Thanks for the welcome. I've got two questions which might be a language thing. What is Shaklee preparation H? Joel Salatin mentions it in Pastured Poultry. What is 4H? I keep seeing it mentioned but am still not quite sure what itis.

Many thanks

Alison

-- Anonymous, June 20, 2001

Answers

Sorry I posted with my husbands name

Alison

-- Anonymous, June 20, 2001

Hi Alison, I don't know about the Shaklee product but the 4-H is a youth organization that is mostly participated in by rural youth. They learn by doing and take projects that they have done themselves to "fairs" where they are judged. They also take their animals and show them in competition. The 4 H's are Head, Hands, Heart and Health. At one time I knew the pledge but must admit after all these years I have actually forgotten it.

-- Anonymous, June 20, 2001

Shaklee makes Preparation H ??? :)

-- Anonymous, June 20, 2001

Shaklee Basic H is soap. Dr Bonners is one to use as a substitute if you can get it,instead. Mint is preferable.Smells nice too.Use it yourself too.Use it in the garden.Use it everywhere,I guess!

Do a Google search, with your country in it, and see what comes up, for sources.

-- Anonymous, June 20, 2001

Diane a former 4h'er? Me too. You remembered more than I, and I even helped with the Boy's 4h Conservation Club and Shooting Sports one! We didn't have those kind,did we? I remember sewing.....and going to camp.

Alison...Here in Eastern Kentucky the Horse Club,naturally,and the Shooting Sports one are the most active.

-- Anonymous, June 20, 2001

Former 4-Her and 4-H leader here! It is a great organization. Children can join the main group at age 8 and continue on until age 19. There is also a group for younger children which I believe used to be called Clover Buds, but may be called something else now.

They may participate in showing their projects at the county level fair at age 8, but are not eligible to show projects which have won county awards at the state fair until they are age 10.

4-H has a multitude of projects to offer youngsters, from various animal projects such as cattle, hogs, sheep - to pet projects; cats, dogs, guinea pigs, etc... They offer projects in areas such as sewing, cooking, babysitting, cultural, nature oriented, scientific, conservation, vegetable gardening, reading....too many to count!! It was not unusual for me to have to LIMIT the kids to 5 or 10 project areas per year, as I knew that while doing the projects are fun, the paperwork at the end of the year is a killer!!

I preferred to work with the younger children on projects such as sewing (one girl made a dress for participating in her family's hobby of going to the frontier type rendezvous), cooking, babysitting, gardening, and helping the kids prepare their displays for fair. Our local home extension group would fund one underprivledged child's projects each year and it was so much fun to take them shopping for the materials for their projects and help them make them and display them at fair...BIG grins when we went on to State!

"I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my health to better living and my hands to greater service for my club, my community, my country and my world."

A lot of business people are aware of the values that 4-H instills in youngsters - planning ahead, hard work, quality of work and pride in their abilities. I still get called on by former 4-Hers for job references, and I'm pleased to be able to give them.

-- Anonymous, June 20, 2001

Good job Polly!!! It was driving me crazy because I couldn't remember what the head part was, remembered the rest. yes.........clearer thinking....still a cool pledge.

-- Anonymous, June 20, 2001

having moved to the country i love 4h. in our area we have a cool goat project done by 4h in conjunction with one of the schools. i was a girl scout most of my youth, girl guide to you u.k. folks.

-- Anonymous, June 20, 2001

Yup, we were 4-H'ers too. Our organization really wasn't much -- tiny town of 200 people. Most of the animal projects were out -- no one kept them anymore (and this was prior to cat & dog projects). I suppose Grandma could have taught poultry raising and care, but by the time I was old enough, she was going into senility.

But I learned to sew in 4-H, and cook (sorta), and a few other things. Mom taught me more at home too. No Scout troops in our area when I was young.

-- Anonymous, June 20, 2001

My siblings and I agree that everything in life comes down to the basic 4H principles. We learned public speaking, planning a project, leadership skills, basic homemaking skills, getting along with different folks, etc. We weren't even in a rural club. Our most exotic project was "Plan, Plant, Clean and Build". Of course, there was a time when one of my older brothers wrote an essay about the cow we had in the garage (NOT). After he 'won' a white ribbon (the lowest) he could for that, our parents got involved and mom became a leader which began some great years of fun. Nice memories.

-- Anonymous, June 21, 2001