out" with some fun in the sun! We then poured the curds into cheesecloth and hung them to drip. The kids were able to choose from different fresh herbs and mix up their own chevre to take home. This is a soft cheese that is great on crackers, or I can hang it longer and create a dryer, crumbly cheese that is great on pizza, salads, and in lasagna! I explained to the class that all the whey left over could be put through the process again, which would result in ricotta. We didn't have time for this, however, and the hogs were happy to splurge on all of the nutritious whey!
We tackled some pretty cool things today in our Farm Fusion lessons! First, the class learned how to make sure conditions are sanitary for goat milking. We milked the goats, fed all the animals, and talked about Farm News. Then, the class had a little chemistry lesson as I walked them through the steps to pasteurize milk and make chevre, a simple goat cheese! Throughout the process they learned about acids and pH, curds and whey, how to read a thermometer (reading and estimating between the numbers on a thermometer), and more. As the kids took turns constantly stirring the pot of milk, the class listened to the history of John Deere tractors. We also talked about humidity and its importance to a healthy hatch of duck eggs. We even candled some duck eggs as we moved them from the big incubator into the hatching incubator. They could easily see the developing embryos moving around, one egg that showed no development at all, and one that was rotten inside! After disposing of the bad eggs, we placed the healthy ones in the hatch box. Hopefully more ducklings will start pipping in the next few days! 
After our milk hit the correct temperature, we did a little math with fractions to decide how much vinegar and lemon juice to add to the milk. While the curds began to form, the class "got their wiggles out" with some fun in the sun! We then poured the curds into cheesecloth and hung them to drip. The kids were able to choose from different fresh herbs and mix up their own chevre to take home. This is a soft cheese that is great on crackers, or I can hang it longer and create a dryer, crumbly cheese that is great on pizza, salads, and in lasagna! I explained to the class that all the whey left over could be put through the process again, which would result in ricotta. We didn't have time for this, however, and the hogs were happy to splurge on all of the nutritious whey!
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