BlMincwnr Farming, Saturday, Saptambar 5, 1992
City Teacher Enthusiastic
About Agricultural Materials
City teacher Deborah Marko said her goal Is to teach students about the importance
of agriculture. She is grateful to the farmers of Lancaster County and to the Pennsyl
vania Foundation for Better Living for providing information and materials such as a
compost jar and a hydroponic garden, which she will use to teach agricultural con
cepts to her fourth grade students.
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.)
A fourth grade classroom in
inner-city Lancaster is an unlikely
place to learn about farming, but if
fourth grade teacher Deborah
Marko has her way, her students
will learn plenty about agriculture.
As Marko arranges a compost
jar and a hydroponic garden, she
bubbles with enthusiasm for the
ideas she received from the teach
ers’ workshop sponsored by the
Pennsylvania Foundation for Bet
ter Living.
“Wait until the kids see this,”
she said. “This compost jar makes
it so easy to understand how com
posting works.”
Marko was one of 45 Pennsylva
nia teachers chosen to attend the
first workshop sponsored by the
Foundation. Its purpose is to
instruct teachers on the basic facts
of agriculture and provide class
room ideas that will help students
understand the impact agriculture
has on the world today.
Marko heard about the work
shop through Jane Eshelman, the
director of the Ag in the Classroom
program in Lancaster County.
“Mrs. Eshelman and her hus
band, a potato farmer, have taught
my students and me a lot about
agriculture during the six years that
they have visited the classroom,”
Marko said.
Through visits to the farm,
Marko was encouraged to grow
plants in the classroom to teach her
students how to identify fruits and
vegetables. She taught her students
to use grocery store advertisements
to plan meals using only products
grown in Pennsylvania.
Eshelman convinced the Lan
caster County Farmer’s Associa
tion to sponsor Marko at the four
day workshop held at Penn State.
Marko was especially delighted
with the welcoming speech by Ellis
Griffith, a farmer and a Dale Car
negie instructor.
“He immediately grabbed my
attention because he wore bib over
alls and carried a corncob pipe,
Marko said. “I often dress in cos
tumes to capture the attention of
my students so I knew what he was
doing. The purpose of his speech
was to destroy any preconceived
notions that we harbored about
farmers.”
Marko said that those ideas were
also squelched in her classroom
when Mr. and Mrs. Eshelman vis
ited to tell the students about potato
farming.
“One of my students remarked,
‘They don’t look like farmers.’ The
Eshelmans are always impeccably
dressed and appear to be business
people, which is just one of the
roles that today’s farmer has to ful
fill,” Marko said.
Each session at the workshop,
provided handouts or materials
that can be used for classroom
instruction. These included a bead
sprout kit, a session on hydropon
ics taught them how to assemble a
soiless garden, a miniature com
post pile is created in a glass jar so
that students can watch waste
return to useful form.
“In a session on milk, we made
cheese and butter. Of course, we
sampled the results of our efforts,”
Marko said.
Field trips also provided a learn
ing source. The workshop included
trips to Shaver’s Creek Ecological
Center for a guided discovery walk
and an exhibit of conservation pro
jects. At a mushroom facility,
Ask The Master
Is it alright to use a large pot
for boiling water canning if I use
a rack.
Yes, if the diameter does not
exceed 13 inches and its height
permits adding water to at least 1
inch above the jar tops. The rack
should be slotted or perforated to
allow circulation.
Why did I lose so much liquid
in my green beans when I pres
sure canned them?
Chances are instead of “hot
packing” them by boiling them for
5 minutes before potting them in a
jar and processing them, you “raw
packed” them. Hot packing most
foods is an advantage because it
removes much of the oxygen, it
allows you to put in a larger quan
tity, the color retention is better
over the course of the year, they
have a longer shelf life and it
keeps foods from floating to top,
particularly fruits like peaches.
