Gardening Season Begins

This year, I got an early start on my garden, and I have been very pleased so far. In early spring, I planted peas, onions, carrots, radishes, spinach, broccoli transplants, cauliflower transplants, and brussels sprouts transplants. Oh, and lettuce... lots of lettuce. Actually, I attempted to remove the seeds from the packet and slipped, spilling the tiny seeds into the dirt. I sighed, decided not even to try extracting the nearly invisible seeds from the soil, and waited to see what would come up. As the picture shows, I will be doing quite a bit of thinning, but at least I can tell which kind is which, so we will have a variety of lettuces this year. I also planted strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries in various locations around my house and yard.

This weekend, Josh built me a second box garden next to the one we built last year. We even used some of our worm compost when filling the garden! I have so much more space now, and I also have more opportunity to rotate crops a bit to reduce pests and diseases. I could not believe how easily I filled the extra 32 square feet of space, though! I added butternut squash and two kinds of bush beans to the side garden, and I planted cucumbers, swiss chard, and celery in the old box garden with my spring veggies. I also put one asparagus plant along the side of my house, to see if it does well there. I would love fresh asparagus in the spring, but I do not want such a large perennial plant in my box gardens! In the new garden, I transplanted three kinds of tomatoes, two kinds of bell peppers, swiss chard, and a bunch of herbs, leaving myself plenty of space for a few more staggered plantings of bush beans.

Before we put in the side garden last year, weeds abounded in that spot next to our garage. Once I pulled out all the weeds and put in the veggies, however, I noticed something that was not visible before. The water run-off from our garage roof poured right into the middle of that garden, leaving a trench that eroded the soil from around any plants in that location. On Saturday, as I shopped for herbs at my favorite local greenhouse, I noticed watercress for sale. The sign said that the plants propagate themselves well in wet locations. I explained my garden situation to a person on staff, and he told me that his watercress has grown into a small waterfall in his yard and that it loves water! So, now I have watercress growing all along the edge of the trench in that garden. I hope that it will utilize previously unusable garden space, as well as hold the soil in place to prevent erosion during heavy rains. I really hope it works!

The kids, of course, love the garden and willingly eat anything we harvest - including onions, radishes, and leafy vegetables! They already love raw veggies, but they will even eat food that they typically dislike, as long as it comes from our own garden. I cannot wait to see how everything grows this year. I chose plants more wisely this year, after seeing what pests and diseases struck last year, and I think we will have a better harvest because of that. In a society in which many kids cannot even identify common vegetables, I love that my kids beg for things like eggplant and radishes! I cannot imagine a better way to teach kids about healthy eating than allowing them to harvest their own food directly from the family garden. Now, if only we lived in a neighborhood that allowed me to raise chickens...

Worms Love Coffee, Too

I have a thousand worms in my basement. I keep them in a special, layered bin filled with wet coconut fiber and moist, shredded newspaper. I feed them and check them regularly to ensure that they are healthy. Am I an invertebrate-lover with an odd affection for earthworms? No, though some think I am strange when they see me cuddling my pet bearded dragon. On the contrary, these worms work for me, eating my food scraps and creating rich compost for my garden.

I discovered vermicomposting, as it is called, sometime last year. I forget where I first read about it, but after quite a bit of research and some glowing first-hand success stories, I decided to order a worm bin. I could have chosen to build a worm bin using large plastic totes nested inside each other, but many reviews praised this model as the best for maintaining the right amount of moisture and keeping out fruit flies. Since Josh only reluctantly agreed to let me try worm composting, I decided that I would rather spend the extra money in order to reduce the nuisance of fruit flies, which might cause Josh to change his mind about the project.

The kids, of course, loved the idea of keeping worms in our basement. They celebrated when the bin arrived and helped me set it up and prepare the worms' bedding. Then, after I placed the order for one thousand red wiggler worms, they asked me every day when the worms would get here. Finally, about two weeks later, FedEx's website showed that the worms were out for delivery. I decided to make the whole day "Worm Day" in anticipation of their arrival.

