Category: Herbs

Enjoy a rosemary herb study and learn about this popular culinary herb in the mint family used in many common dishes. Use your senses to discover more during your outdoor hour!

In many areas, the rosemary herb is a particularly popular landscape plant that is drought resistant. It is also used for herbal sachets, soaps, creams and lotions.

Rosemary Herb Study: Outdoor Hour Challenge

Inside Preparation:

• This evergreen perennial shrub has opposite, leathery, narrow needle-like leaves. The leaves are dark green on top and downy white on the bottom. There is a prominent vein that runs down the middle of the leaf. The stem is woody.  The fragrance is pungent and slightly pine-like.
• The blossoms are pale blue and about a half inch long.
• Read more about the mint family of plants here: Mint Family – Lamiaceae

Outdoor Time: Use Your Senses To Learn About the Rosemary Plant:

Observe your rosemary plant using all your senses.

• Touch– What do the leaves feel like? How would you describe the stem? Is the stem square?
• Fragrance- Smell the leaves. Crush some leaves and see if you can tell the difference. Do the flowers have a fragrance?
• Sight– How tall is the plant? How wide is your plant? Use your best description for the colors, shapes and sizes for your rosemary.
• Taste– Taste the fresh leaves and then bring in some leaves to dry. Does the dry rosemary taste differently than the fresh?
• Are there insects in your rosemary? Common insects are the honeybee and the spittle bug. See my entry showing spittle bugs on my rosemary: Up Close Insect Observations.
• Does the plant grow mostly upward or outward?

Follow Up Rosemary Study

• Create a nature journal entry for your rosemary plant. For beginners, keep it simple and include a sketch of your rosemary plant and a caption.   There is a notebook page for members here on Homeschool Nature Study: Herb Study-Rosemary. Look for it the Herbs Course in your membership.
• Bring a sprig or two inside for your nature table. If you have a mortar and pestle, let your children grind up the rosemary and have them describe the fragrance.

Advanced Study for Older or High School Students

Create a nature journal page to record the many uses of rosemary. More advanced students can include a sketch of the stem, leaf, and flower. Here is a link for your research: Uses and Benefits of Rosemary.

Long Term Rosemary Project

Potted Rosemary can be a long term garden project for even a young child. Look for a small rosemary plant at your local garden nursery. Rosemary likes lots of sun so find a sunny windowsill if you are not planting it outdoors.

Rosemary can take a bit of snow but it doesn’t do well where it has long days of cold and/or freezing. Rosemary is usually grown from a cutting and not from seeds. Here is some information on growing rosemary from a cutting: How to Propagate Rosemary (with images).

Recipes With Rosemary to Try:

• Grilled Bread with Rosemary Dipping Oil: This is amazing! Super simple and even if you don’t grill your bread but still dip it in the flavored oil it will be a treat.
• Rosemary Focaccia Bread: I could eat this bread every single day.

More in Herbs Nature Study Course

 This Herbs course in Homeschool Nature Study membership includes:

• Outdoor Hour Challenge printable curriculum
• Herb Study Planner Page
• Resource and Supplies List
• Herb Study Planning Page
• Instructions For Using The Herbs Curriculum
• Planting Herbs to Attract Insects
• Herbs in a Child’s Garden
• Herbs from Renee’s Garden
• Notebook Pages: Regular and Advanced Versions
• Coloring Pages

Outdoor Hour Challenges Included:

• Cilantro
• Basil
• Bee Balm
• Oregano
• Dill
• Thyme
• Sage
• Mint
• Bonus: Rosemary

Homeschool Nature Study Membership for Year Round Support

Can you believe all of these spring homeschool resources you will find in membership? You will also find a continuing homeschool nature study series plus all the Outdoor Hour Challenges for nature study in our Homeschool Nature Study membership. There are 25+ continuing courses with matching Outdoor Hour curriculum that will bring the Handbook of Nature Study to life in your homeschool! In addition, there is an interactive monthly calendar with daily nature study prompt – all at your fingertips!

We have quite a few new participants in the Outdoor Hour Challenges so I want to give a big welcome to everyone!

Be inspired. Be encouraged. Get outdoors!

Outdoor Hour Challenge by founder, Barbara McCoy, September 2009. Updated by Tricia April 2025. Tricia and her family fell in love with the Handbook of Nature Study and the accompanying Outdoor Hour Challenges early in their homeschooling. The simplicity and ease of the weekly outdoor hour challenges brought joy to their homeschool and opened their eyes to the world right out their own back door! She shares the art and heart of homeschooling at You ARE an ARTiST and Your Best Homeschool plus her favorite curricula at The Curriculum Choice. She and her husband, Steve, are also publishers of Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett.

Enjoy your week!

By Barb McCoy, June 2017