/

Franklin County kids participate in Maine 4-H Days

3 mins read
The Agri Science Crew at the Hydroponics workshop.

WINDSOR – Maine 4-H Days is an annual event, sponsored by the Maine 4-H Foundation, with animal and enrichment workshops for all age groups enrolled in the 4-H program. This year the event was held in July at the Windsor Fairgrounds. Some of the Enrichment workshops offered were; How to Make Sushi, Finding Yourself in the Newspaper (an art workshop), Engineering and a Hydroponics workshop. This event is also a qualifier for the Eastern States Exposition Dairy Team. Franklin County 4-H members from the Doe-C-Doe Dairy Goat Club attended the event, presenting an enrichment workshop as well as competing for a spot on the Dairy Team.

The Hydroponics Workshop was presented by most of the 4-H members who attended the Agri-Science Summit in January; Faith Dexter, Andrew Dexter, Caleb Mulcahy, (Doe-C-Doe members) and Cassandra McAllister (Oxford County). The idea for this workshop was the result of their experience at the Summit where they were challenged to create an Action Plan. The Plan had to address a need in their community using the information presented at the Summit. They recognized the need to educate their peers on the importance of knowing how to grow your own food supply with limited space.

Participants in the workshop learned the valuable information on how to grow plants without soil. As part of the workshop, participants created a hydroponic bucket complete with a seed. They were able to choose from Chard or Lettuce. The supplies for the workshop were part of a grant from the Maine 4-H Foundation.

The ESE Dairy Team makes grilled cheese sandwiches. Bradley Smith and Susannah Huettner won the challenge.

The ESE Dairy Team includes a team for the Dairy Grilled Cheese Challenge. Teams were given 15 minutes to create the best grilled cheese sandwich. Bradley Smith (Doe-C-Doe member) and Susannah Huettner (Piscataquis County) were the Challenge Winners with their entry using bacon, egg and cheese bread. They also took Best in Show and both earned a spot on the ESE Dairy Team.

The University of Maine Cooperative Extension has supported UMaine’s land and sea grant public education role by conducting community-driven, research-based programs in every Maine county. UMaine Extension helps support, sustain and grow the food-based economy. It is the only entity in our state that touches every aspect of the Maine Food System, where policy, research, production, processing, commerce, nutrition, and food security and safety are integral and interrelated. UMaine Extension also conducts the most successful out-of-school youth educational program in Maine through 4-H.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

3 Comments

  1. I am always happy to see young folks doing something useful and not staring at a screen. These kids will succeed!

  2. Congratulations!!! Bradley and Susannah; your sandwich was incredible and I must say…..LOVE, LOVE LOVE the hats :-)

    Great job Cassandra, Faith, Andrew and Caleb on your presentation. Interesting topic and the buckets with the seeds were a nice touch.

    So very proud of each of you!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.