I am very ready to get into summer mode with our nature study. My bee garden is growing and my “artist’s garden” is coming along….my paints and markers are just itching to get started.
We have hedge bindweed growing under our birdfeeder. I am guessing the seed came for our seed mix and now it is establishing itself under the feeder. It is such a pretty pink flower that I am tempted to let it grow but I am a little concerned that it will spread into other parts of the yard.
We looked it up in the Handbook of Nature Study (Lesson 129)and here are some points we gleaned:
When the bindweed doesn’t find something to support it up in the air, it will grow in a mat on the ground. Anna Botsford Comstock says that it makes an “exquisite pattern”.
She says that it winds itself in a clockwise manner as it twines around its support. We had to go look.
The leaves are arrow-shaped, glossy and perfect.
The flower bud is twisted….another great thing to observe!
She wrote that the pollen is white and looks like pearls under a microscope. We took a look at this too.
She suggests two things, one we did right away and one we will be doing as an on-going project.
Watercolor for the nature journal
Compare the hedge bindweed to the morning glory. We have a pot of morning glories started on the front deck so as the vine appears and we see how it attaches to the railing we can make some comparisons.
This was another quick and easy nature study using the Handbook of Nature Study.
I also found the notebook page from NotebookingPages.com’s Weeds and Wildflowers set to be handy to quickly jot down the points we observed in our study.
“From constantly using them, all of his senses are keen-such as his eyesight, his hearing, and the rest. His powers of observation have been cultivated to a high degree of refinement; and let me tell you right here that a good observer holds, in any course of life, the reins of success in his hands-as compared with the one who is lacking in it-in a proportion that is truly remarkable. With good powers of observation comes good judgment and the ability to render correct decisions in many matters vital to success, together with the ability to assist others.”
The Nature Study Review
With our powers of observation, we noticed our first Queen Anne’s Lace blossom of the year! Success!
Our crop plant study as part of the June Newsletter suggestions focused on corn. Yes, corn. We haven’t had much luck in the past growing corn but we wanted to try again this year as part of our Three Sisters Garden where we plant corn, beans, and squash as companions. (There is an official Corn Crop Plants Challenge on my sidebar. You can just observe an ear of corn and make an entry if you wish.)
We did some reading beforehand and realized that we needed to plant more corn than we usually do so it will have a better chance of pollinating. We planted the corn in mounds and have let it grow to around six inches high before planting the beans around the corn and then pumpkins in alternating mounds between the corn. You can find complete directions HERE on Renee’s Garden website (love this website).
Here are our young corn plants. We have been using homemade compost to enrich our soil and every time I dig around to weed the mounds I find oodles of earthworms. I am hoping that is a good sign for our corn and its health.
We had to put tomato cages around each mound for now to keep the critters out…..human kind and canine kind as well.
I noticed that there is a potato growing in the row so we decided to leave it and see what happens with it. We have never grown potatoes but there must have been one left in the compost when it was dumped in this section of the garden.
We read in the Handbook of Nature Study that corn study can take place in the spring as soon as the leaves appear and that because the corn plant grows so fast that it is a great season long study. We will be watching anxiously as our corn grows and in Lesson 168 in the Handbook of Nature Study there are many interesting observations to make as the plant grows.
You can purchase a set of notebook pages to go along with all the Crop Plants studies in the Handbook of Nature StudyHERE. There are also challenges listed on the right sidebar of my blog to go along with them.
We are also anxious for our green beans to start their vines…our poles are ready!
Don’t forget to post and then share your crop plant study with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. Here is the link to ENTER.
Keeping up with our area’s wildflowers has been pretty difficult the last few weeks. Our “spring” has been so much wetter and colder than normal so our wildflowers are lagging behind their normal bloom time.But now that the sun is out and the temperatures are rising, we have a show of wildflowers to make you smile if you take the time to notice.
Don’t get me wrong….it is not a burden to enjoy the bursting out of colors and shapes along the walking trail and our hiking trail. I love seeing the familiar happy flowers and it warms my heart to realize how many of them I actually can identify with no hesitation. The slow flower-by-flower learning of my local area is a joy and it makes the last four or five years of focusing on looking up and naming flowers worth the effort.
Here is a sort of photo journal of some of our wildflowers from the last few weeks.
Yarrow
Golden Brodiaea
The chinese purple houses are everywhere this year. I think the abundance of rain has brought it all out. It is almost “common” this year.
This is my treasured purple milkweed and there are only two plants that I could find this year. I have gone back to see if it is blooming and it is still in bud. I don’t want to miss it.
Mustang clover blankets whole hillsides along our trail. Isn’t it a happy flower?
