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Recent Entries to this Blog
Time Flies
Posted: 12 Jan 2012 Posted: 07 May 2010 Posted: 20 Dec 2009 Posted: 03 Dec 2009 Posted: 14 Sep 2009 All Entries |
lulu1107's Blog
We Will Rise Above Territorial Disputes and Heckling!
Category: Sharing the Joy with Others | Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 11:37 am The daycare kids and I have been checking our containers, the herb garden, salad garden, orchard and veggie garden daily. Somewhere along the line, probably after several days in a row of sampling, the two year old has decided that the strawberry harvest is HIS! When my 22 year old son got wind of this, he made it clear that the strawberries are HIS! Luckily, the containers are the ones ready for harvest right now and the blueberry patch's alpine and musk strawberry ground covers will be ready to eat soon! Meanwhile, I've made a couple of slip-ups with the salads. What's an occasional oak catkin or beetle in the grand scheme of things, anyway!!!! The daycare kids and I harvested some salad yesterday. They each took turns practicing their scissor skills, cutting one leaf at a time and putting it in the bowl. (That's where all of my gardener's patience serves me well!) We washed it, added some fresh peas (also from the garden), a few other things, and began digging in. I, of course, served up big plates to my two kids as well. My 17 year old daughter begged me to please serve her something canned soon, because she had dutifully "forced this stuff down for you" for weeks now!!!! That wasn't the end of it, though. My kids started making casual remarks to the daycare kids about finding various creepy crawlies coming out of their recent salads!!! (I've gotten VERY thorough and I think I've got a good system now.) Luckily, my sweet little daycare kids kept munching away, proud that they had grown this fine salad from seed to plate. Haaa haa, Jeremy and Cassie, you sassy chips off the old block, you!! This blog entry has been viewed 232 times
Accidental Gardener
Category: Sharing the Joy with Others | Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 2:25 pm My sister, Nina, called this morning and, as usual, we chatted away for a while. The conversation got to plants after I lamented the fact that, these days, I always seem to be talking about work, paying bills or trying to replace my car! ...or plants...I added to the conversation. That immediately focused our chat on some mystery herbs that she needed identified, so I took a whack at it. "This one has small blue flowers at the top and the leaves are green, but a bit fuzzy." "Are they oval?" "Oh, sounds like Sage," I said. "You can use that in poultry and stuffing dishes." Then she asked about ones that looked like green sticks with little stick-leaves coming out of them. I asked her to smell it. "Does it smell like stuffing or pork roast seasoning?" "Ah, its probably Rosemary. Does it look like a little pine?" Then I suggested she use an infusion of it as a hair rinse, or put it in a spray bottle as a bug repellent or natural disinfectant. These two herbs were lucky. My sister's style of plant care suited them perfectly!!! Apparently, a long-forgotten pumpkin also "evolved" into little plants, so, of course I asked for one or two! I think the plethora of farming genes we have in our family just might be waiting to be "switched on" in my sister! If I'm wrong, she can definitely handle the cooking and I'll supply the herbs! This blog entry has been viewed 204 times
Great Day in the Sun............flowers
Category: Sharing the Joy with Others | Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 7:24 pm I think the bug has bitten my daycare student named Jamie. Not only did she bring her banana peel to daycare (to be composted out back), but she and I single-handedly put the young sunflower plants into their proper places and set up our maze! Its simple, with basically only one L shaped leg and a secret "room" at the end, but it still took almost 30 plants. Its a good thing we love sunflower seeds! Hope the bunny will help us eat some...KNOW the birds will! In my mind's eye I can see the kids frolicking and hiding amongst the towering plants with huge, bright flowers perched happily overhead. That's half the fun of gardening...anticipating what is to come. Now for the "layering". Next we'll plant edible amaranth all along the outside of the maze to help keep the boundaries well defined... We'll finally have some fun hide and seek places as well. I'll be sure to take some pictures of the kids enjoying their maze this summer. It is proving to be an original, inexpensive, simple, relatively quick play yard project that I'm hoping will provide lots of hours of imaginative play. We'll soon see. This blog entry has been viewed 241 times
Bad Mulberry News
Category: Sharing the Joy with Others | Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 5:41 am Well, I won't be screaming with joy about the Mulberry finally bearing fruit THIS year. There's always next year. There's lots of good news, though. My kids borrowed a tiller from their dad as my mother's day gift. I was dragged and zigzaged all over the garden by that thing until I got the hang of it! I plan to put Quinoa, Amaranth and Millet there. The Seckel Pear and French Petite Plum arrived and are settling into their new homes. I also planted a Salal (used to be used to add to buffalo meat by Native Americans), which gets pretty big in the shade and has tasty berries. Not far away from that is the new Oregon Grape. This is the first year I've had a cool season crop. It's coming along very nicely, filled with peas, India greens, mitzuna, kale, lettuce, mesclun, carrots, radishes, Italian dandelion, corn salad and more, all neatly arranged. Basil and artichokes are now peppered into the side garden near some thriving herbs. I added more lavender, some southernwood, another hardy rosemary, some lemon verbena, Egyptian mint and lemon grass. This year's tomato garden is hopefully going to be tall (trip-l-crops)and will be accompanied by eggplants, cucumbers, green beans and several kinds of peppers, including anchos. My son tasted the first fresh radish from the garden. Won't be long until harvest season! Let's not rush it, though. Half of the fun is in the preparation! This blog entry has been viewed 229 times
Sharing the Joy...This Is a Bit Too Much!
