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Posted on April 13, 2016 by Barb — 10 Comments

Outdoor Mom’s Journal – April 2016

“She who opens her eyes and her heart nature-ward even once a week finds nature-study in the schoolroom a delight and an abiding joy….She finds, first of all, companionship with her children; and second, she finds that without planning or going on a far voyage, she has found health and strength”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 3

It has been a great month of outdoor activity here in our household. I tend to forget how much better I feel when I get outside and walk/hike regularly. It is a cleansing of the everyday anxieties that is only found with fresh air and physical activity. I would love to share some highlights of the month so far with you.

It is always so exciting to find and identify a new wildflower! We were on a hike at a very well known trail and there it was…a new flower. I took some photos and then later used my field guide to find out what the name and some interesting facts. This is Johnny-Tuck or Butter and Eggs (Triphysaria eriantha). When we were looking at it closely to make some notes of what it looked like, I noted that it reminded me of owl’s clover and sure enough it belongs to the owl’s clover group. I love the connections that we can learn to make over time between similar flowers and plants.

This has been a wonderful year for all my favorite wildflowers with the amount of rain we have received it has been a bumper year for flowers. Above you can see the special plant that lines one section of our local trail. This Hairy lacepod (or fringepod) is actually blooming right now and developing these jewel-like pods with lacy edges. I enjoyed showing this plant to a friend of mine who has come to appreciate the diversity of plants in our area. [Thysanocarpus curvipes]

We took three different hikes to the American River this month so far. The section above is on the South Fork of the American River and you can see the lupine blooming in the foreground.

This image is from our hike on the North Fork of the American River, again with lupine in the foreground. Two different areas but equally as wild and beautiful.

This image is from a little close to home…my frontyard! I have been working in the yard and enjoying the living creatures that visit each day. This honeybee has his pollen baskets full! That is really the color of the flower on the California lilac…so amazing and perfect to brighten the sides of my front steps.

This is taken from my front deck where I spend a lot of time each day as I sip coffee or read, enjoying the view and sunshine. This Outdoor Mom has come alive alongside the plants and insects this month….feeling more myself than in a long time. I am going to be taking an unexpected trip to the East Coast soon and I hope to carry on with some unique outdoor experiences as I visit my children.

I also hope to work a bit in my daughter’s garden as it comes alive with her New York spring weather. We planted spring bulbs last fall and they are already making a showing…perhaps we will add some summer bulbs on this trip. The image above shows a couple of her garden friends….the chickadee and the ground hog!

Here is a photo from my husband’s travels this month. Taken from his regular walking spot on the river at daybreak. He takes this loop trail a few times a week and he always sends me an image. The water is very high in this picture from all the rain and snow we have experienced in the last six weeks. Such a welcome change from the years of drought!

I’m looking forward to the rest of the month and the Outdoor Hour Challenges that will fill my time. Join me every Friday for more nature study fun!

Outdoor Mom’s Journal

Whether your family spends a few minutes a week outside or hours at a time, share what is going on in your world.

How Do You Join?

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 week 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….
I added nature journal pages about….
I am reading…
I am dreaming about…
A photo I would like to share…

Please note that Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level members have access to members only printables each month in addition to the newsletter printables. You will need to log into your account and then go to the “Other Releases” section.

Need help getting started with your nature study using the Handbook of Nature Study? Check out the fresh “Getting Started” page here on the website!

Posted on April 11, 2016 by Barb — Leave a comment

Garden Seeds Project – Photo, Journal, Plan

We received our seed order from Renee’s Garden and it inspired us to get out into the garden and start our spring clean up. The end of March and the beginning of April is the time we can get out and start weeding the boxes and dreaming of the summertime garden goodness that will be coming fast!

Garden Clean Up March 2016 (12) — Here’s the garden before the clean up.

With all of our children living away from home, the garden chores all fall on my husband and I. I have a hard time bending over for very long so I decided to work a half hour every afternoon and with three days of doing that and one rather long afternoon with my husband, we finished the initial clean up.

Garden Clean Up March 2016 (1) — Here is the after image.

Now we can make a list of things we still need to do to get the boxes ready including a good composting. The drip system needs a bit of revamping as well but we have a month or so before we will need to have the irrigation ready.

In the meantime, I will be planting several veggies in containers up on our deck where I can nurture them through the early spring. I will also be planting veggies in the garden boxes but I have enjoyed watching and eating the veggies on our back deck in the past few years and don’t want to miss that experience this year.

As part of the Garden Seeds Challenge, I started on a Garden Planning page in my nature journal. I sketched a few of the seeds we will be planting this year and included some of my garden growing thoughts too!

