The Flower is a.....

Yellow Goat's-beard (tragopogon dubius).

See this page.

I got a look at the flowers today and yesterday. The reason I hadn't seen the flowers before, was that they close so early in the day. They looked like some kind of alien dandelion. Or a dandelion that crossed with...I don't know...some kind of weird botanical specimen, anyway.

Fortunately, I got a lead from a field guide, and found the answer on the Internet.

Never seen one before, but what we have is a CHAMPION specimen of trapogon dubius -- yellow goatsbeard.

And, the important thing...it's edible.

:-)

What IS this?

I know what this looks like.

Here is a bud. Nearly 2.5 inches long.

Here is the seed head. Almost 5 inches wide.

Here is the finder of the specimen.
Surely -- this CAN'T be a dandelion. But, what is it?

I'm going over to the patch to take another look today. In the meantime, suggestions are welcome. :-)

ADDENDUM:
Yellow Goat's-beard (tragopogon dubius).

See this page.

I got a look at the flowers today and yesterday. The reason I hadn't seen the flowers before, was that they close so early in the day. They looked like some kind of alien dandelion. Or a dandelion that crossed with...I don't know...some kind of weird botanical specimen, anyway.

Fortunately, I got a lead from a field guide, and found the answer on the Internet.

Never seen one before, but what we have is a champion specimen of trapogon dubius -- yellow goatsbeard.

And, the important thing...it's edible.

:-)

Last Day at the Farm

The school year has drawn to an end, and so Rose and Joman are finished for now at the Farm program. Here are a few pictures of their last day.

Hand-batiked and dyed silk

The marionette show...made by hand, by all the children.

Notice the Waldorf construction of the faces and bodies.

The marionettes were dyed, sewn, stuffed, shaped, covered and felted. A whole lot of work went into these little masterpieces.

The show also had special effects. Hard to capture on camera though. :-)

Some of the children made bread in the clay bread-oven this year. It is hard to tell from the picture, but the oven has a dragon wrapped around it. The smoke comes from the dragon's mouth at the top of the oven.

A new skill for the children this year -- mosaics, representing flowers and herbs found on the farm. Just waiting for grout.

Wetland tours.

A tepee which was constructed by the younger children. The lashings were made from bark they stripped from the poles.

Calendula ointment made from home-grown honey and calendula flowers.

A book produced by all the children, telling the story of how they made the calendula ointment.

I wish I could go to a program like this every week. :-)