Dig It!

Preparing conatiners to plant out Cos Lettuce. Seeds were collected last season.

Students Learn About:
Demonstrates safe practices in the use of equipment, materials and toolsMaintains and cares for equipment, materials and tools

Planting From Seed

Planting from Seed. Peanuts, Capsicum, Borlotti Beans.

Students learn about:
* plant species specific to chosen agricultural enterprises * climatic factors affecting plant and animal production including: humidity, solar radiation, wind patterns, temperature, rainfall
* the role of soil and water in determining plant management strategies
* planning and conducting first hand investigations in agricultural situations
* the basic requirements of agricultural plants and animals

Farming... it's a DIRTY business!

20m3 of garden soil coming to a farm near you?

Agriculture Technology Task- Growing Sprouts

Agriculture Technology. Task- Growing Sprouts
You are required to setup an equipment, at home to grow sprouts. You will be required to document the process using photos or sketches, research & observations. These must be included and presented to your class as a multimedia presentation eg. PowerPoint or a Digital Movie.
Growing your own sprouts is fun and easy if you follow the six rules of sprouting:
1. Rinse often (2-3 times/day)
2. Keep them moist, not wet
3. Keep them at room temperature
4. Give them air to breathe
5. Don’t grow too many in one container
6. Keep them in a dark place
The first step is choosing which seeds to sprout. The standard sprout is the alfalfa sprout. This is the sprout often served on salads and sandwiches and your favourite restaurant or deli. However, there are many other seeds that make excellent sprouts, each with their own flavour and nutritional composition. You can sprout barley, broccoli, buckwheat, cabbage, fenugreek, garbanzo, green peas, lentils, mung beans (found in Chinese food), radishes, red clover, wheat, soy beans, sunflowers and more.
Always use seeds packaged for sprouting. Buying bulk seeds and grains may seem cheaper than seeds packaged for sprouting, but they may not be worth it. Unless they are packaged as high-germination spouting seeds, only a portion of them will sprout. The ones that do not sprout, will likely ferment and spoil the batch. Do not use seeds meant for planting. They are often treated with chemical pesticides, fungicides and mercury coatings. Also, do not use seeds that have moulds growing on them. Moulds produce toxins which can cause food poisoning.
Growing sprouts in a jar
The easiest method is to grow sprouts in a glass canning jar. Any size jar will do. To provide plenty of fresh air, cover the top of the jar with muslin, cheese cloth or nylon mesh screen and secure with a rubber band. You can also buy specially sprouting lids designed for this purpose.
Step One: Soaking
For a quart-sized jar, put 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons of small seeds (up to 1 cup if using larger seeds like green peas or garbanzo) in the sprouting jar. Cover top of jar with cloth or sprouting lid and rinse the seeds in warm (not hot) water. Drain and refill so that water is about an inch above the seeds. Let the seeds soak 8-12 hours (overnight). Protect from light by covering with a dish towel or placing in a cupboard.
Step Two: Rinsing
Rinse 2 to 3 times per day for 2 to 3 days. After thoroughly draining the rinse water, lay the jar on its side to spread out the seeds. Do not expose to light. After 2 to 3 days the sprouts should be filling up the jar.
Step Three: Removing Hulls
After 2 to 3 days the sprouts will have thrown off their hulls. To remove the hulls, place the sprouts in a bowl and run cool water over them. Most of the hulls will either float to the top or sink to the bottom making them easy to remove. (Note: not all seeds have hulls.)
Step Four: Harvesting
Rinse sprouts in cool water and remove any remaining hulls. Drain in a colander, but do not allow the sprouts to dry out. Place in an air-tight bag leaving room for air circulation. If your sprouts need to develop chlorophyll or carotene there is one final step. (The seed package directions should tell you whether greening is necessary.)
Step Five: Greening
Once the hulls are removed, place the sprouts back into the sprouting jar or into a clear plastic airtight bag. Put the sprouts in indirect sunlight. It takes about a day for the chlorophyll and carotenes to develop. Once the sprouts are ready rinse, drain, and eat, or refrigerate.
Storing:
Sprouts will keep for about a week in the refrigerator if you rinse them once every day or two. Be sure to keep the sprouts from freezing as they are frost sensitive.
Seeds are easy to store. Put them in a glass jar with an air-tight lid and keep them in a cool, dark storage area. They will keep for a year or more.

