There were 13 stations from paper making to tractors during ag day at Jacks Valley Elementary School on Friday.
The weather could not have cooperated better in light of the snow Sunday morning. How did we go from 93 degrees a week ago to the fluffy white stuff?
Dennis Hellwinkle, one of the ag day presenters, directed our two fifth-grade classes to each station. The first stop about mosquitos featured Taylor the chocolate Lab who is employed by Douglas County to search for mosquitos. Did you know the female mosquito drinks your blood so she can feed her eggs?
Brianna Carney, Douglas High School senior and president of the FFA in Carson Valley, showed how to make necklaces with a pea seed, a wet cotton ball and a string. She asked the kids how long they thought it would take for the pea to sprout? Jake Strickler said 20 weeks, Trevor Blankenship said 30 seconds. Kayla Ruffo figured two to four days.
Matt McKinney from Bently Agrowdynamics brought his horse Taco. Prestin Cook wanted to know why the cowboys battled the Indians. Savannah Smith, second-grade, wanted to know if Taco liked tacos. Someone asked if the horse was afraid of anything and Matt said a camera rewinding film.
Ryan Kelly had an excellent presentation on composting with worms. Snowflake was my favorite stop. Snowflake is a beautiful Holstein dairy cow weighing in at 1,600 pounds, and produces 8 to 12 gallons of milk a day.
Bryan Parks showed off a big green tractor with four rear tires five feet in diameter. We headed to watershed with a display of different animal pelts. I learned that a skunk will stomp its foot and chatter its teeth before it resorts to spraying you.
In making paper, you can use shredded paper, envelops, leaves and flowers for color. Add some water and mix it up in a blender, preferably not the one you use for margaritas. You roll it out (that's what rolling pins are for) and let it dry.
At the beef byproduct station we learned that things made from horns, bone and hooves include tape, wallpaper and chalk.
Kintra Birr Farms from Gardnerville brought several goats. Worldwide, goats are the most eaten meat with a buck weighing in at 250 to 300 pounds.
Caroline Frensdorf brought two beautiful sheep, Rosa and Camino. One pound of wool can stretch to 20 miles of yarn. Marino sheep can produce 20 pounds of wool a year.
Todd Gansberg from Bently Agrowdynamics showed us a branding iron and explained vaccinations cows get. You know the old saying about taking a horse pill. Now I will look at it as a cow pill. They were huge!
What a wonderful learning experience ag day was. We appreciated all the work that went into this educational experience. Thanks to the hosts and to Jacks Valley Elementary School.
Lisa Welch is a Johnson Lane resident and can be reached at 267-9350.
