I think I’ve mentioned before how much I struggle with change. I decided that’s why I don’t really enjoy the transition from summer to autumn. I see the change in the light, the change in foliage, the change in blooms, the change in birds and other wildlife. Here where I live in Central Oregon, these changes come rapidly.
In the garden, we are planning/planting/harvesting…
We had a couple nights of freezing temperatures and overnight we lost a large number of plants to frost. Some of the plants have bounced back but I had to prune out quite a few of my more delicate flowers.
With the decrease in bird activity, the squirrels have made a return to the feeders. In fact, the squirrels are pulling down the sunflowers and eating the seeds. Or, in the case of the golden mantle ground squirrel, they are climbing the stems and sitting on the flower heads to have a meal!
I added nature journal pages about…
I’ve been working on a late summer wildflower project. We don’t have many so it’s been a challenge to find flowers to include in my nature journal. Last week we took advantage of a very warm afternoon to take a long walk in Sunriver to look for flowers there. We found quite a bit of rabbitbrush and sulfur flower blooming in the dry landscape.
The most inspiring thing we experienced was…
The bird of the month is the American goldfinch. They are abundant both at the feeders and in the flowers of the garden as they eat seeds and leaves. They are often at the water bowls and the birdbath. I love how happy they make me!
One last image…
Holy smoke! We saw the biggest bullfrog ever in our lawn last week. My husband was mowing the lawn and spotted him before he ran him over. We carried him safely off to another part of the yard. Afterwards, I was looking up bullfrogs in Oregon and realized that they are an invasive species that we are supposed to “harvest” to reduce their numbers. I could have never done anything to harm this magnificent creature.
You can follow me on Instagram to see more of our outdoor life here in gorgeous Central Oregon.
Want to join in the Outdoor Mom post?
Answer all or just one of the prompts in a blog entry on your own blog or right here on my blog in a comment. If you answer on your blog, make sure to leave me a link in a comment so that I can pop over and read your responses.
During our outdoor time, this month we went…
The most inspiring thing we experienced was…
Our outdoor time made us ask (or wonder about) …
In the garden, we are planning/planting/harvesting…
The habit of nature study is best when you can regularly be outside with your children. For our family, this habit was built out in our backyard, mostly because it was convenient but also for the simple reason that I felt it was important for my children to learn about real things, plants, and animals they could observe up close.
A Little Inspiration
I once read an article written by a mom who had little by little converted her suburban backyard into a wild place for her children. She brought in some rocks for lizards and insects to take shelter in. She sourced a big log to give the kids the opportunity to experience the living creatures that lived in, under, and on the log, as well as observe the log’s decomposition. She made a sand pile for digging with pails and shovels. There were places to play in the hose and make mud. After reading of that experience, it occurred to me that with a little effort on her part, she had created a space for her children to experience nature even in a small backyard.
In My Experience
Our backyard seemed the best place to start! After all, it’s a short voyage from our home to this “nature study lab”. Quickly I realized that we could enhance our experience by attracting wildlife into our space. Starting small, we grew our habitat each year, adding more opportunities for exploring and observing wildlife without leaving home. Having nature out the back door helped create a habit of getting outside with my children.
What can you do to get started?
Assess Your Yard and Make a Plan
Make an assessment of what you already have available in your yard. You can use the printable linked below to get started. Ask your children to help you make an inventory of what may already be working for wildlife.
As you build your backyard habitat, you will have more opportunities to closely observe and enjoy birds, small mammals, reptiles, insects, and others who make a home or visit your little wildlife oasis.
This project can be as simple or complex as you make it. Perhaps just making one change at a time to see what works for your yard will be enough to bump up your wildlife visitors a notch.
Simple First Steps:
Add a water source in the form of a shallow basin or saucer.
Add a birdfeeder.
Add a shrub.
Add some rocks.
Add a potted plant with blooming flowers.
Keeping in mind that a wildlife habitat needs water, shelter, and food, build your backyard habitat even if you are on a limited budget. Let friends and family know about your nature study project and see if they have items they can share with you.