We don’t have too much larkspur but there is one spot that I can find it every year. It also doesn’t last long so I was glad that I was able to catch it on the bloom.
The Checkermallow has such a delicate pink color and check out the bud. Doesn’t look like candy?
I can’t remember the name for this pretty flower….
Blackberry blossom
Monkeyflowers are the flower of the year. They line the roadside ditches with explosions of yellow.
What about your part of the world? What are your common wildflowers and what is in abundance this year? I would love to hear your stories.
Our choice for the Garden Critter study this month is the honeybee. We have been building a bee, butterfly, and bird habitat in our yard this year and it seemed fitting that we take a few minutes to read in the Handbook of Nature Study (Lesson 99) about this welcome guest to our garden.
We have planted many bee attractive plants and every day, rain or shine, they come to visit. Their favorite spot in the yard is the center square filled with lavender. If you sit close by, you can hear the buzzing of wings and you can watch their activity among the flowers.
Water for the Bees – Lavender and Baby Lemon Queen Sunflowers
We read recently online that bees need water as part of their habitat. We found a shallow pie pan, filled it with an assortment of local rocks we had on hand, and then filled it with water. The rain has kept it filled but now that the weather is looking like it will remain dry, I will just replenish the water when I water the garden. Here is a really informative article about Planting a Bee Garden.
This is what we are aiming for…image from two summers ago in our sunflowers. Can you believe that pollen?
We will be taking part in the Great Sunflower Project later in the summer. I highly recommend this nature activity which is fun and simple to do as a family. Click below for more information.
Don’t forget to post and then submit your June Newsletter nature studies to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. Here is THE LINK. If you need to find the link quickly, it is at the top of my blog in a couple of places for easy access.
Jami’s Tuesday Garden Party meme is open from Tuesday to Thursday so there is still time for you to jump in and participate!
As part of the June Newsletter, I suggested that you try to find a garden critter to observe and study using the Handbook of Nature Study. There are already quite a few challenges that feature critters that you may come across in your own garden. Using the Outdoor Hour Challenge does not need to take a lot of time. In fact, I originally started the challenges and expected participants to only spend 10-15 minutes outdoors with their children. You do not need to make your nature study into a unit study or complicated. In fact, the simpler the better since it usually means the children are following their interests. If you already own the Getting Started ebook, you can use the first five challenges along with the suggestions in the June Newsletter.
Here are a few links to challenges that you may wish to think about using as part of the Garden Critter suggestion in the June Newsletter.
Garden snail (no OHC yet but covered in the Handbook of Nature Study)
Have fun exploring your garden or yard for something interesting to learn more about in your nature study. You might try to go outside early in the morning or later in the evening when the temperatures are cooler and there may be more critters moving around.
Make sure to follow up your study with the chance for a nature journal entry. Look up the answers to any questions your children may have either in the Handbook of Nature Study or at your local library. After you make your blog entry about your garden critter, submit it to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. Remember every entry to the carnival is an entry in my June Newsletter Giveaway for a Squirrel Buster Birdfeeder.
The difference between a good outdoor experience and a great outdoor experience with an opportunity for nature study is sometimes just a matter of preparation. Summer nature study is a perfect fit for most families with the weather being more enjoyable and with longer days to enjoy. Whether you are visiting a new city, exploring your own city, or taking a road trip, including nature study in your plans can make your time more fun and interesting. Our family tries to include some element of outdoor time to each traveling experience.
California Tiger Lily
Four steps to preparing for nature study as you travel this summer.
1. Do a little research ahead of time for the habitat you will be visiting. Determine what you will encounter on your trip that might make for interesting nature study. I linked some ideas below along with some simple nature study books to get you started. Make sure to use your local library to find more books to prepare your family before your trip so you have some things to look forward to seeing in real life. For example, if you are going to be visiting an ocean beach, learn what plants, birds, and animals make their home there. You can also use the Handbook of Nature Study to read about things you think you might encounter during your summer travels.
2. Find resources such as field guides or other nature related books to read or bring along with you. I suggest a good bird field guide, a wildflower field guide, and perhaps a tree field guide as a basic set of resources to have with you. Check your library for books you can borrow and take with you. I have complied two lists of suggested field guides: Field Guides for Beginners and Field Guides for Families To prepare, you should page through the field guides before you leave on your trip to be familiar with the layout of the book and perhaps to glean a few things ahead of time to be looking for as you go outdoors.
Nature Journals done on the trail do not need to be fancy.
3. Bring along your nature journal or some pre-printed notebook pages. During down time it is nice to have supplies on hand to make a nature journal entry to record your nature study as you travel. Basic art supplies like markers or colored pencils are easy to pack. I also like watercolor pencils for nature journal entries. Keep it simple and light. Digital cameras are a lot of fun for children to use as they document their own view of the trip. Encourage your children to take photos of things that they observe for future reference in identifying or including in their nature journals.