Category: Sharing the Joy with Others | Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 6:42 pm My daycare children and I have been enjoying our time outside. For the first time this year, we left the side door open, with only the screen door closed. The sun was shining and we had lots to dig in and play with out in the garden and yard. Finally we decided to come in for a drink and some lunch. I distractedly paced over to the kitchen, announced that I needed the kids to put their shoes by the door...blah, blah, blah...the usual. Ian, always one to speak his mind promptly, asked, "What is that?" He was pointing to a very long, but admittedly beautiful, sleek Black Rat snake!!!! I couldn't even wrap my head around what my eyes had seen at first! So, in a forced calm voice, I firmly told the kids to step out onto the porch. I grabbed a toy tub and inverted it over the snake, placing something heavy on the top, all the while calling to my daughter to come help. I poked my head out the door to check on the two kids and I spotted my senior neighbor, Nancy. Without hesitation I called her over to help. "I need you, NOW!" (This was especially delicious, because she calls me over on the spot a lot!) Next thing I know, Nancy (the neighbor) was sweeping the snake out the door! After only two screams (me, not the snake), the poor little thing (okay, not so little) quickly disappeared under the front steps and hid there the rest of the day! I wonder who was more scared...it or me! Once I convinced the kids that they could indeed put their feet down and that all was well, we continued with our day. You can bet I googled the topic of snakes at nap time till I was just short of an expert on the subject! That was Friday. Guess what one of the kids wanted to google today? Jake the snake! (It helps to put a name to something, I think!) Apparently, black rat snakes are great climbers and like White Oak trees (yes, I have one.) Either he came in through the bottom of the screen door after climbing the wooden steps, or he came up from the basement after hibernating there!!! I'm going to live in a fantasy world and choose to believe he came in through the screen door. Well, I guess that wonderful habitat I've been nurturing right outside my home is welcoming to all sorts of flora, fauna, man and beast! I'll just have to get used to it. This blog entry has been viewed 228 times
Things Are Coming Along Nicely
Category: Sharing the Joy with Others | Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 6:38 pm The first place my tutoring and daycare students seem to look, as they come into my house, is towards our table farm! The Areogarden actually looks as ample and full as the ads show! Every day, for several days now, one of my preschoolers announces that a sunflower seedling has let go of the seed! I explained that the seedlings come out of the seed, then begin to grow their leaves, pushing the seed case up with them as they grow. Soon, the seed falls off of the seedling.In a few weeks we can plant them out, designing our maze as we go. It's funny...what they tune in to and what they tune out. I put a really sweet movie on, The Secret Garden... nothing. A little dirt, a few seeds and BAM!(Actually, I'd rather play in the dirt, too.) Our radishes, peas, greens, strawberries (leaves) are peeping out of the soil. The American Cranberry bushes have decided to bloom this year and have shown their little beaded buds. I screamed with delight like a little girl when I saw that! If my Contorted Mulberry actually bears fruit this year, I'm sure YOU will ALL hear my screams of pure joy, sans internet!!! Seven years till fruiting...now that requires some patience. I've decided to add amaranth and quinoa to our sunflower maze. As I understand it, one of them is a cool season crop and the other prefers warmer soil. We'll figure out a way to do it. I do my best thinking standing out in the garden (after some research), scratching my head, staring for endless moments at possibilities, talking out loud to myself, and...probably scaring the neighbors!!! Last edited: Wed Apr 08, 2009 6:40 pm This blog entry has been viewed 209 times
It's Official...We Have Three New Young Gardeners!!!