Assessment Task:
Documenting Stages of: Experiment- set-up, required equipment #20 Development through: observation/ recording (diary), sketch/ photo recording (digital camera/mobile phone photo/ sketch) #60 Presentation #20
Total #100

Beef Cattle Breeds in Australia- Limousin

Beef Cattle Breeds in Australia- Red Poll

Beef Cattle Breeds in Australia- Simmental

3 Wise Men- On the farm?

The three wise men discuss the correct way to shovel dirt. They agree
that there is room for skill improvement & that tyre number two needs
more dirt... now!

Beef Cattle Breeds in Australia- Angus

Lot 131- Wyong Poultry Auction

Wyong Race Course 22/8. A mixture of things that go cluck, quack,
chirp & whatever sound a rabbit makes. Third Sunday in each month.
Auction starts @ 8.00am

Australian Beef Cattle Breeds- Devon

Australian Beef Cattle Breeds- Brahman

Australian Beef Cattle Breeds- Santa Gertrudis

Australian Beef Cattle Breeds- Wagyū (和牛?)

Wagyū (和牛?)

Wagyu refers to several breeds of cattle genetically predisposed to intense marbling and to producing a high percentage of oleaginous unsaturated fat. The meat from wagyū cattle is known worldwide for its marbling characteristics, increased eating quality through a naturally enhanced flavor, tenderness and juiciness, and thus a high market value. Several areas in Japan are famous for the quality of their Wagyu cattle, and ship beef bearing their areas' names. Some examples are Kobe, Mishima and Ōmi beef.

*Marbled meat is meat, especially red meat, which contains various amounts of intramuscular fat, giving it an appearance similar to a marble pattern.

For more info.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagyu

Australian Beef Cattle Breeds- Murray Grey

Murray Grey
A breed of Australian polled beef cattle that originated in the upper Murray Valley on the New South Wales/Victorian border.

*Polled livestock are livestock without horns, of species that normally have them. The term refers both to breeds or strains which are naturally polled through selective breeding and to naturally horned animals which have been dehorned.

For more info.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Grey

Australian Beef Cattle Breeds- Competition

You will need to research and memorise the characteristics of the different breeds of Australian Beef Cattle Breeds that could include:

Friesian, Jersey, Ayrshire, Belgium Blue, Limousin, Angus, Murray Grey, Bazadaise, Santa Gertrudis, Devon, Belted Galloway, Red Poll, Hereford, Simmental, Brahman, Charolais, & Square Meater

Free Entry. Get a certificate.

Central Coast Schools Prime Beef Competition 2009

Monday August 17

1. Stall theme this year is "Cooking with Cows!"

2. Feed Components competition - you only have to be able to label the seed types - don't worry about having to know the %protein or anything else for that matter! *Free entry. Get a certificate.

3. Guess the weight of the "mystery" steer! $2/entry fee - win/win

4. Research the various breeds of cattle and be prepared to complete a quiz. *Free Entry. Get a certificate.
Breeds could include Friesian, Jersey, Ayrshire, Belgium Blue, Limousin, Angus, Murray Grey, Bazadaise, Santa Gertrudis, Devon, Belted Galloway, Red Poll, Hereford, Simmental, Brahman, Charolais, & Square Meater's.

5. Paraders Comp - Wadalba are not entering this activity, however there will be plenty of learning at this event.

Students learn about:
* animal breeds specific to chosen agricultural enterprises
* animal welfare codes of practice applicable to a chosen agricultural enterprise
* breed selection
* Experiences a range of animal production enterprises
*Investigates some environmental factors that affect animal production
* Identifies animals and plants commonly used in Australian agricultural production
* Explores how agricultural production contributes to our daily lives

Spring into Sprouts

3 easy steps to growing sprouts:

1. Soak your seeds in clean water in a jar for approximately 8-12 hours.

The amount of seeds that you soak depends on your needs, but the seeds and roots generally swell to several times their size.

2. Rinsing most seeds need a minimum of 2 rinses/waters per day to keep them moist. A 3rd rinse can help during hotter or dryer weather. Ideally you would rinse for 30 seconds or more each time.

3. Drain the water off your seeds/sprouts. Recover the jar with a cloth secured to the top/mouth with a rubber band.
4. Refrigerating when at the desired stage of sprouting. Eat the sprouts or put them into a sealed container and into the fridge. They should last another week, sometimes even longer.

Sprout Seeds supplied to our students:

Broccoli, Pea, Alfalfa and Mung Bean

Students learn about:

* plant species specific to chosen agricultural enterprises

* climatic factors affecting plant production including: humidity, solar radiation, wind patterns, temperature, rainfall
* the role of soil and water in determining plant management strategies
* planning and conducting first hand investigations in agricultural situations * the basic requirements of agricultural plants

The SLAB!- Working @ the Farm!

EVERY practical lesson students meet and are greeted at the SLAB! All practical lessons start from here!