Gardening Update-A Path to Follow

Update 9/14/08 to add images

Here is a nice photo of our zucchini plant:

This is one of it's flowers:
And here is one of the zucchini on it:I still don't know what this plant is:
But it has flowers on it so I am expecting to see something budding from it soon. :-) I must remember to label next time!
As I have been focused on getting my thoughts together for the new school year, I haven't given much attention to our small garden outside. A part of my daughter's morning routine is to water the garden and plants outside. She has done a wonderful job with this and as a result the plants are thriving nicely. It' time that I started mapping out our fall garden and get things going as it will be fall very soon!!

As I sat here thinking of the garden and all the lessons to be learned from it, my mind went back to the bean plants. When I first planted to bean plants, the thought never occurred to me to stake poles close by for them to have something to attach themselves to. The plants sprouted, and then they developed these little "arms" which my daughter and I were both fascinated by. We couldn't seem to figure out what they were for. As the arms grew longer, they started to attach themselves to the arms of the other bean plants. They intertwined and became tangled and created a huge mess!

I separated them, trying my best not to damage them. I came back the next day or so only to find that they were entangled again. It was then that it occurred to me that they were tangling themselves together because no specified path had been laid out for them. Instead of growing upward, they were growing outward. When I finally provided poles for each of them, they stopped growing outward, grew upward instead, produced flowers and bore fruit!

What a powerful spiritual lesson in these bean plants. We as Christians can be sprouting and growing, but if we do not have a specified path that we are following, a path that leads upward, we will become entangled amongst ourselves.

Are you wrapped up and tangled up in others? Or is the path you are taking leading upwards?

We Have Beans!

I went out this evening to water the garden and noticed we had beans sprouting! How exciting is that? As far as the rest of the garden, the sunflower has just taken off. It seems to have a new bloom everyday. We read that the Guinness Book of World records for the most flowers on one plant is over 800!I believe this is an herb. Not sure which one yet. Any guesses? Sage maybe?
This is one of the plants that was in my daughter's pot that was blown over by the wind and now it's growing in the grass next to the patio. Not sure what it is but it looks like it will reveal itself soon. :-)
I have no idea what this is, but it's doing well. I thought I had killed the zucchini plants when I tried to space them out, but they are coming along nicely.

Garden Update

Our garden is coming along nicely. I am needing to learn how to move plants when they appear to be crowding each other. I moved a few of the bean plants and seem to have damaged them. One of them is still growing nicely, and another one has a flower on it.tha Not sure if that is normal or not. I guess we will find out shortly. :-)

My daughter planted some seems in a couple of pots and after a windy day they ended up in the grass next to the patio. a few weeks later we noticed some sprouts that we knew were definitely grass and now we have this. It hasn't bloomed yet so we don't know what it is, but it looks like it's going to be fabulous! Behind that you can see my hanging basket, which I took down because the birds at my sprouts! I planted some more and they have sprouted up already. We will see if they make it this time.

Our sunflower is doing fabulously. I love how they seem to have such personality. It seems so confident; such a leader. I feel like I need to give it a name.

The zucchini plants are doing nicely as well and I have another plant that I have yet to figure out what it is. I guess that's what happens when you don't label them! There was a time in my life (Before Kids and life), that I just would have remembered. I'm trying not to embrace the fact that those days are gone, but I guess I need to so I can remember what I'm growing! Thank God ye shall know them by their fruits. :-)

So no harvest to report yet, but it sure has been a lot of fun watching everything grow.

Heart and Trees Summer Lapbook Kit

Our lapbook kits have arrived. We ordered this one from the Heart and Trees blog. I am very pleased with the contents and look forward to putting it together next week with the kids. We will get to use the watercolor techniques we are learning plus spend time outside and add to our nature journals. You may purchase a kit from the website if you are interested. Check the right hand side bar on her page for the link.

Outdoor Challenge #19-Seed Germinator

Challenge #19 was to germinate seeds. I bought some seeds and the kids and I picked the ones we wanted to try. I picked geraniums and both of the children picked african daisies. We followed the instructions given at the PBS website and look forward to what will come of it.