We looked up our hardiness zone to remind ourselves of when we can plant each of the vegetables we have on our list: Plant Zone Hardiness Calendar.

We can usually count on having a good garden if we get our seeds in the ground by May 1st. I don’t ever plant anything fancy so here is our list for 2016.

Vegetables

Lettuce: Baby Leaf Lettuce,
Green Beans – French Mascotte (container bush beans), Classic Slenderette (bush beans), Blue Lake pole beans.
Tomatoes – Litt’l Bites Cherry (container), Pandorino (Italian grape tomato)
Squash – Astia (container zucchini), Raven zucchini
Baby Bell peppers

Flowers

Sunflowers- Bird and Bee Pollinator Mix, Sundancer.
White Bishop’s Lace
Zinnias
Echinacea (Paradise mix)
Snow Sonata Cosmos
White Wonder Feverfew
Grandmother’s Pincushion scabiosa

After all of that work, it is so nice to sit with the feet up and enjoy a cool drink as you survey all your hard yardwork.

If you are a member here on the Handbook of Nature Study, you will find this archive challenge in the Garden Flower and Plant Ebook in your library. In the ebook you will find a custom notebook page designed for use with this particular challenge.

PLUS there is a new printable in the member’s library for sketching your garden seeds too!

Posted on April 8, 2016 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Garden Seeds

Outdoor Hour Challenge
Garden Seeds – Observations
Archive Challenge

Now that spring is really here, let’s get our gardening started! Of course, that means picking seeds and for all nature loving families we can make that into a simple and meaningful nature study. Taking time to note the differences and unique shape, size, and color of flower and vegetable seeds will make an impression on your young naturalist. Even if you just pick one kind of seed and do a thorough job with your observations there will be long lasting benefits to this type of seed study.

Garden Study – Seeds and Observations

You may also want to use this printable activity if you plan on visiting a garden nursery.

If you are a member here on the Handbook of Nature Study, you will find this archive challenge in the Garden Flower and Plant Ebook in your library. In the ebook you will find a custom notebook page designed for use with this particular challenge.

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Barb — Leave a comment

Nature Journal – Signs of Spring

We have enjoyed the sweet, sweet days of early spring this week. A little shower of rain and abundant sunshine after that have made for the world of spring to magically open up around us. My gardening days have begun and along with that comes a renewed inspiration to get my nature journal supplies out and create a record of the things around me.

We have early spring bulbs with a fragrance from heaven. I cut a few to put in a vase for the counter behind my kitchen sink. It makes for a beautiful visual and scent as I do my chores. You can see more ideas for enjoying your Early Spring Bulbs in the Outdoor Hour Challenge from a few weeks ago.

We have many blooming bushes and plants in our yard…here are a few of my favorites. Use the ideas in the Signs of Spring Outdoor Hour Challenge for your early spring nature study.

It was fun to create a Signs of Spring 2016 nature journal page while I was outdoors. It made me more aware of the surroundings and the many ways we can use our senses to experience the early spring. I could hear the birds singing in the neighborhood, the bushes were moving slightly in the breeze, I saw some sort of insect fly by, and I could feel the warm air and the sunshine on my skin. There is no better way to mark the beginning of the season!

I hope you can get outdoors and mark the change of the season in your world…try to make a detailed record of the day.

Be inspired! Be encouraged! Get outdoors!

Posted on April 1, 2016 by Barb — Leave a comment

Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter – April 2016 Garden Seeds

Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter

April 2016 – Garden Seeds

Please read the following explanation outlining how to get this month’s newsletter.

The newsletter link is not in this email but will come separately. There may be a delay in your receiving the email so please don’t email me until the second day of the month if you haven’t received the link on the first. For some reason, some email providers take longer to receive the newsletter email.

If you don’t receive the separate email with the download link, you probably aren’t subscribed to the blog yet. This will take less than a minute to do if you follow the steps below.

If you are a subscriber and you haven’t received your newsletter email yet, check your SPAM inbox. Some subscribers have found the email buried in SPAM inbox.

If you need to subscribe:

You will need to go to the Handbook of Nature Study, look to the top right corner for the box to type in your preferred email address, and then confirm the email that comes to your email inbox.
Once you subscribe, you will receive a thank you email from me with the download link.

This month’s newsletter link will be available only during the month of April so be sure to download it before 4/30/16.

Remember! All of the archived and current newsletters are available as part of the Ultimate Naturalist Library…every level!