First, we curled up together and read a book that my parents' gave Ben for his birthday - Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin. The kids love the silly story about the adventures of an earthworm, and though the story mostly just entertains, it also briefly explains how worms help the earth. Then, I brought all three kids over to the computer to show them a website I found that demonstrates how vermicomposting works. The Adventures of Vermi the Worm is an educational game created by the California Integrated Waste Management Board to teach school children about worm composting. Although the "game" is more of an interactive demonstration, the kids really enjoyed watching it and learning how the worm bin would work.

At last, the worms arrived. Amazingly, one thousand red wiggler worms fit into a tiny canvas bag about the size of a ziplock freezer bag. We brought the worms down to the basement and dumped them into the bin. After allowing them to settle in for a bit, we buried some food scraps in their bedding. In order to avoid rotting and an unpleasant odor, we started off with just a small amount of food - some crushed egg shells, chopped banana and cucumber peels, an apple core, and a few tea bags. However, the worms also eat and compost something that I, too, enjoy every day... coffee! Actually, I drink my two cups of morning coffee and then the worms enjoy the leftovers. They happily eat the coffee grounds, filter and all. You can see the tiny worm nestled in the damp coffee filter at the top of the picture below:

This morning, after our weekend away, I went downstairs to check on the worms and make sure that they are still alive and eating. I found them throughout the food scraps, busily converting my trash into castings that will nourish my garden next spring.

I love that something this simple helps the environment by reducing my waste and helps my garden by providing a rich, organic compost. Hopefully, my kids are also learning fun and easy ways to be good stewards of this planet, which they will one day inherit from us. If my kids learn this lesson well, I will gladly share my morning coffee with thousands of slimy pink invertebrates!

Good News from "Bad Bugs"

During the kids' nap times today, I went outside to work in my garden. I often use this quiet time of the day to do a bit of weeding and check on all of my plants. Today, I noticed what appeared to be a large red wasp buzzing around my summer squash. At first, I avoided it, as I am rather afraid of wasps and bees, but then I remembered reading about a common garden pest that looks like a wasp but is actually a moth. When it landed at the base of a squash plant and began to deposit its eggs, I realized unhappily that it was, in fact, the dreaded squash vine borer.

I chased it away repeatedly, its resemblance to a wasp making me afraid to kill it with my bare hands, even though I knew it could not hurt me. Finally, after the moth left for good, I returned inside to read a little about eradicating these bugs from my garden. Armed with photos, a bit of knowledge, a box cutter, and a pair of tweezers, I went back to the side garden ready to do battle to save my plants. I do not really mind if the borers get the zucchini, since I doubt those plants will produce any fruit this year, but I definitely do not want to lose my pumpkins or my butternut squash. I had read that the butternut is resistant to the vine borers, but that pumpkins are very susceptible to being damaged by them.

When I reached the garden, I began examining the base of each vine. I plucked a few eggs from one of the summer squash, but I could not find any on the other plants. Then, I noticed what I had hoped I would not find - a small hole near the base of my only healthy pumpkin vine. I debated whether I should operate on the plant and risk killing it if I were wrong, but I decided that leaving a vine borer inside the plant would be worse than cutting it open a bit. I carefully sliced open the vine, beginning at the hole, and removed a fat, squirming vine borer from the stem.

I checked a little further down and could not find any more of the caterpillars. I shoveled a few scoops of damp soil over the cut stem and over a few of the leaf joints on the vine, where I knew the plant had been putting down auxiliary roots. Hopefully, the plant will survive the surgery, since I caught the bug before any damage had occurred.

Next, I examined the other squash plants in my garden and removed a smaller borer from a zucchini plant. The rest of the plants appeared to be okay.

When Hannah came downstairs from her quiet time in her room, I showed her the picture I took of the squash vine borers, and I brought her outside to look at the plants. I explained that just one tiny caterpillar could kill an entire plant. Together, we checked, but could not find any more of the "bad bugs" as Hannah called them.

After we returned to the house, I pulled out my Bible and read Genesis 3:17-19:

"To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."

