CONTENTS:
1) Featured Article: Celebrate Ag Day March 20
2) Kids Korner: Gardening
3) FYI: How to Grow Vegetables in Containers
4) Links: Gardening and Agriculture
5) Homeschooling Hodge Podge: Multi-level Teaching
6) Q&A
7) Current Events: March 14 through April 11, 2004

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1) Featured Article written by Pam Ferry
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Celebrate Ag Day March 20
(03/11/2004)

~March 20 marks the first day of spring and National Ag Day.
The National Agriculture Day program believes that every American should understand how food and fiber products are produced and should value the essential role of agriculture in maintaining a strong economy. National Agriculture Day focuses on educating Americans about the industry, so they may also acknowledge and consider career opportunities in the agriculture, food and fiber industry.

~Agriculture is Part of Your Life
Products we use in our everyday lives come from plant and animal byproducts produced by America's farmers and ranchers:
• Health care: Pharmaceuticals, surgical sutures, ointments, latex gloves, x-ray film, gelatin for capsules and heart valves.
• Construction: Lumber, paints, brushes, tar paper, dry wall and tool handles.
• Transportation: Fuel, lubricants, antifreeze, tires and upholstery.
• Manufacturing: Adhesives, solvents and detergents.
• Printing: Paper, ink and film.
• Personal Care Products: Shampoo, cosmetics, lotions, finger nail polish and toothpaste.
• Education: Crayons, textbooks, chalk, desks, pencils and paper.
• Sports: Uniforms, baseball bats, leather equipment and shoes.

~5 Servings of Fruits & Vegetables A Day
• Onions contain a mild antibiotic that fights infections, soothes burns, tames bee stings and relieves the itch of athletes foot.
• Archeologists have found evidence that humans have enjoyed eating apples since 6500 B.C. Each of us eats more than 19 pounds of apples annually.
• Grapes are one of the oldest cultivated fruits. They have been around for more than 8,000 years.
• Americans eat about 125 pounds of potatoes a year, about half from fresh potatoes and half in processed foods.

~Agriculture Is a Science...
What picture comes to your mind when you think of agriculture? Do you see some guy in overalls plowing the dirt with an old tractor, or women picking corn in a field? Maybe what you should picture is a scientist using a satellite-linked computer program to examine global climate changes or a researcher developing a new product that can absorb 1,600 times its own weight in water.

Agriculture today has gone high-tech. It had to, because keeping U.S. agriculture productive requires research that is every bit as complex as the space program. As a matter of fact, many agricultural research scientists work with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on a regular basis. They use satellites to examine fields for crop damage, to map soil conditions, and to look for changes in the environment that could affect farming--or be caused by farming.

Agricultural scientists may be microbiologists, chemists, veterinarians, engineers, plant pathologists, nutritionists or many other specialties. What they all have in common is that they are working out how to grow crops, raise livestock, produce renewable raw materials for industry and help preserve our environment.

Don't let all the dirt make you think that agriculture isn't a science.

~Science Projects in Agriculture
You don't have to live on a farm or even have a garden to do an agricultural science project. You just have to be interested in what goes into growing plants and animals or how this affects the world around you.
So when your teacher asks you to come up with a science project for class or as part of a science fair, think agriculture. It isn't a separate category in most science fairs, but ag science is part of other fair categories, including biochemistry, botany, environmental sciences, medicine and heal.

~Potassium
Potassium can help crops withstand stress conditions - drought and cool soils, flooding, insects, and diseases. When a plant is hungry for K, there are definite signs. For example, some fruit tree leaves turn yellowish and curl; tomatoes have stunted growth, and older leaves turn grey-green; potatoes have leaves that are small and crinkled.

Potassium is the standability nutrient. It helps the plant's posture. It can also be referred to as the "straw" nutrient, helping the plant drink.

Put a flower with long stem (carnation) in water containing food coloring. The plant will soon show signs of the dye in the flower petals.
You will need: Water, Straw, Food coloring, White flower (carnation or daisy).

Resources: http://www.agclassroom.org/kids/index2.htm | http://www.oda.state.ok.us/forestry-educationhome.htm
Editor's Note: Pam Ferry's originally submitted article, in Word format, can be found in the Files section of the Yahoo! group.

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2) Kids Korner written by Rashida Asante-Eccleston
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Gardening
(03/10/2004)

Gardening can be a fun activity. It can also be delicious and rewarding. There are many types of seeds you can plant. Flowers make great gifts and edible plants can make great meals.

