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Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom

October, 2011

• October is National Pork Month
• Columbus Day
• October is National 4-H Month
• World Food Day is October 16
• Food Day in Oklahoma is October 24
• Halloween Originated as End-of-Harvest Festival
• National Cooperative Month
• National Pizza Month
• Oklahoma Vegetable of the Month: Pumpkin
• Oklahoma Fruit of the Month: Apple
• Why Leaves Change Color
• Earth Science Week
• Red Dirt Groundbreaker: Lloyd Noble
• Ag in Art: Girl With Pigs, by Thomas Gainesborough
• Poem for October, by Robert Frost

Halloween originated as End-of-Harvest Celebration

You might not recognize it from the way we celebrate now, but Halloween originated as a Celtic festival celebrating the end of the harvest season. Read more, with recipes and poem...

Oklahoma Vegetable of the Month: Pumpkin

Pumpkin is definitely an October food, since 80 percent of the pumpkin supply in our country is available in October. Read more, with lessons, activities and other resources...

Oklahoma Fruit of the Month: Apple

October is National Pork Month

In 2009, hogs and pigs ranked number 4 of all Oklahoma agricultural commodities, with a value of $474 million. Read more, with lessons, art, poems and other resources...

October 10 is Columbus Day

Columbus Day is significant to American pork producers because swine came to the New World with Columbus on his second voyage. In his narrative of that voyage, Michele de Cuneo reported that pigs, in particular, "grew over there to a superlative degree."

In addition to pigs, Columbus loaded his fleet of 17 ships with horses, cows, oxen, sheep, goats, hens, dogs and cats. He brought wheat seed and plants, barley, radishes, onions, peas, melon, sugar cane, broad beans, lettuce, leeks and parsley "to try out the ground."

Writing Prompt: Students write and perform skits about the animals on Columbus' second voyage.

Seeds of Change - Smithsonian Institute website exploring the impact of Columbus' voyage, especially the exchange of New World and Old World foods.

Food Day in Oklahoma is October 24

Every Oklahoman should have access to high quality, healthy, affordable food, and Oklahoma farmers are our best resource. Read more, with lessons and other resources...

Look for Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom at these events in October:

1 - Oklahoma Science Teachers Association Conference

1- 21st Century Community Learning Centers Fall Conference

2-9 - Tulsa State Fair, Made in Oklahoma Booth

Farmer's Markets

October is the last month to buy fresh local produce from many local farmer's markets across the state.

Check the Oklahoma Crop Calendar to see what other Oklahoma crops are harvested in October.

Earth Science Week is October 9-15

"The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Barbed Wire was invented October 27, 1873

Farmer Joseph F. Glidden applied for a patent on barbed wire on October 27, 1873. Learn more with Don't Fence Me In

Writing Prompt: Students use online or library sources to research the impact of the invention of barbed wire on the American frontier.

Why leaves change color

The leaves are falling. It's time to start your sheet-composted planting bed.

Writing Prompt: Students keep journals describing the trees in the schoolyard or in their own yards as the leaves begin to change colors.