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."

The Fix-It Family

My husband is Mr. Fix-It. Apparently now, so are my kids...

Last week, Becca's toy vacuum broke. The ends of the yarn frayed and wrapped around the part that spins, which caused the gears to lock up and make a loud clicking noise whenever Becca pushed the vacuum. Josh had to take the vacuum apart and remove the frayed yarn.

He had quite a team of assistants:

Because it was Becca's vacuum, Becca got to be the primary helper. First, they laid out all of the screws.

Then, Becca put each screw in the hole.

Finally, Josh tightened the screws. The kids jumped up and down with joy as they told me how they fixed the vacuum!

Vacation in Bar Harbor

How can I summarize a wonderful 11-day vacation in just a short blog entry? I will do my best, but I can only share the highlights of our trip to my favorite place on earth...

Josh surprised me this summer by planning a vacation to Bar Harbor, ME and Acadia National Park. We honeymooned there, and I absolutely love it! We went one other time, when Hannah was only 8 months old, but we could not do as much with an infant. This time, Josh suggested that we stay in a large cabin and bring along his mom, to help out with the kids and even give us a chance to get out alone once or twice. We ended up having a wonderful time!

Of course, a trip to a national park is both fun and educational at the same time. I bought the kids two books while we were there: Discovering Acadia: A Guide for Young Naturalists and Who Pooped in the Park? Acadia National park: Scat and Tracks for Kids. Hannah fell in love with them and tried to identify many plants and animals we saw. In fact, plants, animals, and the ocean became the overriding theme of the trip.

The first day, we took a whale watching boat trip out into the Atlantic Ocean. All three kids loved it! After seeing boats, puffins, and a variety of sea birds, we finally found a group of three finback whales swimming nearby. The kids squealed with delight every time they surfaced.

After a wonderful three-hour boat ride, we returned to Bar Harbor. Poor Becca was exhausted from the excitement and the cold and slept the whole way back, bundled up in a few coats to keep the wind and spray off of her face.

We also took several hikes while we were in Acadia. The kids favorite trail was Wonderland Trail near Seawall on the quiet side of the island. The first day we walked on it, the kids enjoyed stopping and looking at all of the flowers along the path.

We scrambled over rocks by the ocean, picking up shells, and enjoying the view.

Ben even saw a fox when he and I hiked a little further down the trail. He asked me about the kitty with the fluffy orange tail! We returned on a beautiful morning at low tide so we could see all of the tidal pools. The kids loved climbing from pool to pool looking for snails and crabs among the seaweed.

We also enjoyed driving Park Loop Road. One day, after a morning of heavy rain, we saw dozens of waterfalls pouring over the rocks off of the mountains.

We could even see streaks of white down the mountainsides where additional waterfalls drained away the water from the heavy rain.

Along the road, a turtle laid her eggs in the damp earth. The kids laughed excitedly as we watched her deposit several eggs into the hole.

Another day, we stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at the Jordan Pond House. After we ate, we hiked the nature trail through the woods and along the pond. We stumbled across a pair of loons. We quietly watched, afraid to breathe too loudly, lest we frighten the shy birds away. Instead, the loons swam right over towards us and then swam the length of the pond beside us, staying far enough away, but providing beautiful views. They even made their haunting calls repeatedly for us to hear. Even Becca can identify loons now!

Overall, we had a wonderful trip. I could write about all of the amazing birds we saw, from warblers to falcons to sea birds, or about the Margaret Todd, the boat the kids called a pirate ship the whole time we were there, or about the fun ice cream shop we enjoyed in downtown Bar Harbor, or about Somes Sound, the only fjord in the US other than in Alaska. But, I do not have the time or space. However, I greatly recommend Acadia National Park as one of the most beautiful and educational places on earth. It will always hold a piece of my heart!

My Girly Entomologist

Remember my bug-loving little girl from last summer? Well, this weekend at the cabin, she found a few tent caterpillars, though not the hundreds we found last May. Like last year, she fell in love with them and played with them all weekend. This year was a bit different, though...

Last year, Hannah was content to keep the caterpillars in a fishbowl with a bunch of leaves and let them crawl on her hands and arms. This year, she decided that the first caterpillar she found was her pet and that he really wanted to play with her all day long.

She began by pushing him around in the little doll carriage.

She was thrilled that he grabbed the little doll rattle with his feet. "Look, mama!" she yelled. "He wants to play with it!"

Then, she tried to feed him a leaf in the high chair.

She decided that he would be happier if the whole doll house were full of leaves.

Then, she put him down for a nap.

I felt bad for the poor caterpillar and tried to convince her that she was killing him with all of her attention. She just insisted that he could not live without her! After two days of this, the caterpillar "escaped" while she was looking at the stream. Hannah was quite distraught, until she found another caterpillar a few hours later and started again...

Baby Birds

When we got back from vacation at the cabin, we had baby birds in our nest!

The first day:


Today:

Preschool Graduation and Field Trip

Hannah and Ben had their last day of preschool on Monday. Instead of regular classes, they had a field trip to Malabar Farm. The kids loved all of the animals - cows, ponies, goats, sheep, rabbits, turkeys, and chickens. In the main barn, kids could pet the animals.

Just outside, they could feed chickens and turkeys. Hannah's favorite animal was a male turkey, who was gobbling and showing off his feathers. A while ago, she wrote a journal about wild turkeys based on a book she had read about them, and she loved that their heads turn red, white, and blue when they are excited. Seeing this turkey made her day:

After this, we walked down to the pond. A frog sat in the cool water:

And we saw raccoon tracks in the soft mud:

We finished the morning by spending some time in the visitors center, which had fun activities for the kids, and a walk through the aviary, where this crow hopped around and entertained the kids:

Later that evening, both classes met at a church for the end-of-the-year program and graduation. Ben was excessively excited. He danced all over the stage, yelled out random embarrassing comments, and made up his own rhythm to the songs they sang. He was wild and rather entertaining. I had to hide my head behind the pew so I could laugh without encouraging his off-the-wall behavior!

Other than that, though, they both did very well. Ben recited his sight words:

Hannah read the book Swimmy, by Leo Lionni, to the audience with good pronunciation and lots of expression. And, she proudly received her diploma.

I cannot believe she will be going into Kindergarten next year...