The nature study habit is easier when you have constant and endless access to your backyard habitat. No need to travel far! In studying nature close to home, our children will learn to observe, to write about their experiences, to draw their treasures, to be patient, to imagine, and to explore.
Anna Botsford Comstock in her book Handbook of Nature Study puts her thoughts this way, “Nature study is for the comprehension of the individual life of the bird, insect, or plant that is nearest at hand.”
In the book Last Child in the Woods, the author makes the point several times that today’s science textbooks and programs are missing the mark. Many, many young students know more about the tropical rainforests and volcanoes of the world than they know about their own backyards.
“Adults should realize the most valuable thing children can learn is what they discover themselves about the world they live in. Once they experience first-hand the wonder of nature, they will want to make nature observation a life-long habit.” Charlotte Mason, Volume 1, page 61
Miss Mason was really helping us to see how to make science meaningful for our children. No longer will science be abstract or have a political agenda. The simple habit of getting outside with our children is easy to reach; we are often the ones making it complicated.
Look for the Wildlife Habitat Plan printable posted in the Getting Back to Basics – The Habit of Nature Study section of the Member’s Library. Download the file and have your children help you complete the assessment this week.
Look for the Know Your Own Backyard printable posted in the Getting Back to Basics – The Habit of Nature Study section of the Member’s Library.
Outdoor Hour Challenge #9 in the Getting Started ebook features the One Small Square activity. Complete this challenge in your own backyard to bring to light subjects you may be overlooking. This challenge will help you focus on a small area of any yard, anywhere. There is a coordinating activity found in this entry: 5 Ways to Use Your Magnifying Lens. You can incorporate the two printables linked in this entry to your study of nature in your own backyard.
Members can click here to log into your account to download any of the items mentioned above.
If you’re not a member here on the Handbook of Nature Study yet, please consider joining to gain the benefit of having a nature study library at your fingertips. There are numerous resources available for you to help create the habit of nature study within your family.
Please note that the Ultimate Naturalist Library will only be available until 12/31/2021. At that time my website will be shutting down.
If you are an email subscriber to the Handbook of Nature Study, you may consider saving this email in a folder for future reference. The blog will be retiring at the end of the year as well.
It won’t be long until it will be time for some awesome autumn nature study! Members here on the Handbook of Nature Study can look in their Member’s Library for the five autumn themed ebooks available for downloading.
I’ll list the autumn themed ebooks below and if you want to click over to see the specific topics covered, you can easily do that by clicking the book title.
Autumn Nature Study Ebooks Available
1) Autumn 2009 – Download the free notebook pages to go along with the autumn nature study ideas.
If you are new to the Outdoor Hour Challenge and would like to purchase a membership, you can click the graphic at the bottom of this post. Don’t miss the discount code!
For a complete list of autumn season nature study topics, you can click the Autumn tab at the top of the website.
Use the discount code AUTUMNFUN2021 for $5 off your Ultimate Naturalist Library membership. Code will expire on 9/17/2021.
If you’d like to have access to all of the autumn ebooks, you’ll find them all in the Ultimate Naturalist Library membership.
Please note:
This is the last autumn season that the ebooks will be available here on the website. If you are a member, please download and save the ebooks for future use!
What a fantastic year for the garden! We have so many success stories to share and positive results as the season is in full swing. Renee’s Garden seeds were a huge part of the colorful and vibrant garden our family and friends have enjoyed as they visited this past month.
Read below for the specific seeds we planted and the results we achieved.
I get more compliments about this particular flower in my garden than any other flower. Their striking colors are so pretty! I count these as a huge success.
We had more blooms last year but there are still quite a few of the rainbow-colored poppies for us to enjoy. For some reason, they are leaning and reaching outside the garden box. I really need to figure out what’s going on there.
As always, we’ve had a bumper crop from the Lemon Queen Sunflowers. They’re not only a favorite of the bees, but they’re also a favorite of mine! The soft yellow is such a happy color.