Another way to lose liquid is by
teachers saw how fungi grow. At
the Landscape Management
Research Center, teachers learned
about the varieties of turf, which is
one of the biggest industries in the
state. Tours of the Penn State
Creamery and a grocery store
enabled them to see how products
are marketed.
“Wednesday evening was a 1
memorable buffet dinner at the Nit- •
tany Lion Inn, where all the items >
on the buffet table wdre agricultur
al products of the Keystone state.
No one could dispute the fact that
Pennsylvania farmers produce the
best food found anywhere!” Marko
said.
Now that the workshop is over,
Marko said, her job is only begin
ning. “Passing on the knowledge of
agriculture and its importance in
Pennsylvania as well as the whole
nation is my goal in the classroom.
Thanks to the Farmers Association
of Lancaster County and to the
Pennsylvania Foundation for Bet
ter Living, 1 will be better prepared
to do so.”
For more information on the Ag
in the Classroom program or other
Pennsylvania Foundation for Bet
ter Living activities, call executive
director Beth More at Chambers
burg (717) 375-2639.
Food Preserver
rapidly cooling down the canner,
which is not recommended for a
number of other safety reasons.
I’m glad to hear you pressure
canned them since that is the only
safe canning method for low-acid
vegetables.
My peaches always float to
the top. What am I doing
wrong?
Chances are you put them in the
jars raw and the trapped oxygen
makes them float. Hot packing
them by bringing the syrup to a
boil over the peaches will elmi
nate that problem. Using heavy
syrups may also increase the ten
dency for fruit to float Overtight
ening the bands can contribute to
floating as well.
The Master Food Preservers are
trained volunteers for Penn State
Cooperative Extension in
Cambria County and can be reach
ed by calling (814)472-7986.
See your nearest
f\EW HOLLAIND
Dealer for Dependable
Equipment and
Dependable Service:
PENNSYLVANIA
Annvllle, PA
BHM Farm
Equipment, Inc.
RDI, Rte. 934
717-867-2211
Carlisle, PA
R&W Equipment Co.
35 East Willow Street
717-243-2686
Davldsburg, PA
George N. Gross, Inc.
R.D. 2, Dover, PA
717-292-1673
Elizabethtown, PA
Messick Farm
Equipment, Inc.
Rt. 283 • Rheem's Exit
717-367-1319
Gettysburg, PA
Yingling Implements,
Inc.
3291 Taneytown Rd.
717-359-4848
Halifax, PA
Sweigard Bros.
R.O. 3, Box 13
717-896-3414
Honey Brook, PA
Dependable Motor Co.
East Main Street
215-273-3131
215-273-3737
Honey Grove, PA
Norman D. Clark
& Son, Inc.
Honey Grove, PA
717-734-3682
Loysville, PA
717-789-3117
MARYLAND
Frederick, MD
Ceresville
Ford New Holland, Inc.
Rt. 26 East
301-662-4197
Outside MD,
800-331-9122
Hagerstown, MD
Antietam Ford Tractor
301-791-1200
NEW JERSEY
Bridgeton, N.J.
Leslie G. Fogg, Inc.
Canton & Stow Creek
Landing Rd.
609-451-2727
609-935-5145
Woodstown, NJ
Owen Supply Co.
Broad Street &
East Avenue
609-769-0308
Hughesvllle, PA
Farnsworth Farm
Supplies, Inc.
103 Cemetery Street
717-584-2106
New Holland, PA
A.B.C. Groff, Inc.
110 South Railroad
717-354-4191
Oley, PA
C.J. Wonsidler Bros.
R.D. 2
215-987-6257
Pitman, PA
Schreffler Equipment
Pitman, PA
717-648-1120
Quakertown, PA
C.J. Wonsidler Bros.
R.D. 1
215-536-1935
Tamaqua, PA
Charles S. Snyder,
R.D. 3
717-386-5945
West Grove, PA
S.G. Lewis & Son,
R.D. 2, Box 66
215-869-2214
Washington, NJ
Smith Tractor &
Equip., Inc.
15 Hillcrest Ave.
201-689-7900