Note: If you are following the Ambleside Online’s nature study rotation, this month’s newsletter is perfect for the theme: Garden Flowers and Weeds.

Contents of this edition of the newsletter include:

This edition of the newsletter features ideas, resources, and links to help you take a really close look at garden seeds.
Contributions from Outdoor Hour Challenge participants Paige Hudson and Shirley Ann Vels from Under An English Sky.
April Nature Study Planning Page with field trip ideas, nature photo ideas, and a special 15 minute challenge for parents.
Garden Seed Study printable notebook page which can be used as a nature journal topper as well.

Resources for your Nature Library: I have started to build a nature library store on Amazon that will feature by category my favorite nature study books and resources. Take a look and see if there is anything you would like to put on your wish list for your family’s nature study library: Handbook of Nature Study Nature Library Suggestions on Amazon.com. Note this is my affiliate store to items I personally recommend and have read or seen in person.

Need help getting started with your nature study using the Handbook of Nature Study? Check out the fresh “Getting Started” page here on the website!

Renee’s Garden has provided me with my seeds again this year in exchange for my writing about my experiences with these wonderful seeds from a fantastic company. I love picking my year’s selections from their website which is both informative and beautiful. I have some seeds left from last year that I will be planting but here is my list from this year’s package!

French Masconette Bush Beans
Classic Slenderette Bush Beans
Raven Zucchini Squash
Pandorino Tomatos (grape tomato)
Bishop’s Lace
Cathedral Bells (vine)
Snow Sonata Cosmos
Double White Wonder Feverfew
Climbing Phoenix Nasturtiums
Grandmother’s Pincushion Scarbiosa
Sundancer Sunflowers
Mighty Lion Zinnias

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Barb — 2 Comments

Nature Study Goals 2016 – Update

Nature Study Goals 2016- Updated for the first quarter!

Complete 2 out of 4 Outdoor Hour Challenges each month posted on Fridays. I think this is ambitious goal. I will be including our experiences in my monthly nature study recap posts. Our January entries: Starling Bird Study and our Pines and Cones study was included in my Outdoor Mom’s Journal for January. Our February entry: Weeds and Seeds. March entry: Fungi Photos
Research and learn about four birds. Learn the call, field marks, and create a nature journal. I completed a nature notebook page for the white-breasted nuthatch. One down, three to go!
Focus on learning my local wildflowers. Create some sort of record of each flower. I have not decided what form this record will look like but once I get started I am hoping it will come together. I started a list in the front of my nature journal with date, location, and flower name.
Take Yosemite photos from the Yosemite photography book- Since this was a fail last year, I am going to aim to take three photos during each trip in 2016. I took photos during our January trip!
Visit a new national park. (You can see a list of my national parks entries below.) We are thinking Bryce Canyon, Olympic, or Rocky Mountain depending on which way we head out from California. We visited Cabrillo National Monument in February! Look for an entry next month.
Visit two new state parks. We camped at San Clemente Beach State Park in February.
Identify three rocks from my original challenge. This has been more difficult to accomplish than originally anticipated but with a more concentrated effort I think we can really make this happen. Nothing accomplished for this goal yet.
Read 10 nature related books! I have read all three books for January, February, and March.

White Breasted Nuthatch Notebook Page @handbookofnaturestudy — You can find this page at this link: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/NetCommunity/bbimages/PDFs/ColoringBook.pdf

Looks like I accomplished quite a bit this quarter and I am determined to keep it up during the second quarter. It looks like I need to do a better job of working to completion my Outdoor Hour Challenges. Many times I do the outside work but then either don’t follow up with a nature journal or a blog entry. Time just slips away and I need to be better about following through so you can see how I enjoyed each challenge.

Posted on March 30, 2016 by Barb — Leave a comment

A Crow Doesn’t Need a Shadow – Book Review

“Every place, creature, or event in the natural world provides an opportunity for wondering and writing.”

If you have a child that is finding it difficult to add some creative writing in their nature journals, this is just the resource you NEED. I am going to keep it alongside my Handbook of Nature Study volume to remind me to pull it down whenever I have a hard time putting words alongside my nature sketches.

This month I have been working my way through this nature related book, A Crow Doesn’t Need a Shadow. I have had it on my shelf or a long time but it hasn’t been given justice as far as implementing the ideas on the pages. [Please note there are Amazon.com affiliate links in this post to books I purchased with my own money and am happy to share my honest review for here on my blog!]

I am so happy that I took the time to look more closely at this book. It is a great inspiration for a nature journal which I desperately need…I’ve been going through a dry spell as far putting words on paper. It reminds me just how much I love to play with words and nature inspires much word play.

