Welcome to the Land School Farmstead!

A few notes of safety:

1. Dial 911 for emergencies. The telephone is located in the farmhouse, almost straight back when you enter the front door—go through the porch and dining rooms, into the room near the kitchen and you’ll find it. You will find a sheet of paper on the back of the telephone table with directions to the Farmstead (and near the phones at the Homestead) if you need to let the emergency response team know. The name, phone number, address and directions to the nearest hospital are also located on this sheet. You can find another copy of this information sheet in the Long Barn, hanging on the wall/steel cooler to the left as you enter.
2. Fire extinguishers are found in three of the Farmstead buildings: two in the Long Barn, three in the Red Barn and one in the farmhouse where Jen and Andy live. To know the exact locations of the extinguishers, read the individual sections in this document.
3. There are Basic First Aid supplies located in the Long Barn to the left when you enter the first stall door. More extensive supplies are located inside the farmhouse, on the porch on three shelves (including 2 Epi-Pen Jr.s, large trauma bandages, etc. Please find Jen or Andy (or send someone to find them) to let them know what’s going on/to dispense First Aid. If time does not permit waiting for Jen or Andy and/or you are familiar with dispensing First Aid, please do so.
4. Decisions of how to be a participant at the Land School are based on the Four Respects. These respects as they pertain to the Farmstead are outlined below. You may think of more that aren’t in this document; if you do, let the farmers know so we can add them!

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The same rules apply at the Land School as at Lake Country School or any other school regarding respect towards others. That means to use your knowledge of grace and courtesy in your interactions with other students, with animals, and with adults. Thank you.

Chickens

1. RESPECT the chickens. This means no chasing the chickens and no acts or words of aggression towards our feathered friends.
2. There should be no more than two students at a time in the chicken coop. Please talk with Jen or Andy first before entering the coop if you don’t know the coop etiquette. Coop etiquette is as follows:
   1. Please approach the chickens and their coop in a calm manner with quiet voices. This approach will help the chickens stay calm and healthy and you may have more of a chance to get close to one of them.
   2. Two students at a time with an adult (for Elementary and younger) present.
   3. If you are searching for eggs and find some, please leave them in the nest box where you found them, unless you have received instruction from one of the staff for collecting eggs.
   4. Some of the hens who are sitting in nest boxes will peck at you when you lift them up to look for eggs. They can be protective of their eggs. The pecks can be startling and a little painful. To avoid the pain, wear gloves or cover your hand with a shirt or jacket sleeve.
   5. ATTENTION: please keep small children a safe distance away from chickens in nest boxes. These chickens might peck at a face that is too close!
3. Please do not feed the chickens your food at lunchtime. We want to do our best to discourage them from being around us while we eat. They are very assertive about getting food from you so you must protect your meal at all times. Seriously. Do not walk away from your lunch, do not hold your hand out with food and look away—those chickens are sneaky and quick! If there are some items left over from your lunch, once you’re sure of being full, you may feed the chickens near the compost pile or near the bit of brush they like to huddle under.

Sheep, Goat and Llamas

1. RESPECT the sheep, goat and llamas. We ask that you are calm and quiet when you enter the barn. The animals startle easily and will be more likely to trust you if you are respectful of them and calm.
2. Take off any brimmed caps (i.e. baseball caps), or turn them around. For some reason llamas don’t care for the brims.
3. Keep your hands still and preferably behind your back as you approach the llamas. They will be more likely to explore your smells and give you a llama kiss (a big, warm breath) if you don’t startle them.
4. We ask that if you want to visit the llamas, goat, and sheep in their pasture that you have an adult who is comfortable going in there with you. No more than two students (and the adult) in the pasture at one time.
5. If you would like to feed the llamas, they appreciate a clump of tall green grass or hay (from or near hay trough). No grain unless directed by an adult.
6. The sheep and goat are not allowed to have any grain at all – THEY CAN BLOAT AND DIE FROM TOO MUCH GRAIN.
7. In the spring, summer and fall months, we usually have an electric fence up in which the sheep, goat and llamas graze on grass—their pasture. We rotate this fence around every week to two weeks. The fence is about 2 ½ feet high, white with some black, is a plastic mesh, and will give a shock if it’s touched. Please do not touch the electric fence.
8. When the animals are in their pasture with the electric fence it’s important that you not stick your hand over the electric fence to feed them or put your nose out for the llamas to sniff you. The animals think that the electric fence is much taller than it actually is—they could all jump over those relatively short fences if they wanted. Because they get a shock if they get too close to the fence, they stay away from the fence. If you attempt to feed them, the effect of the fence that keeps them contained will diminish and the animals might escape.