I shared with Hannah that bugs and weeds and powdery mildew and other garden ailments are all part of the curse, the punishment put on the earth because of the Fall. I explained that our sin has caused the difficulties we have in producing food from the land, but that God still blesses us and allows us to eat the fruit of our labor. And, He often gives us an abundance, well more than we need, though it does not come without effort. Furthermore, we can rejoice in the good news that we are redeemed and sin no longer defines us. Instead, we have hope for a future "in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal" (Matthew 6:20). And that is the Good News we can learn from "bad bugs."

Summer in the Garden

Apparently, I am too busy in the summer to update my blog much. We have traveled and played and camped and explored, and through it all, we have learned. The overarching theme of this summer, however, has been gardening.

At the beginning of last school year, I wrote out a wonderful plan of all of the units and activities I would do with the kids that year. In reality, we did more informal units, based around their interests and activities, while focusing on reading, writing, and math. One of the last units I had planned for the year was "plants and seeds," and I felt disappointed that we never studied it. Then, a few weeks ago, I realized that we have completed nearly the entire unit in the course of our summer gardening adventures. And, the kids likely learned more from their hands-on experience than they would have learned from formal instruction.

Our project began with the construction of a 4'x8' raised bed garden in our backyard.

Josh used a rented sod-cutter to remove the grass, while bug-loving Hannah rescued earthworms and white grubs from the dirt below.

Then, we measured, cut, and assembled the boards, and Josh gave each child, including Becca, a turn to help him drill holes for the screws.

Finally, we filled the box with topsoil, compost, and peat moss, and planted vegetable transplants and seeds.

Because the sod-cutter was so easy to use, we decided to create a second 4'x12' garden next to the garage.

We planted a lot of veggies throughout the summer: slicing tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, green/red bell peppers, sweet orange peppers, cucumbers, pole beans, purple and yellow onions, red and orange carrots, turnips, broccoli, romaine, zucchini, summer squash, butternut squash, and pumpkins. The kids have helped me plant and harvest and weed and have seen tiny seedlings develop into large and bushy plants, covered in ripening vegetables.

Romaine:

Tomatoes:

Pepper:

Onions:

Cucumber:

Broccoli:

Pole Beans:

In addition to this experiential education, the kids and I have read several books to complement what they are learning. One of their favorite books, Muncha Muncha Muncha, has taken on new meaning to them, in light of them having their own garden. They have become much more sympathetic to poor Mr. McGreely, who keeps losing his vegetables, and they dislike the "bad bunnies" who keep stealing them. They also love the book The Carrot Seed, in which a little boy plants a carrot seed and cares for it, even though everyone tells him that the seed won't come up. In the end, of course, a huge carrot comes up and proves everyone else wrong.

Finally, our Bible times have reflected our gardening theme as well. The kids' new knowledge of gardening helped them understand two parables on a deeper level then they have in the past - the parable of the sower and the parable of the weeds. Isn't it amazing how Jesus uses common experiences and objects to explain his Kingdom, so ordinary people, even children, can begin to comprehend the mysteries of faith and eternity?

I do not think I could have planned a better unit on seeds and plants! I may pull out a few of the worksheets I have from a science book I purchased, but overall, I am amazed at what my children have learned this summer simply by being included in my gardening project. I think this is further proof that "Learning is Life."

More Babies

Last Saturday was a very windy day, so I moved my hanging basket from its hook and set it on the porch so it would not blow away. The next day, I went outside to water my plants, and I noticed a tiny egg nestled among the sunflowers the kids planted. I could not find a nest, and I had no idea where the egg had come from.

Later that evening, Josh stood on the wall of the porch and looked into my hanging basket. There, well hidden in the middle of my fuchsia, sat a perfectly made little nest with a matching egg inside it. I placed the other egg in the nest, but worried that the mama bird had abandoned the nest, because I had moved the plant the day before.

All day on Monday, I glanced out of the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of a bird near the nest, but I saw nothing. Finally, in the evening, I thought about disposing of the nest so the eggs would not rot in my plant. However, when I climbed up and looked into the basket, I saw three tiny eggs instead of two!