We planted these beans in pots at the beginning of May. I started with 3 plants when we transplanted them but ended up with only one healthy plant that produces blossoms and beans. I must be honest. These were an experiment to see if they can grow in our climate. The success of this one plant made me realize that I can grow beans in my garden and I have a great plan to be sure to have more plants thrive next year. As of today, the plants are withering from a couple of nights where the temperatures dropped to near freezing. Not sure I can justify the effort to grow these in my Central Oregon garden with such a small window of productivity. I did look back in my records though and we harvested lots of this variety of green bean from our garden in California. So, the failure here is a matter of habitat and climate and not the seeds.
We had plenty of success with these seeds sprouting and growing, putting on blossoms, but no fruit at all. I think it may have to do with the cooler nights we have which make it hard for these to thrive. I wouldn’t count this as a failure of the seeds, just our garden zone.
I love these sunflowers so much! They add such a deep burgundy pop to the otherwise very yellow sunflower bed. Another thing I love about them? They make awesome cut flowers. I’ve had a vase continually filled with their happy, vibrant flowers.
These were started in May in pots and transplanted to the garden in June. We eagerly watched as the plants grew up the twine, put on flowers, and then produced pods that you allow to dry on the vine. Many mornings I look out the window and see the hummingbirds visiting the scarlet red blossoms. What a perfect addition to my garden!
This was a winner from last year’s garden. We added another packet of seeds to the box and once again they are a spectacular display of colors and shapes. I did make the mistake of allowing some volunteer sunflowers to grow in with the seeds. These have overshadowed the flower mix and I think perhaps the flowering of some of the varieties. Nonetheless, there have been plenty of bees and butterflies visiting the rainbow of flowers.
This is one of the sunflowers that I sprouted and gave to friends. We’ve all had success growing them in our gardens and their slightly smaller flower head and multiple heads on one stem make them a great cut flower.
This is a favorite from the last few years here in Central Oregon. I now can’t imagine a flower garden without these poppies! I saved seed from last year’s crop and scattered it early in the spring to see how many would grow. Well, I’m happy to report that I have quite a few of this variety of poppy in several areas of my yard. The bees can be found daily buzzing and sipping from the red blossoms. If you would like a showy display, give these seeds a try.
Renee’s Garden seedsare the foundation of our flower garden. I’ve already made a list of new things to add next year to promote a wider range of colors, shapes, and heights to my flower beds.
I highly recommend purchasing from Renee’s and seeing the gorgeous results for yourself. I do receive a small amount of seed from Renee’s Garden as a promotional gift. In addition to her gift, I purchase many of the seeds myself. I know they’re always of the highest quality.
I also recommend following her on Instagram to see all of the new products available as they are released. #reneesgardenseeds
Are you interested in using the Handbook of Nature Study for a study of garden flowers? I’ve compiled a list of the topics from the book and coordinated them with the Outdoor Hour Challenges. I hope this is helpful for your family!
This week we’ll be studying mint as part of the herb nature study series. This plant is an easy plant to grow for beginners and younger students.
Here are a few observation ideas for you to get started:
Note the mint’s square stalk and the opposite pair of aromatic leaves. Feel the stem. Crush the leaves between your fingers for a more intense scent. Does it smell like toothpaste?
Note the color and height of the stem.
Look at the leaves and observe the shape and veins. What is the texture of the leaf? Taste a few of the fresh leaves if possible.
Observe the flowers if they are present. What is their color and size? Do they have a fragrance? Did you see any insects on the plant or flowers? Bees, hover flies, and tachinid flies all are attracted to mint flowers.
Advanced Study: Grow and then study two kinds of mint. This link has a list of a variety of mints you could choose from: Mint Plant Varieties.
Remember that the rest of the challenge is available to Ultimate and Journey level members here on the Handbook of Nature Study.
You will need to sign into your Ultimate or Journey level membership to see the herb ebook download.