Category: Sharing the Joy with Others | Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 6:24 pm My daycare family was busy during free play time today. Ian and Jamie were creating a Duplo and cars imaginary town and Aiden was figuring out the workings of Legos. So Miss Rhonda decided to choose her own fun activity...of course I quietly plopped myself down on the kitchen floor (with only a passing thought about how I'd get back up)and began planting more seeds in paper towel holder cups. Only about thirty seconds went by and I had the two older kids by my side, asking to join in. They did it all, from scooping soil into the cups, placing a seed on top, covering and gently patting (tucking the seed in) to watering them in! We talked about how important it is to follow directions so things turn out right. Miss Rhonda read directions from the seed packets and we chose our projects based on what would work now. Soon Aiden (2) was right there, too. We put the cups in small "greenhouses" made from leftover carryout containers. Since our bunny, Elmo, (he used to be part of a bunny duo named Thelma and Louise, but had to be renamed for obvious reasons)plays outside with us, we made sure to plant some dandelion greens for him.He loves the leaves but considers the flowers too gourmet. The kids all have tiny wild strawberry container gardens to tend now. We finished with sunflowers and let our imaginations paint a picture of the sunflower maze we will soon create. The kids often plant stray seeds or rocks they see while playing outside. I'm fine with that, in fact I'm so proud that my little kiddles have discovered the joy of gardening! Who knows, maybe they'll even like weeding!!!! Last edited: Wed Mar 25, 2009 6:28 pm This blog entry has been viewed 193 times
Sharing the Wealth With My Animal Buddies
Category: Sharing the Joy with Others | Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:37 pm Is it my imagination, or are many of the birds who hang out in my yard getting rotund? I know the squirrels are kept busy with acorns from the huge old White Oak. (I actually used one of those botanical classification questionnaires several years ago to figure out what kind of oak it is) The bunnies seem to be getting plenty of food, too. Between the rugosa hips, ornamental grass, Rose of Sharon hedge and leftover wildflower seeds in my wildflower garden, even winter is a feast! I know summer was plentiful for them, because they ate most of my blueberries, all of my grapes and had their fair share of my cherries, strawberries and blackberries. This summer I think a little tough love is in order... a better netting system for the grapes and blueberries will probably be enough.I've also fenced in my veggie garden. I still love to share with them, although the sharing to them means taking all they want and THEN leaving something IF any is leftover for me! All they have to do is make their cute little animal sounds and frolic playfully in the sunshine and I smile like an indulgent grandparent at them! I am probably imagining this, but I could swear that my little gardening pal, a robin, has returned to hang out while I'm outside...waiting patiently for me to turn on the hose and begin weeding, watering and tending his "worm collection"...my garden! Hmmm...sounds like I have too much time on my hands! Actually, I spend most of the day teaching and tutoring! There's always time to tune in to nature and to stop and smell the roses, though. Last edited: Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:37 pm This blog entry has been viewed 245 times
Planting Rocks
Category: Sharing the Joy with Others | Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 3:02 pm The digging bug bit me during outside play time yesterday, so I dug up a persimmon (carefully, to keep from wrecking the taproot) and proceeded to show and tell the kids about roots. Then, of course, I found two other edibles that needed a better home, so I moved them. Before I knew it, the little 2 year old was digging a nice planting hole for his rock! He happily buried it, dug it up, spread the dirt around the grass, then buried it again... Sounds just like me!!!! The kids are watching closely for signs that the sleeping plants are waking up.If the buds aren't giving me enough hints, I know it's almost spring by the huge smiles on my dogs' faces when they go outside! We're planning a cool sunflower maze for the back part of the yard. Can't wait. Errr, uh, of course I mean the kids can't wait!!! This blog entry has been viewed 232 times
I'm Amazed at the Response!
Category: Sharing the Joy with Others | Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:48 pm I've been table top farming with my little daycare group. They love it. My dad gave me an [edited] and I set it up and discovered that I LIKE it! I'm not much for things with technological bells and whistles...but I really enjoyed the process. Of course I'm thinking of ways to use it without having to buy all of the little designer props that go with it. The mini hydroponic garden is really attracting the attention of several of the most unlikely candidates...my middle school tutoring students. GREAT! Of course, they'll get the entire A to Z of my latest gardening exploits upon showing the least bit of interest, so beware, my students! I'm most proud of the paper towel roll plant pots and the seeds that I saved from last year's garden.I guess I'm showing my roots.. (In the 70's we had a lot fewer hi tech gadgets!!) Any plastic containers (like salad boxes) are being immediately enlisted and added to my little farming table. One's filled with mesclun mix seedlings. The light from the [edited] seems to spill over and provide light for them as well...in fact it's made my crop of daikon radish sprouts absolutely blazing green and delicious! Today one of my daycare students, a sweet little girl, decided that she was going hunting for worms to harvest and place lovingly in our outside garden. I was transplanting a tree and the kids were fascinated by the roots. We're also monitoring the banana peels we placed in the compost pile. The kids expect them to "turn into dirt" and check every day to see if they have magically done so! This blog entry has been viewed 249 times
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