My suggestions for nature journal supplies and then nature journal ideas can be found here: Nature Journals-Ideas and Tips.
In preparing for your trip, you could also look up a few of the Outdoor Hour Challenges before you travel, the first five challenges can be applied to any habitat. If you have the first Getting Started Challenges 1-10 ebook, you can have that loaded on your laptop and reference it as you travel.
My boys love to climb and this time they discovered banana slugs and salamanders.
4. I also like to look up nature centers or nature trails in the areas we visit.A good nature center visit can take an hour or two and can provide a spark to capture the interest of everyone in the family. The staff is usually knowledgeable about the local habitat, giving you advice on where to go and what to see. They also can help identify anything you have observed but can’t put a name to as you try to make your journal entries. Most nature centers have bookstores that can provide additional resources to follow-up your nature study time. I found this list of Nature Centers in the United States. (This list does not look complete but it will get you started.)
We are preparing for a camping trip of our own and I have used the suggestions above to gather ideas and resources ahead of time. You know we will share our results when we return from our coastal trip where we are hoping to find tidepools to explore, sandy beaches to walk, and redwood forests to hike in. We have some time before we set out so we will be thumbing through our field guides and looking up some additional information and redwood forests while we wait.
Hope you have the chance to spend some time outdoors this summer with your family AND include a little nature study.
This post is going to be a part of the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival for nature study. You can submit your own entryHERE and the deadline is 6/13/11.
We can stand inches from the feeders and the hummingbirds still come to eat.
May 2011- This list is testimony that keeping a list makes you more aware of the birds as you go about your everyday business. I started off the month thinking that our feeders were empty and that most of our resident birds were gone. But….when I slowed down, wrote down each bird that I saw each day, the list is full and rich and even includes a new bird to our life list. I love the mental exercise of keeping track of the birds we see and it makes me more aware of each winged creature that we saw during the month.
We are leaning towards studying our backyard hummingbirds for our June bird since they are such a willing subject. You can join us with a hummingbird study by clicking over to the Outdoor Hour Challenge for Hummingbirds and Flight.
From Our Backyard
Western scrub jay
White-crowned sparrows
Anna’s hummingbird-Resident hummers are all over the place right now!
Common raven
Black-headed Grosbeak* Our new bird that we first observed on the trail and then at our very own feeders!
Red-tail hawk
Turkey vultures
Mourning doves
Great horned owl *Mr. A was up early one morning outside and he called me out to listen to two owls
House finches – Sweet singers in our yard
White-breasted nuthatch
California quail-A pair in our backyard…not usually seen so close to home. Lots as we drive around town.
American crow
Canada goose
Acorn woodpecker- swings from the suet feeder like an acrobat
Lesser goldfinches – so brilliant and yellow right now…..in the feeders and the birdbath
House sparrows
Oak titmouse
California towhee
Starlings
American robin – another bird bath participant
Out and About
Brewer’s blackbird
Tree swallows
Wild turkeys – whole flocks
Spotted towhee
Red-wing blackbird
Mallard ducks
White Goose….not sure what the name is yet.
Rock pigeons
Emu – sort of a crazy bird to add but we did see several, obviously not native….neighbor has a few
You can share your link with Tweet and See…click the button above to learn more about the monthly meme.
We spend lots of time outdoors throughout the seasons but last night I realized why I like the summer season so much more than any other. My favorite time of day is after dinner is prepared, eaten, cleaned up, and the other chores are done for the day. When I step outside in the evening the garden is not calling me to work….no weeding, no planting , no watering, no pruning, or harvesting.
At that time of day the garden is saying, “Come on out and sit. Enjoy the growing things. Smell the fragrances that drift on the cool night air. Drink deep and refresh yourself after a long busy day. Say a prayer of thanks and just look at the sky.”
I answer the call.
We had a bit of rain earlier in the day and it watered the garden for me.
Last night as I sat on the lawn chair I saw a few goldfinches visit the feeder, I noticed the lilac is getting bigger, I smelled my fragrant roses, I kicked off my shoes and wiggled my toes in the grass, and I heard the rustling of the tree leaves behind me. I was alone for the first time all day and it was really nice to sit and think.
Jami isn’t the only one experiencing colder, wetter weather.
Plans were made as the sun set in the west to trim a few bushes, fill the feeders, weed the path, and write this blog entry but not tonight….maybe in the morning.
Summer evening in the garden….looking forward to more of those in the weeks to come.
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
Jami’s Tuesday Garden Party meme is open from Tuesday to Thursday so there is still time for you to jump in and participate!