Once you download your ebook, you’ll have complete access to the challenge. This includes additional links, resources, study ideas, and printables.
Please note you can purchase a membership right now for $35 using the code GREATDAY. Code expires on 9/10/2021.
Waking up to birdsong has become my favorite part of summer. It starts early! Mid-July it started around 4:30 AM and it has gradually become later and later, until those morning serenades have stopped. The departure of so many of the dawn singing birds has been replaced by a nip in the air and shorter days. How does that happen so fast?
You may wonder how I know that the birdsong starts so early. Well, we spent most summer nights sleeping in our backyard tent. The birds would be so loud that they would wake me up! I heard many a nighttime owl duet from the resident great horned owls. Then there were the frogs in the river meander behind our house that make a ruckus most nights. Finally, the last few weeks we’ve had the sound of yipping and howling coyotes. It’s hard to believe there’s so much going on outside, but it’s there if you happen to listen.
Late Summer Changes
Most of the robins have flown on, the swallows are gone, the bluebirds are scarce, hardly a red-wing blackbird to be seen. The sounds now are of chickadees, finches, doves, and flickers. I’ve been reflecting on the coming and going of the birds as the seasons change. I looked back in my journal where I noted we saw our first robin and red-wing on March 1, 2021. I remember that day with great fondness, happy day indeed. The summer bird season went by entirely too fast.
As I write this entry, our garden is still in full bloom and I spend many days watering, weeding, and cutting flowers. I call it my garden therapy. I sometimes linger sitting on the garden bench just so I can watch the creatures who come to visit. There are hummingbirds in the flowers, bees buzzing around, and all kinds of birds who come to take a bath or drink from the bird baths. There are a few chipmunks who zip in and around the garden when they think no one is watching. If I’m lucky, there will be a butterfly, or a dragonfly come to check things out.
I make mental notes of what grew well in the garden and what I would like to do differently next year. I create new plans in my head for areas that need improvement and I also make a mental list of the things that failed.
Some days, our kids show up and entice us down to the river for a kayak. We drag the boats down to the riverbank and slip into the shallow water as we make our way downstream. The river is low this time of year and it’s not unusual to see a few fish or crawdads as we float over.
The grasses are still quite green from the thunderstorms we’ve had this month. This means the cows and calves are still living out back where we enjoy their antics as they spend their long summer days grazing and sitting under our trees out back. They often are right along the river’s edge as we make our way down river. We noted a brand new calf with spindly legs and soft brown eyes, we named him Hot Cocoa.
Our new family table, built with my husband’s own hands. We have welcomed many family members to this table over the summer and we will continue the tradition next year.
Now I find myself trying to muster up enthusiasm for the autumn and all the changes that come with it. Most people welcome the autumn, but it makes me feel unsettled. Perhaps it’s because I don’t like change and the replacing of my warm, summer sunshine-filled days with the unpredictability that comes with autumn in Central Oregon. We could have a warm day, a cold day, a snow day, or all the above all in one day.
The falling leaves and withering flowers make me sad. The putting away of the lawn furniture and the potted plants and taking down the flower baskets….so melancholy.
I have in the past found it helpful to make an Autumn Bucket List of things I look forward to doing to make the season a little more positive in my eyes. So, I will do that this year in anticipation of trying to put some joy in my autumn. Maybe that will take my mind off the winter season which is cold and long here in La Pine. I can always hope anyway.
This summer is drawing to a close and I have saved up some memories to pull out on long winter days. This mom is grateful to have had a garden to enjoy this year and a place to spend my days close to the plants and animals who share my space. I also appreciate the ability to share it all with you dear readers.
You can follow me on Instagram to see more of our outdoor life here in gorgeous Central Oregon.
Want to join in the Outdoor Mom post?
Answer all or just one of the prompts in a blog entry on your own blog or right here on my blog in a comment. If you answer on your blog, make sure to leave me a link in a comment so that I can pop over and read your responses.
