Woodward park

What a fun day at Woodward.  We focused on identifying 3 living things.  Then we played, got wet in the sprinkler system (by accident), explored by the pond, and ate lunch.

Butterfly Gardening

Ahhh…Spring!  Is anyone else as excited about it as me?  The color, the smell, the warm sun!  We have spotted cardinals, blue jays, flycatchers, robins, chickadees, and doves.  The cardinal has made a nest in a bush by our house.  We have found some baby rabbits in a hole right next to the garden hose.  Also, two garden snakes, grub worms, a foul smelling toad, and lots of slugs.

We had a great meeting last Saturday morning at Cher’s.   So many of you shared what you use in your vegetable gardens; it was very inspirational.  Tomatoes, winter and summer squash, lettuce, spinach, and carrots to name just a few.  Also, herbs like basil, cilantro, and parsley.   Here are some tricks to a great vegetable garden:  Choose an area that gets full sun for the majority of the day.  Till your garden area and amend the soil with compost one year before planting.  Use appropriate fencing material to keep critters out.  Cover the ground with hay to retain moisture after planting.

So if you are interested in a garden that will attract butterflies, here are two websites that have great ideas.  This one has pictures

http://www.ca.uky.edu/ENTOMOLOGY/entfacts/ef006.asp

and this one has great information

http://www.lpb.org/programs/butterflies/gardening.html

Here, I’m listing some of the more common flowers found here:

Purple coneflower, milkweed (asclepias), marigold, aster, daylilies, purple verbena, black-eyed susan, pink Joe-Pye weed, bee balm, viburnum, lilac, and zinnia.

One site suggests to put a shallow dish filled with water and some sand so they can drink.

Gardening is so much fun!

This is a test… This is only a test…

I am really testing out  posting from the iPhone, but, in honor of the impending snowstorm, I thought I would show you all how pretty this bush in my front flower bed looks in the snow.

Of course, if I was a real Charlotte Mason teacher-mom, I could call the bush by its name. If any of you would like to educate me in the comments, I would appreciate it.

–Christa

Nature Study pictures from October 20

Nature Journalling

by the way… that fuzzy-looking thing is a Chinese Chestnet, and it is really sharp.

Grasshopper

Big Grasshopper

Rachel got an awesome picture of this grasshopper that her son found at the Pumpkin Patch.

A fantastic spider on her web…

Nature Trail

Originally uploaded by maggie_0h

Beautiful picture, too! Thank you, Maggie!

Nature Study 9.15.2009: Choosing a tree

We gathered in a local park so that each family can choose a tree to watch over the next year.  We’ll be looking for changes as the seasons and weather change.  We plan to revisit these trees once every 6-8 weeks.