Chickens and Cold Frames

January 21, 2012 was a great day for the Agriscience Component!  If you've read Kerry's blog, you know that each week Theresa, our wonderful volunteer, has brought chicks that were born on Thanksgiving for the teens to see as they grow and get used to handling.  Four of the hens will live here at the Science Center this summer.  The Agriscience teens will take care of them and we will have fresh eggs!

This past Saturday, Theresa also brought Zeus, the rooster, and Helen, the hen, who are the chicks' parents.  The teens quickly learned why we can't keep roosters in the city.  We heard cock-a-doodle-dooing throughout the Taylor building all day!!  Check out Kerry's blog for great pics of the teens with the chicks, Zeus and Helen.

In addition to chickens, we had Eric Schwarz, the Sustainability Coordinator for Habitat for Humanity Saint Louis.  In December, Kerry and I attended a workshop at the Habitat ReStore on how to build cold frames (mini-greenhouses that will extend our growing season on Science Corner) using old windows and wood frames. Eric taught the workshop and we told him about our program.  He offered to come and help us build cold frames with the teens!

Eric and the teens finished one cold frame on Saturday and he is coming back on February 4th to help us again (see Kerry's blog for pics). This is a blessing because my engineering skills are quite limited. The cold frames will allow us to start planting on Science Corner as early as the end of February, so between extending the growing season and the addition of chickens and eggs, we are looking forward to an exciting spring and summer on Science Corner!