By Coggin Heeringa, Interpretive Naturalist, Crossroads at Big Creek, Inc.
The Wisconsin Science Festival begins this week. Crossroads at Big Creek joins with the Door County Library to assemble speakers and events for this two week celebration on the Door Peninsula. This year, the ScienceFest theme is “Agriculture” and many of the programs will be held at Crossroads at Big Creek.
There is a song in the musical “Oklahoma” called The Farmer and the Cowman Should Be Friends. We believe that the Farmer and the Environmentalist should be friends too. We share a love for and concern about the water, the soil, and plants and the animals, and we also share the belief that science should guide our decisions.
Our science-based agriculture-themed activities begin with our Family Pumpkin Carving at 4:00 on Friday, October 11. Pumpkins are, after all, an important agricultural product. Two billion pumpkins are grown each year in the United States. In Wisconsin , more than 2000 acres are planted in pumpkins each year. So we will start the program with a short science video called “Dissecting a Pumpkin.” Pumpkins and carving tools will be provided so each family can dissect and carve a Jack-o-lantern to be used to light the trail during our “Trails and Treats” event later in the month. Following that pre-Halloween event, families can take their pumpkins home.
From the fruit called pumpkins (yes, they are fruits) we turn to apples, when the Science Festival program “Climate Impact to Apple Flavor.” The speaker, Peninsular Agriculture Research Station Superintendent Becky Wiepz will discuss how climate conditions impact apple flavor. This program is geared to adults but learners of all ages are welcome to attend this program on Monday, October 14 at 5:30PM.
The Door County Beekeepers have created a special event for the Wisconsin Science Festival they call Hive Chemistry 101. European honeybees pollinate $15 billion worth of agricultural crops, but they are also classified as livestock/food producing animals by the federal government.
The beekeepers will offer exhibits and demonstrations featuring products made of honey and beeswax including: mead (wine made with honey), household products such as furniture polish, wood conditioner, food wraps, candles, and personal care products such as lip balm, lotion bars, hand salve, and soap. This event promises to be an exciting look into the agricultural products of our favorite domestic insects.
Our Wandering Wednesday will be at 1:30 October 16 and the weekly naturalist-led hike will be “When Crossroads Was a Farm.” It is a tribute to the work of Crossroads donors, staff and hundreds of volunteers that Crossroads seems like a wild place. But during the last century, the land was a farm and an orchard. Learn about our agronomic roots. (In case of rain, a PowerPoint presentation will be offered.)
Our kids program that day will feature bumblebees – the native insects which are so beneficial to agriculture. The program “Bumbles and Crops” is geared for kids but learners of all ages are welcome.
Then on Wednesday evening at 5:30PM, we welcome one of our favorite presenters, USDA Soil Scientist Jaimie Patton. She will offer a program called the called the Soil-Veggie Connection, explaining how soils influence growth, taste, and nutrition of veggies and fruits.
The Wisconsin Science Festival will continue into next week so check the Crossroads website or the official Wisconsin Science Festival website to learn of future programs.
Meanwhile, several comets are in the vicinity of Earth so this week, our Science Saturday program will be “Comet Chef, one of our most popular programs. Geared for kids, we encourage learners of all ages to attend this program and our other kids’ programming.