Carlton Farms Junior Division

For the last couple of months the kids have taken a little more ownership of farm life. It started on a day that their imagination was particularly vivid. We have a small thicket of pine trees right behind the house. It's clear under those trees, and the ground is covered with pine straw. They raked out squares and built an imaginary house. There were gaps in the pine straw borders (doors), and all the squares connected (rooms of the imaginary house). They were pretending to be a pioneer era family. Of course every pioneer family need some livestock. They caught a few of our chickens that had gotten out of the chicken pasture, and were living up near our house. Jersey had been begging to adopt a baby orphaned piglet that we had. I let her take care of it, so now that little pig is part of their homestead. They soon learned of our egg shortage during this season and took that opportunity to sell me their eggs. The evening of the first egg sell transaction, I learned that we have a new division. They call themselves the Carlton Farms Junior Division. I love that they are exploring their own interest in agriculture and entrepreneurship. I just don't think we can teach those things from a book. However, you can bet I will foster, promote, and enable this activity as much as possible. This weekend I told them I would donate some bees to the Junior Division if they would paint the hives and get them ready. They did great job painting. Now I guess I need to order a kids size bee suit. Stay tuned for more exciting developments from the Carlton Farms Junior Division.