My grandfather knows someone named Dennis who runs the 4-H club. He has a HUGE garden. He plants everything in it: from peppermint leaves to gourds. He gave me some peppermint leaves to take home. I used it as an air freshener. It smelled really good! I don't remember it doing much to the air though. Dennis made an instrument from a dried gourd and gave it to me to take home. You see, plants really do make great gifts!

Gardening can also be a family activity. You could choose a spot of land, buy some seeds, and start planting. With small children you should use big seeds, which are easier to handle. A good choice for flowers would be ones that are bright and don't have thorns. Choose a sunny spot to plant in. You might want to give children their own little spot of land to take care of. That way they have their own spot they are responsible for and can be proud of when their plants grow. If you are a teacher you could start a garden in your school. You could also spread the word about gardening programs. Gardening is a fun, delicious, and rewarding activity so start planting today!

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3) FYI submitted by Diana (borrowed from Magic Gardeners group site)
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How to Grow Vegetables in Containers
(02/25/2004)

If you don't have room for a garden, or only want to grow a few vegetables, planting in containers is the best way to go. Almost any vegetable can grow in a container and with a little care can produce abundantly. Here's how to get started.

It's all in the pot. When selecting a container, remember that bigger is better as far as ease of maintenance and size of harvest. Half whiskey or wine barrels or similar-sized pseudo terra-cotta containers are large enough to accommodate vegetables such as large tomatoes, eggplant, and squash, with room to spare for companion plantings of smaller choices such as carrots and lettuce. Five-gallon containers can hold dwarf tomatoes, peppers, beans, and many small leafy greens. A window box is even large enough to grow radishes and arugula.

And in the soil. For proper drainage, containers need to have holes in the bottom. Also, use only sterilized potting soil. Garden soil may contain diseases and may not be well drained. Because you're planting in such a small space, you'll have to be very conscious of watering and fertilizing regularly. Water with drip irrigation or by hand whenever the soil is dry 4 to 6 inches deep. Fertilize every two weeks with a water-soluble fertilizer for vegetables, or add controlled-release fertilizer at planting time, supplemented with a water-soluble fertilizer when needed. For large containers, mulching with straw or bark conserves moisture.

Best plant combinations. Containers allow you to plant combinations that are both edible and attractive. For example, try creating a salad container with different colors of leaf lettuce, a bush cucumber, a dwarf patio-type tomato, and even herbs such as parsley. How about a tomato sauce barrel with a tomato plant in the center, herbs such as oregano and basil on the sides, and onions interplanted between the herbs? Or a root crop roundup container with beets, carrots, radishes, onions, and parsnips in a foot-deep container?

Tools: Containers of various sizes, sterilized potting soil, shovel, trowel, drip or hose irrigation, fertilizer.

Tips:
~ Choose bush varieties of large vegetables such as squash.
~ Production may be less than with full-sized kinds, but plants will be much easier to care for.
~ To save space, consider growing some plants up. Choose pole beans over bush beans, and trellis them along the back of a container. This leaves space in front to plant other vegetables.

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4) Gardening/Agriculture Links

Farmer's Almanac - http://www.farmersalmanac.com/gardening/gardening.html
Garden Time Online - http://www.gardentimeonline.com/Oklahoma.html
Gardening By the Yard with Paul James, The Gardner Guy - http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/shows_gby/0,,HGTV_3842,00.html
Oklahoma Gardening - http://www.oklahomagardening.okstate.edu/
Tulsa Master Gardeners - http://www.tulsamastergardeners.org/oldindex.shtml

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5) Homeschooling Hodge Podge written by Natalie Hodges
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Multi-level Teaching
(03/09/2004)

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with a very nice lady from Colorado. When she discovered I was a homeschooler, she asked, "How much time do you spend on homeschool?" I replied, "Pretty much all the time." She looked a little perplexed at first but recovered and commented that her daughter-in-law was very busy from 8 am to 2 pm, Monday through Friday with her little one. How did I manage with three or four?

When I started this journey twelve years ago, I was just trying to meet the specific needs of my son. But as I experienced the difference it made in my son and our relationship as well as our family dynamics, I developed a very low tolerance for some of the shenanigans the public schools can pull. Cheyenne didn't even get half way through Kindergarten before I brought her home. By the time my youngest two came along, I never even considered putting them into public school. Now, I homeschool my seven, ten and sixteen year olds. My twenty and twenty-three year olds are on their own, thank goodness.

I must admit that I daydream about all the wonderful things I could do with my child if I only had one that are simply not feasible for me with three. There is only so much money, time and me to go around. I have, however, found that teaching several children at different levels is not only doable but can actually be a lot of fun. For example, going to the zoo with a seven year old is a true joy. But consider that soon, I will be going to the zoo with my nineteen year old who is in docent training and plans to be a zoologist and his love of everything about the zoo is contagious. I will also be going with my sixteen year old who will probably be scanning the crowd for boys as much as the other "wild life", my nine year old who is currently fascinated with drawing animals and my seven year old who is fascinated with everything. Seeing things through her eyes is always a beautiful thing.