A Toadally Exciting Morning

I went to the backyard this morning to water my newly sprouting garden vegetables and flowers we planted. I picked up my daughters watering can, went over to the water spout and just as I was lining the can up with the spicket, I noticed a toad inside. I immediately threw the can down and ran. Talk about being caught off guard.

I called for the children, knowing that they would be excited. They came and peeked inside the watering can and then headed straight for the garage to get the small fish aquarium. My daughter asked me if I would take him out of the watering can and put him in the aquarium. Ha! I don't think so. I suggested that she take the watering can and flip it upside down onto the aquarium so he can fall into it.

The toad had flattened himself, something we learned they do when frightened, and was stuck pretty nicely to the side of it. I suggested that she tap the can a few times and sure enough he fell right into the aquarium. She put the top on and put a little water into it through the hole in the top.

I opened the Handbook of Nature Study and asked a few questions about our new friend "Toady". Here are some of the answers the children gave:

What does his back look like?

Striped and bumpy (Jasmine)

He has a line going down his back and then there are lines that go across it. (Christopher)

What do his eyes look like?

His iris is orangish brown and his pupil is black.

His eyes are big and they pop out and they curve like this (using his finger to make an elliptical shape round his eyes)

Do you think he can see in front, above and behind all at the same time?

His eyes are at the top of his head so I believe he can see in front, behind and above at the same time

I think he can see a lot of different ways at the same time.

How does he blink?

He blinks like us

What do his nostrils look like?

They look like little tiny holes.

What do his ears look like?

Little round circles behind his eyes

What does his mouth look like?

A rounded triangle

What do his arms look like?

His arms are short, he has four fingers and he moves in a crouching position. His hind legs are large to help him jump.

As you can see we had a very busy morning. The kids and I learned a lot about toads and are excited about what discoveries lie ahead for this summer. Any new discoveries in your backyard lately?

REI's Kids Passport to Adventure/Summer Fun

Check out the REI website for great ideas on summer adventurers to keep you outside. There is even a neat little prize that you can send in for after your first adventure and a journal that you can print out or pick up at any REI location.

I'm looking forward to spending more time outside this summer. I just hope it doesn't get too hot. Hmm, I guess that really is an unreasonable expectation considering the fact that I live in Texas!

This year I bought pool passes instead of signing the kids up for swimming lessons. I just couldn't bring myself to pay for a class that my kids may or may not participate in, so we will just hang out at the pool until they are comfortable with going under the water and jumping in. They tend to do much better when there is no pressure.

So what are your plans for the summer? Any fabulous vacations planned? We plan to visit the Houston Aquarium and maybe make a trip to Florida.

Nature Study Blog

I have been thinking of some ways to incorporate more nature study into our days. I find that schooling straight through just does not work for us. We do much better if we do a subject or two and then go outside for a bit; even if it is just for fifteen minutes. I'm not sure how I found this Nature Study Blog, I'm pretty sure that I have even seen this banner on some of the sites of my "blogfriends" but I absolutely love it and plan on getting started this weekend with the first project.

My chidren have been observing more just on their own (noticing sunflowers as we drive, spotting new birds). We went to a garden center once and met a lady that talked about finding caterpillars on milkweed. Ever since then my daughter has been looking for milkweed and caterpillars. We may just soon find one!

Do you spend a lot of time in nature? Can you identify the birds in your backyard? How about flowers?

Update On Baby Finches

The baby finches in the backyard have hatched! We were in the kitchen enjoying some scalloped potatoes and veggie cutlets (recipes to come later ) when my daughter noticed some movedment in the bird nest. The mother had just come to feed the babies and their mouths were wide open. We will be watching closely to see how long it takes them to mature and fly away. More updates coming soon!

The Birds

Evidently I have a house design that the birds love. I have never lived in a house where birds made nests until I moved to Texas. I bought a lovely plant, the third plant that I have bought to put on my back patio and the birds seem to love it as much as I do!

So I have been fortunate enough to have House Finch's make my plant their home. :-) I take the plant down every day or so to see if the female has laid any new eggs being careful not to touch the nest. I learned the hard way last year that if you touch the actual nest, the birds will abandon it. Who knew??