Day 17 by Paolo

Today we started the day with a breakfast of biscuits and gravy, eggs, and orange juice. Then Tom hooked the buggy to the horses and we went on a buggy ride to the Amish general store where there was a bunch of strange foods and really good ginger ale.

Afterwards we went to see the Amish woodworker who supplies the community with bed frames, chairs, and cabinets. Then we went back to Tom and Sandy’s house and drove to Coweeta heritage center which is a place where they have chickens and goats and they’re off the grid and they get all their electricity from a hydro electric dam that’s connected to a small trout pond. The man also has a small sawmill which he sells the lumber that he makes.

Day 16 by Anjali

Today we all woke up before the sun and packed up our stuff and ate all before 8am. Then we headed down to Carolina Friends School (CFS) to meet Tommy Johnson and his class. We arrived where we were introduced to the entire school. We talked about AMS then presented our power point presentation which was all about our field trip. We finished with about 15 minutes left of “class” so we headed out to the garden and pulled up weeds and talked with the students of CFS.

During break/snack time we got to tour some of the CFS campus. Then we went back and talked about the same thing to another group of middle schoolers. At first we were asked what were some of things we like about AMS, so we said some things like chores, work projects, boarding house life. Then we did our presentation. Another 15 minutes left, more weeding and throwing worms at teenage girls (or at least watching CFS boys throwing worms at grossed out teen girls). After we said “farvel” (goodbye in Dainish) to our new friends and got on the road. We went grocery shopping and then stopped to eat lunch in a lovely rest area where we made a classy belt for Poalo out of a orange bag!. Then we drove a while blasting Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and we eventually arrived at the driveway of a Amish couple. Across the street lived a bunch of unhappy CAFO chickens that belonged to Tyson. We got out stretching our legs and then jumped into WORK PROJECTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! We planted 6 rows of potatoes, 3 ½ rows of Yukon Gold and 2 ½ of Red Pontiac and then working to haul wood from one pile to another.

Then we ate delicious snack of popcorn and tea. After that more work projects which consisted of shelling corn using a corn sheller! SO MUCH FUN who knew a bunch of children could have such an amazing time doing work!!!

All done working, now chill ‘til dinner! Dinner was mashed potatoes, turkey, meatloaf, veggies, and breads of different sorts. Chores, then card games!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well sleep tight

Day 15 by Anna

Today after a rude awakening involving a slide whistle, a guitar, and a knight helmet we had a delicious breakfast. Then we weeded Ann’s garden and played with worms and snails. After an hour and a half when it actually looked like a garden, we stopped for lunch. Because this is day 15 everyone is thoroughly weary of the peanut butter tortillas that are AMS field trip lunches. Luckily for the non vegetarians among us there was pepperoni generously sent by Margot which, I am told, made the meal much more bearable.

After lunch we drove 15 minutes to Fickle Creek Farm where Ben showed us around. Fickle Creek uses animals to prepare the soil for market gardens. First they let their goats, sheep and cows graze and eat all the saplings so the forest becomes more pasture like. Then they put pigs on to root up all the big rocks and roots in the ground. Then they put the chickens on to peck up bugs and fertilize the soil.

They showed us a pasture that had chickens on it last year and you could see where the eggmobile had been because the grass was tall and really green.

They had egg laying chickens living in the eggmobiles which produced about 1,000 eggs a day.

There broiler chickens, unlike the ones we raised at school, could walk around and be chickens as well as grow big enough to be profitable. We also got to see the pigs who looked much, much happier the CAFO pigs. They were rolling around in the mud and reminded Michelle of her great love for swine.

Ben also told us about agro forestry which means interspersing trees and animals throughout the farm. This benefits the animals with shade and wind blocks and the soil with bio diversity and fallen leaves for compost. Before we left we bought some meat and eggs some of which went to tonight’s delicious but vegetable free dinner.

Day 14 by Tristan

So.... get up, get dressed, prepare, eat, leave. Thats the schedule for this morning. We drove for 7 hours today. Not quite as bad as 9 (longest driving day, blehh). Then we ended up at former student's house, Caleb Cole. It was a warm, sunny day. Some of us played baseball, others threw frisbees, and some just sat down and talked. We had yummy pizza, hotdogs, salad, cookie, and rice for dinner. Yumm. Afterwards we pretty much just chilled. We also played Bachi ball! Then when it got dark. FIRE! It was warm. Welp thats about all for the 14^th. On to Fickle Creek Farm! Adios Amigos.

Day 13 by Kai

Today was pretty awesome. We woke up to an amazing breakfast then we went to Tybee Island to swim. I was so bummed to feel the air when I stepped off the bus. It was cold but some of us got in the water anyway. After our kill the man with the ball session and swim extravaganza we went out to lunch. After arguing for a while we decided to eat lunch and it was pretty awesome I liked the food and I think some other people did too but it wasn’t amazing. We took a tour of the light house which was 160 feet tall. It was amazing. After our tour we went back to the beach and chilled for 45 minutes then headed home for a relaxing afternoon. We ate chicken and Coos Coos then had strawberry shortcake for dessert. Then we cleaned up. Pretty great day.

Day 12 by Ariel

The AMS buses have so much character. We all know before every trip something will go wrong with one of them and right as you are about to leave and waving goodbye to everyone….the bus will mutter a pathetic whirring similar to a vacuum that sucked up a baby. We on the other hand rolled out according to plan but our bus planned something a little different for us. After we had broken down camp, packed up everything and gotten our sweet little bum ruckuses all on the bus, we heard the unpromising whir of you’re not going anywhere. A few of us started trickling out having doubts we would even get to go to Savannah, and some of us stayed on the bus hoping that our crossed fingers, arms, legs, and feet would miraculously make us move.

We decided that turning it on and keeping it on would do the trick. Just as we were about to give up yet again the gods were in our favor and the sucked up baby pathetically whirred no longer. We piled back in and were left in the awkward position of telling the ranger we didn’t need help anymore; which had been fetched for us half an hour earlier. Anyway, an adventure it was and we arrived in Savannah all of us content because of our five hour nap. Tybee Island tomorrow. And here is some more parent reassurance… We won’t gash our feet with shells, we won’t fall off the lighthouse, we won’t get eaten by sharks, and we PROMISE to where sunscreen.

Day 11 by Adalaya

This morning we went to White Oak Pastures, which is a sustainable farm in southern Georgia. They raise cows, sheep, chickens (for meat and eggs), turkeys, and vegetables. The Harris family has been running this farm for 5 generations. Unlike many factories that slaughter 500,000 chickens per day and 6000 cows a day, White Oak only kills 500 chickens and 30 cows a day. The reason for that is White Oak uses the most humane practices they can. They graze their 700 cows over 1000 acres of pasture and use Temple Grandin’s methods for slaughtering their animals. You can buy their meat online or at Whole Foods stores.

After lunch we helped plant trees in the campground for an hour.

When we finished we had fun running up the 81 stairs to get to the top of the mound as fast as we could. For dinner we made delicious burgers that we got from White Oak Pastures.