My point is that much of my teaching is on the same subject at different levels. I don't use textbooks much so it is pretty simple to find books at the library at many learning levels. Recently, we studied the life of Martin Luther King Jr and we found picture books, movies and children's stories as well as biographies and adult literature about him. We each came away from the movie "Selma, Lord Selma" with a different perspective and level of understanding. We all cried.

One thing I've learned about myself over the years is that I do need to have everyone on the same general subject as much as possible. It is much easier for me to shift from regrouping to negative numbers and then algebra within a ten minute span than to go from, say, reptiles to regrouping to the causes of World War I. Otherwise, I may end up a whimpering mass on the floor mumbling something like, "Woodrow Wilson divided alligators by x squared...?"

Anyway, I can't wait to see Arun Ghandi speak so I can talk about peace with Harmoni and Gini and Cheyenne and Cameron. I know I will learn just as much as I will teach.

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6) Q&A: This section is just born in March 2004, so there are no Answers to publish yet.

Next Month's Question: How and when do you begin to teach memorizing math facts?

PLEASE SEND YOUR RESPONSE to HS-SCENE-newsed @ sbcglobal.net with "Q+A" in the subject line and indicate the question/topic to which you are responding. To assure your response is included in the next issue, please respond by the 2nd Friday of the upcoming month. Also, feel free to submit a homeschooling question you'd like answered by our readers! (If you have a "Q" or an "A", you may remain anonymous!)

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7) Current Events

Sunday, March 14, 2-4 PM - SCENE Family Game Gathering @ Hardesty Regional Library, 8316 E. 93rd St., Tulsa. Bring the family and some games! Recurs the 2nd Sunday of each month. *NOTE: No Family Game Day in April due to the Easter holiday.*

Wednesday, March 17, 7 PM - First Annual PeopleFest 2004, $5 ea. (children 12 & under are Free), Greenwood Cultural Center, 322 N. Greenwood Ave., Tulsa. Family-friendly event featuring a variety of performing artists; event proceeds benefit disadvantaged Tulsa youth and the Serena Roper People to People Student Ambassador Fund. For more info, contact Shirley Roper (s_roper @ cox.net), or see message http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HS-SCENE/message/1559.

Saturday, March 20, 2-4 PM - SCENE Monthly Meeting @ All Souls Unitarian Church "President's Room", 2952 S. Peoria, Tulsa. Recurs the 3rd Saturday of each month. *NOTE: This is our first meeting at the new place!*

Sunday, March 28, 2-4 PM - SCENE Bowling @ Mickey's Bowling, $7/person, Eastland Mall (21st & 145th), Tulsa. Recurs the last Sunday of each month until through the end of April 2004.

Sunday, March 28, 7 PM - "Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion" screening by Circle Cinema Foundation, $5 ea. (group rate), AMC Theater (41st & Yale), Tulsa. Group rate organized by Shirley Roper (s_roper @ cox.net). Confirm with Shirley, meet in front of theater at 6:45 PM. This documentary is not for young children; see film information at http://www.cryofthesnowlion.com.

Sunday, April 4, 3-6 PM - Variety show @ Cain's Ballroom, 423 N. Main, Tulsa, $8 @ the door, *SCENE members special: advance tickets $5 ($2 for 12 & under)*. All ages show featuring Desert Wind Belly Dance, some of Tulsa's finest musical guests The Vagabonds (Gareth Suarez's band), Milk Truck, and Cheyenne (Cheyenne Hodges' band), and lots of laughs by Flam improv comedy. Event proceeds help cover Serena Roper's expenses as a People to People Student Ambassador to Australia (in June). Contact Shirley Roper for advance tickets (s_roper @ cox.net or 438-1166). Special thanks to Cain's for their phenomenal generosity in helping make this happen!

Check out the Yahoo! group calendar @ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HS-SCENE/cal

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This newsletter is available in text format in the Files section of the HS-SCENE Yahoo! group.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HS-SCENE/files/Newsletters/
Links provided in this newsletter are archived in the Links section of the HS-SCENE Yahoo! group.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HS-SCENE/links
(MEMBERS: You may add your links to share here, too!)
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Articles and information submitted by members of Oklahoma Homeschool S.C.E.N.E. ~ A Sharing Community of Eclectic Natural Educators. www.homeschoolscene.org | http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HS-SCENE