Concluding the Semester

Now the conclusions come together to finish modeling a semester-long research project for the 8th grade students who take my research class. Last night their research findings and papers were presented at an evening reception for parents,administrators, and school board members. Kudos all around.

Today, in celebration, I presented my farm market Fig Jammikins - a version of fig preserves/jam using a raw sugar one my students researched and concluded was the best for buttery flavor and marginally healthier than white sugar or corn syrup. Served on sesame seed crackers, it was a success among middle school students whose projects included cookies across dietary needs (vegan, gluten-free, and sugar free) and sugar intake as an evolution mistake.

Another student's project about storytelling sold me on the need to make the label more than a name and list of ingredients but to engage the customer in a story of figgy wonderment. (Not shown at present; labels currently being printed.) I look forward to seeing how the tongue-in-cheek 'story' appeals to the local market visitors this year.

So, my fig product is decided, a striped tent is ordered, ancillary fig products (greeting cards, pins, and packing boxes are being printed or made), and in March cuttings will be prepared for starting new plants. Figs will be a local sensation!

I got figgy with it!  And my students came along for the ride!