A Dirty Day

Howdy, friends! Mama Llama here, with a post about getting our hands dirty. Well... Not *my* hands. But the camera got awful close to a lot of those dirty hands!

A little back story - Thomas (otherwise known as the better half of Team Llama) and I have chosen to homeschool the little Llamas these last couple of years, and a few days ago, a local homeschooling group provided an awesome opportunity for the kiddos to have some fun, hands-on learning, and to document the whole thing. Win!

We met at the Eat Well Market in East Nashville, where the owner, Christy, has graciously donated a raised bed for a bunch of awesome homeschoolers and their mamas to call their own. One of her employees was homeschooled herself, which I thought was pretty darn cool.


Jenny - the awesome sledgehammer-wielding mama a few pictures below - organized the event, and even though it was gloomy and (slightly) rainy, there was a good turnout of kids and moms. She and her kiddos have started a seedling business, and they donated some of the heirloom variety vegetables and herbs that we used. After a short explanation of which plants were available for planting and why pollination, climate, and soil types were important, it was time to get to work.
So there was a lot of digging in the dirt. Of course, all the kids loved it. Even the ones who "accidentally" got dirt thrown on them.




Digging the holes was important - and dirty! - work, of course.


The girls were more involved in planting the tomato which was later surrounded by herbs, while the boys put in their time planting a sweet pepper, which was also surrounded by herbs, and a few other veggies in and amongst both the tomato and the pepper plants.

There was, of course, a lot of watching, learning, and commentary going on all the while. And this... Well, we will call him Mr. M. He introduced himself to me, but wouldn't shake my hand because he didn't know me. And almost immediately thereafter asked me to hold his trowel so he could run off and play. Ha! I'm still chuckling over that one.

After all that dirty work, everyone had worked up a pretty good thirst, so we wandered over to a table, where - OH! - there were all sorts of fruits and vegetables set up for juicing. Everybody washed their hands and rushed back to the table where they got in line (Homeschoolers! In a line! Ha!) to pick a fruit or vegetable to juice.

Everybody got a turn, and man, there was a LOT of variety. Mangos to tomatillos, and everything in-between.

Once the juice was done, everybody sat down and enjoyed - and I mean, ENJOYED! - that wonderful juice (It tasted a lot better than I expected... However, for the amount of apples in it, I shouldn't be surprised at how good it was!).

It was a day simply FULL of smiles - some more than others, but still there... I love to see that!

Then it was time for a quick group shot before it we all headed out.

I believe it is so important for kids to understand where their food comes from - and how it becomes what we eat... And who doesn't love to dig in the dirt, right? I am so glad I was able to be a part of this special day.

Until next time,

-Kristen...