Intrigued? Here are some further points about this book: A Crow Doesn’t Need a Shadow.

This book focuses on the writing of poetry in a way that you can help even the youngest writer to get started. You will be gathering words and building on those words in an organized way. The sections are step-by-step instructions on how to write a particular kind of poetry and there are plenty of examples from children of all ages to sample and inspire you.
There are whole sections dedicated to keeping a nature journal.
My favorite parts of each “lesson” are the Questions and Thoughts to Explore and the Suggestions for Writing. These give concrete suggestions for completing the poem writing ideas.
You can use this on a field trip or in your own backyard!

This book is part of my Nature Book Project for 2016.

Note some of the links below are Amazon.com affiliate links.

January- Discover Nature Close to Home

February-A Place for Birds and A Place for Butterflies

March- A Crow Doesn’t Need A Shadow

April- The Practical Naturalist

May- Break month.

June-Botany in a Day

July- Rockhounding Nevada (postponed)

August- Break month.

September- The 10 Best of Everything National Parks

October- The Nature Handbook

November- Bringing Nature Home (postponed)

December- Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Barb — 94 Comments

Smash This Nature Journal #1 – Review and Giveaway

The giveaway is over but I invite you to read all about this encouraging nature journal product and then click over to Nadene’s website to order your own copy.

I know many of us are always trying to find ways to add some spark to our child’s nature journaling experience. We sort of get stuck in a rut with just a quick sketch and a caption…which is a perfectly fine way to keep a nature journal. But, sometimes it is fun to mix it up a bit and try something completely different.

Perhaps your child hates a blank page or they don’t think they sketch well.

Are you looking for an inexpensive downloadable nature journal product that your whole family will enjoy?

Have I got an option for you!

My friend Nadene Esterhuizen from Practical Pages has created her first in a series of Smash This Nature Journal downloads. What a great idea!

It was super easy to download the file, read the printing instructions, print the pages, and then get started with the prompts in the journal. The prompts do not need to be done in any order so you can pick a page that fits your nature experience of the day.
I used my comb binder to bind up my journal but Nadene says in her instructions that you can “staple, bind, tie, or secure” the pages instead. You might want to try this method: Rubberband and Paperclip.
Most of the pages can be completed in just a few minutes so plan on completely more than one during your outdoor time.
Children can use this book independently if they can read.
Not all of the pages require drawing…some are of a more creative suggestion! I love the variety of ideas in this journal!
This product is inexpensive and can be printed as many times as you want for your family
There are few supplies you will need with this journal but all are common household items you most likely already have on hand.
See sample ideas and pages in her entry: Smash This Nature Journal #1.

I love this nature journal idea so much that I asked Nadene if I could review and then giveaway some copies of this for my readers. She generously has supplied three copies of the Smash This Nature Journal #1 for me to share with three lucky families! Enter below using the Rafflecopter gadget…..easy to enter with just a comment answering a nature journal question.

Giveaway is over – Congratulations to the winners!

Don’t miss this giveaway which will end on Thursday night at midnight. I will randomly choose three entries to win their very own copy of this download and announce the winners on Facebook on Friday. I will also contact you via Rafflecopter (email) in order to deliver your electronic prize.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Hunt for Early Spring Bulbs

Outdoor Hour Challenge
Early Spring Bulb Hunt
Archive Challenge

This week take your outdoor hour time to get outside and look for signs of early spring bulbs. You can use the ideas in the Early Spring Bulb challenge from the archives.

Early Spring Bulb Outdoor Hour Challenge

In that challenge, you will find directions for reading about the crocus, the daffodil, and the tulip in the Handbook of Nature Study. Also, there are suggestions for where to look for bulbs and journaling ideas for your nature journal. You may also wish to view my own entry for ideas on how to complete this challenge: Early Spring Bulb Study-Watercolor Time.

If you are a member here on the Handbook of Nature Study, you will find this archive challenge in the Winter Nature Study Ebook in your library. In the ebook you will find a custom notebook page designed for use with this particular challenge.

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Barb — Leave a comment

Spring Reminders – A Few Fun Ideas for Nature Study

Spring Nature Study Ideas and Reminders

Here are a few of my favorite spring nature study challenges from the archives.

Spring Weather Observations-free printable notebook page

Spring Splendor Walk – spring nature walk scavenger hunt

Spring Earthworm Study – There is an earthworm nature journal topper in the May 2014 Newsletter (in the archives).

Spring Bird Observations – free printable bird list

Spring Season Reminders -This post has many of the year-long spring season reminders.