Bella, the Goat

1. You will need a presentation on how to open and securely close the pen door—Bella will try to get out if you open the door. If Jen or Andy is available and you want to take Bella outside, a presentation on haltering Bella may be given. Students who are younger than Junior High age or have limited experience handling Bella need to have an adult supervising.
2. If you take Bella out for a walk or to sit with her as she plays and grazes outside, you are responsible for keeping track of her and keeping her safe.
3. Please do not allow Bella to go to the Chicken Coop, as she may overeat grain and develop a condition called “bloat” which can be fatal.

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The Red Barn

The Red Barn is home to our sheep, goat and llamas. They live in the space at the west end of the Barn, as well as in their pasture areas outdoors. They drink water from buckets in this indoor space and they eat hay from a trough. Some grain is provided to the llamas, however; this is a scheduled occurrence. None of the Barn animals are provided with unlimited grain since grain can be very hard on their digestive (three stomachs!) systems.

The hay they are fed is located upstairs, along with straw and other bedding material. The straw and hay bales are stacked neatly upstairs and need to stay that way to preserve the bales.

We ask that the bales and piles of hay/straw are left alone. There are chairs in the Long Barn that can be used to sit on up there, or there are brooms located upstairs to be used to clear a clean space to sit.

There are three fire extinguishers located in the Red Barn: two upstairs, located at both entries, on the railing as you get to the top of the stairs, and the third is at the bottom of the stairs on the east end of the barn (where the main entrance is).

The Fire Circle

What a wonderful place to gather, to eat lunch, to write, to tell stories.

1.   Please RESPECT the ring of stones in the middle of the fire circle. Stay on the outside of these stones, even if there is no fire burning.

2.   The bell located near the Fire Circle is to be rung only to gather groups to the Fire Circle. This could be to gather for a meal, it could be to gather for an emergency. If you hear the bell ringing, you must finish up what you’re doing and check in. In some cases it may be rung to alert the group of an activity change.

The Long Barn

The Long Barn encompasses many uses: it’s a kitchen with a stove, a refrigerator, running hot and cold water in the warm seasons, and an assortment of plates, silverware, cups and cooking pans and utensils. The Long Barn is also the Packing Shed for the CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) in the summer and fall months, including a processing table, storage for harvest bins and tools, and a walk-in cooler and an upright cooler—outside there are vegetable processing sinks (not to be used for washing anything but food). The Long Barn also serves as a wood working shop with a tool bench, various electric-powered equipment, safety gear, and a woodworking table. In the future we hope to insulate a portion of the Long Barn to make it an all-season space in which to do wood working and perhaps wool working. There are also extra layers of clothing and boots available in bins.

Basic First Aid supplies are located in the cabinets to the left when you enter the Long Barn, in the kitchen area. Two fire extinguishers may be found at either end of the Long Barn—one above the kitchen sink and one mounted to the metal wall at the south end of the Long Barn open space (also part of the Long Barn is the Garden Shed to the south, though this is not where the fire extinguisher is).

1. You may wash you hands with warm soapy water in the Long Barn. Cloth towels are located in the clear bin below the table in the center of the kitchen (unless one is already out.)
2. There is an electric stove to use. Please be sure the burners are all the way off after every use. The north stove is the stove that is always ready for use.
3. Please clean up after yourself when you’ve finished using the Long Barn space.
4. Please note that for sanitary reasons there are sponges for cleaning dishes (in the rectangular Tupperware container) and rags for cleaning surfaces (in the same clear bin as hand towels). There are lots of animals who use this space and defecate regularly on the surfaces as part of their living in this environment.

The Composting Outhouse

1. Please close both of the lids when you’re done going to the bathroom. You’ll help keep the critters out of the holes.
2. Drop all paper into the hole, but please no tampon applicators or pads.
3. Please throw diapers away in the Long Barn garbage.
4. Notify Andy or Jen if the light in the Outhouse doesn’t come on (first make sure that you open the door wide enough and then close it all the way—this should trip the automatic light switch to on).
5. When you are done, please lock the outhouse doors with the latches on the outside.

The Bunkhouse

1. Please remove shoes upon entering the bunkhouse. There is a place for your shoes to the left as you enter.
2. Please deposit all trash in the garbage. Please take out the trash when your visit is finished. There is a dumpster across the street from the bunkhouse.
3. Please turn the heat and lights off before you leave. Make sure both doors are shut securely, but not locked (we don’t have a key for it.)
4. Don’t place anything near or on the heaters, including luggage. This is a fire hazard.
5. Please do a final check and clean up of the bunkhouse after all your personal items are moved out of there. Please vacuum.
6. A $15 overnight fee is suggested—please give to Andy or Jen (written to Lake Country School).

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