Now, mama bird hangs out in the nest and sits on her eggs. We have identified the pair as house finches, and the male has pretty red feathers and a lovely song. I peered in the nest today, briefly, and counted six little eggs. I cannot wait until they hatch. I wonder if the mama bird will let me get close enough to see the babies or if she will defend them a little more than she has defended the eggs...

Spring Science Update

Just a brief update on our spring science projects...

The flowers are continuing to grow. We will probably plant them in the garden sometime in the next two weeks.

A week or so ago:

Today:


And, this afternoon, I glanced over at the praying mantis egg on our mantle and noticed what appeared to be movement. I jumped up to examine it and discovered this:


We have babies! We cannot catch aphids to feed them, so we will have to release them tomorrow. I am afraid the birds in our bushes will have a feast, but we see many praying mantises in those bushes each year, so hopefully a few will survive and grow. They should blend in quite well with the branches on the bushes, so that should protect them somewhat as long as they are still. The kids were very excited!

Getting Their Hands Dirty

The kids had a field trip to a greenhouse planned through their preschool today. Despite the rain, we bundled up in sweatshirts and raincoats and made the long drive to the nursery.

When everyone first arrived, the kids were in constant motion and anxious to get started. Joyce, the wonderful woman who led the group, heard a bird whistling nearby and gestured to the class to calm down a bit. Then, she explained to the children that if they could be still and quiet they could go see a bird nesting in the rocks a short distance away. As the kids nodded, she led them across the parking lot to a place where a killdeer had a tiny nest among the rocks.

The small eggs, nestled in the rocks next to the white water pipe, are light gray with black speckles and blend in so well that most of the kids could not even see them! When the male and female both began squawking at us, we quickly moved the kids over to the greenhouse to begin the tour.

After admiring many beautiful plants and flowers, the kids had the opportunity to plant their own flowers. They each picked a lovely, decorative pastel flower pot and lined up at the planting table to wait for instructions.

Next, they filled their pots with soil.

After making a hole in the soil, they placed a pretty, red begonia into the pot, filled the remaining space with more soil, and patted it down.

The whole class had a great time and learned a bit about plants, too. I think we'll be making a return trip in a couple weeks once we put in our garden, so we can purchase some vegetables as well. I hope the kids will be just as excited to help me with our new garden. Maybe they'll even like weeding...

Springtime Science

Last summer, we raised and released butterflies. This year, with Ben's birthday coming up, I began browsing through an Insect Lore catalog that came in the mail and stumbled across the perfect present. It arrived yesterday.

I quickly removed it from the box and told Ben that it was an early birthday present. "What is it?" Ben asked. Becca excitedly yelled, "Yuck! It's a poop!"

"No," I laughed. "It's a praying mantis egg case." I explained that in a few weeks, one or two hundred tiny praying mantises would emerge from the egg and we would release them in our yard. We already find quite a few in our bushes each spring, so I know this is a good habitat for them, and maybe they will keep pests out of the vegetable garden I am planning.

After the kids oohhhed and ahhhed for a while, they lost interest in the odd-looking brown object, and it currently sits on our mantle waiting for signs of life...

Additionally, as I shopped, I discovered another wonderful project that I remembered fondly from my days as a zoo educator. The catalog sold owl pellet dissection kits, which were somewhat pricey, but it also listed individual owl pellets. Because of my experience with these in the past, I knew I could just buy the pellets and use tweezers and magnifying glasses we already had at home. I ordered two pellets.

My parents recently lent us an old book called Character Sketches, which uses Scripture and animals to teach character qualities. Though it is designed for older children and some of the ideas are a little outdated, it provides a helpful resource for encouraging character in my kids. The first animal in the book happened to be the Great Horned Owl.

When the pellets arrived, I began by reading a bit of the information on owls from the book, and we talked a little about putting others needs ahead of our own convenience, which the owl's nesting habits demonstrate. Then, I told the kids how owls swallow their prey mostly whole but cannot digest the bones and fur. An owl's body creates a lump of bones and fur as it digests the mouse or other animal, and then it spits out the pellet onto the ground. I showed them the small (dried and disinfected) pellets I had purchased. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that removing the tiny bones from the dried pellets was very delicate and tedious work. They watched for a while, and then I finished the job while they played, coming over at various points to look at the different bones I found.

