A Busy Week for Region 1!

This week had been jam-packed. We have had so many new activities along with our normal routine. Although it has been jam-packed, it has also been a lot of fun. The weeks are slowly dwindling down, as we now only have 2 weeks left. I am starting to feel sad about leaving, as I will miss working with my co-workers, teaching kids, and gaining new experiences.

Crunchy Cabbage Salad

As I mentioned, we had a lot of activities out of our norm this past week. On Saturday, we had another food demonstration at the Lakes Area Farmer’s Market in Spirit Lake. This was our second and final food demonstration. We sampled a crunchy cabbage salad, which consisted of cabbage, peppers, cherry tomatoes, and onions, all purchased at the farmers’ market, topped with a light ranch dressing. The food demonstrations have been one of my favorite programs of this internship. I love testing out recipes and sharing them with others. I even taught Maddie and Natalee new ways to cut vegetables.

On Monday morning, we helped at static judging for the Osceola County Fair. Our job was to write comments for the judges. I was never involved in 4-H, so it was a whole new experience for me. I enjoyed listening to the kids share their projects. You could tell they were really passionate and proud of their work, and they had a right to be! After judging, we jumped back into our usual Monday routine. We headed over to the Rock Rapids Demonstration Garden and weeded. Then, later in the day, Natalee and Maddie stayed in Rock Rapids to run PoP Club, while I headed back to Sheldon to do the same at the Farmers’ Market. This week, the kids’ activity was matching plant seeds to their corresponding plant. The vegetables taste-tested were green beans and cucumbers.

The next day, Tuesday, we stuck to our normal routine. We helped weed the Sanborn Donation Garden and even experienced our first harvest of the season, swiss chard and spinach. Harvesting is my favorite part of gardening, and I am happy we were able to experience a little bit of it before we are done working for extension. Later, we had a program at the YMCA in Spencer. This week we taught the kids about different types of gardens.

Osceola County 4-H BBQ

As for Wednesday, we had another kids’ program but this time at Bright Beginnings Daycare in Sibley. Here we taught them about the five food groups and the importance of each one. We also helped out at the Osceola County Fair 4-H BBQ. Our job was to shuck and butter corn. It was fun getting to interact with the community. On Thursday we gave a presentation over PoP Club in Rock Rapids.

Then to wrap up our very eventful week, tomorrow, Friday, we will be at the Sioux County Fair with a kids’ craft. We will be having them make animal masks. I am looking forward to working with the kids here!

Keep following our blogs, as we will only have two more for the summer!

-Alyssa