During our outdoor time, this month we went…
The most inspiring thing we experienced was…
Our outdoor time made us ask (or wonder about) …
In the garden, we are planning/planting/harvesting…
We’ve had a great summer here in Central Oregon. There have been so many things learned about new birds and plants! I hope that you had a great summer of nature study too.
At the start of this last season here on the Handbook of Nature Study, I’m offering a large discount to new members. Please read the information below because I need you to be aware that the website and the member’s library will only be available until 12/31/21. At that time, I’m going to be going into full retirement and shutting the website off.
Note: If you did not read the post about the plan for the Handbook of Nature Study for the rest of the 2021 calendar year, here’s a link that you should read:
Sage is a common medicinal and culinary herb in the mint family. It is attractive to bees, butterflies, and birds. Sage is a wonderful addition to your garden and is easy to grow for even beginning gardeners.
Sage is a drought tolerant evergreen plant or shrub that grows approximately 2 feet tall and 3 feet wide. It can become a woody shrub if you don’t keep it trimmed. You can grow sage in well-drained areas of your garden that have lots of sun.
Here are a few ideas for observations to get you started in your sage study:
What is the height of the sage stem? Feel the shape, color, and thickness of the stem. Note the arrangement of the leaves on the stem.
Look at the sage leaves and observe the shape, color, and size. What is the texture of the leaf? Taste a few of the fresh leaves if possible. Crush a few of the sage leaves in the palm of your hand to bring out the aroma.
Remember that the rest of the challenge is available to Ultimate and Journey level members here on the Handbook of Nature Study.
You will need to sign into your Ultimate or Journey level membership to see the herb ebook download.
Once you download your ebook, you will have complete access to the challenge. This includes additional links, resources, study ideas, and printables.
Last year I announced that I would be retiring soon, and over the past year there was a slowing down of posting and creating new materials here on the Handbook of Nature Study. During this next season, my Friday posts will be some of my most beloved ideas to assist families in their continued nature study. These entries will hopefully inspire you to create your own nature study plan with fundamental ideas that have worked both for my own family and for many other families who have participated in the Outdoor Hour Challenge over the years.
Transitions are always hard. I appreciate your understanding. Our family continues to deal with elder care and health issues. These responsibilities prevent me from devoting as much time as I would like to helping families with their nature studies. But I’ve hung on for so long because I truly love what I’ve shared and created via the Outdoor Hour Challenge. These decisions have not come without great thought and consideration.
What Should You Do?
I will be continuing to post my weekly Friday nature posts until 12/31/21. Please make sure you’re subscribed to the blog posts so you will receive my weekly posts in your email box. If these posts are something that helps you in your nature study, keep the emails in a folder for future reference. Each post will have links for you to further explore using materials in the Ultimate Naturalist Library.
Very Important
Members to the Ultimate Naturalist Library will have access to all the ebooks, newsletters, and printables until 12/31/2021. At that point, I will be closing down the Handbook of Nature Study website.
In anticipation of the shutting down of the website, I highly encourage members to download and save any materials you wish to use in the future. I know this is a big job, but I hope by giving you plenty of notice you’ll make time to build your own library with the materials I have created.
Please note you can still purchase a membership as long as the website is up. I’ll be posting a discount code later this month if you’d like to wait for that before purchasing.
P.S. Just as a side note, I did attempt to create a website to stay live on the internet for members, but I had a bad experience with a designer who took my money and then disappeared. I have no budget to try again.
Already a member? You’ll need to sign into your Ultimate or Journey level membership to see the herb ebook download. Once you download your ebook, you’ll find the complete challenge with observation ideas, additional links, notebook page, images, and a coloring page.
In the Herb ebook are eight brand new Outdoor Hour Challenges for you to complete as part of your nature study lessons with your children. These challenges are not based on information in the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock. You’ll be using internet links and field guides to glean information about each topic.
Here are the specific topics included in this ebook:
Outdoor Hour Challenge #9
Late Summer Changes