We found a lot of bones in the two pellets, likely from one tiny and two larger rodents.


We found quite a few ribs and vertebrae:


Some leg bones:


And a couple of nice skulls with the teeth:


I had one full skull, but I accidentally stepped on it when I was taking pictures on the porch and Ben kept slamming the door...

Finally, the kids were very excited yesterday because the flowers they planted at the cabin are beginning to sprout. They can't wait until they are big enough to plant outside.


So I guess yesterday was spring science day! We covered insects and their life cycles, owls and their eating habits, and plants and seeds. The kids thought yesterday was just a lot of fun!

March Comes in Like a Lion But Goes Out Like...

A couple years ago, my parents purchased a beautiful cabin in the woods, about halfway between Philadelphia and Ohio. We love to meet them there for weekends and enjoy spending time outdoors. Last weekend, now that the threat of surprise snowstorms and dangerous driving has passed, we made the trek for the first time this spring.

The kids love being outside and exploring, but our urban backyard near a busy street limits their freedom quite a bit here at home.

They poked sticks in the pond...

collected pine cones and floated them in the stream...

and ran around to their hearts' content!

We even caught a small newt near the pond. After everyone examined it, we returned him to the water where he would be safe from little fingers. Becca still affectionately talks about the "nude" we found!

On Saturday evening, despite the slight, misty drizzle, my dad suggested going on a "bear hunt" referencing one of the kids' favorite books. The kids jumped up and down excitedly, as I snapped raincoats and my dad passed out flashlights.

We walked back past the pond and into the woods, which largely consist of widely spaced evergreen trees and acres of rhododendrons. The kids ran ahead, shining their flashlights behind trees and under bushes, looking for bears.

The closest they got to a bear was a "scary" old rusty pipe that they thought was a bear until they ran up and touched it. Good thing we didn't expect to find any real bears!

The next morning, my mom pulled out two kits for planting sunflower seeds. We filled the pots with dirt, and the kids put seeds in the little holes we made and then soaked the soil with water. Even Becca joined in the fun. My parents and I each took a pot home to sprout, and then we will plant the sunflowers in our yards once they are big enough.

We always hate leaving, but we had a beautiful drive home. The clouds looked spectacular, and at one rest stop, the sun peeked through the clouds in the middle of a brief rainstorm and created the most beautiful rainbow. Ben yelled, excitedly, "A rainbow tells us about God's love!" I am glad to know that he is learning from our family Bible time and from Sunday School... and that he gets the important ideas and not just the stories.

About an hour from home the snow started... perhaps spring has not quite arrived after all!

Signs of Spring

What lovely weather we have had for the past few days! Hannah attends an in-home preschool one afternoon a week. This week, I felt inspired by the warm, sunny day, so after we dropped off Hannah, I came home and put Becca down for a nap, and then Ben and I had a picnic in the back yard.

As we ate, I began to point out the many signs of spring. I showed him the green buds on the bushes and the violets peeking their bold purple heads up over the blades of grass. He seemed especially enthralled by the multitude of sparrows fluttering and chirping loudly in the hedges. After he finished, he raced over to them, and turned to me, crestfallen, when they all flew away. "Mama," he cried, "Why did the birds all fly away?" I tried to explain that they were probably scared of him. "No, mama," he insisted, "I just want to hug them!" My sweet little boy!

I got up from our picnic blanket and we meandered slowly around the house looking at all of the new flowers poking through the dirt. I showed him daffodils and hyacinths, nearly ready to bloom. He examined tulips, lamb's ear, rhododendron, yarrow, bleeding heart, and some flowers I cannot identify. He carefully felt the thorns on our rose bush and pulled some of the baby thistle plants, already poised to invade our otherwise lovely garden.

Then, we pulled the tricycle out of the garage, and Ben grinned triumphantly when he finally succeeded in pedaling down our gently sloping driveway without my help.

After about an hour outside, we packed up our blanket and put away the tricycle, heading inside to get ready to pick Hannah up from preschool. I loved my one-on-one time with my little guy, and he had such an adventure, exploring and enjoying the newly showing signs of spring.