Digging in the dirt

The freshman AP Seminar class recently got in touch with the soil at the Angelic Organics farm in Caledonia, Illinois.

To prepare for this experience, students watched four documentary films revolving around agriculture, an aspect of the theory of Maslow’s Hierarchy.  After the students watched the final documentary called The Real Dirt on Farmer John, they were ready to visit the real farm featured in the documentary. 

A highlight of the trip for a large group of the students was the animals on the farm. Students got to meet and feed animals inhabited on the farm and learned about each of the parts they played to keep the farm running.  The farm had free range chickens, as well as goats, ducks and cows that all played a role on the farm.

“My favorite part of the field trip was holding the chickens and ducks,” said Vanessa Tasheva, freshman.

On this trip the students went on tours to gain a better understanding of how the organic farm functions and how Angelic Organics uses every resource to run an Eco-friendly farm. The majority of the structures and buildings on the farm were made up of the resources found on and around the farm such as the tree branch railings and hay insulated walls. 

“This field trip will definitely be my favorite for the year,” said Tasheva. 

The students also took a tour around the garden where there was an abundance of flowers, herbs and vegetables.  The tour guides informed the students about how they keep insects from eating the garden without using harmful chemicals and pesticides. The farmers rotate the location of the plants every season so the insects get confused and wouldn’t eat the same crops every season.

Towards the lunch break the groups picked vegetables and herbs to make a fresh garden salad for lunch. 

“The salad wasn’t like the ones we get in supermarkets,” said Nikki Genosa, freshman. “You could taste the freshness and it came straight from the soil to our stomachs.”