Showing posts with label Growing Naturally. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Growing Naturally. Show all posts
Thursday, 16 October 2008
Grandpa, Do Not Read This One, aka Spider
Mother, wife, sister, friend. This is our second year on the farm, a dream we've had since we were first married. We unschool, AP parent, and grow our own food (or try to).
Sunday, 7 September 2008
Building Houses
I looked out the window this week and found:
Dearest got bored playing pirates go to Mars and together they built this, a faerie house. In something like 30 minutes. Perhaps I am not the only one here that can bend time?
Lil'Bug has been writing and leaving notes for the faeries. She checks and they have taken every message!
This week we also hosted this little guy:
Beauty and music all in one little critter. :)
Dearest got bored playing pirates go to Mars and together they built this, a faerie house. In something like 30 minutes. Perhaps I am not the only one here that can bend time?
Lil'Bug has been writing and leaving notes for the faeries. She checks and they have taken every message!This week we also hosted this little guy:
Beauty and music all in one little critter. :)
Mother, wife, sister, friend. This is our second year on the farm, a dream we've had since we were first married. We unschool, AP parent, and grow our own food (or try to).
Thursday, 28 August 2008
Easy as Pie
My first from scratch, apples I picked, dough rolled by hand pie.Good flavour. Things to note: I love hot right out of the oven pie BUT this pie needed to rest for 1 hour for the juices to distribute. 1 hour does not mean 39 minutes.
Pie dough wasn't rolled thin enough or else I should use more apples, about double what I used.
Local mamas: if you'd like to try a piece, we're home all day Friday! I'll be baking more pies. Lots more pies. Call me and come over!
Mother, wife, sister, friend. This is our second year on the farm, a dream we've had since we were first married. We unschool, AP parent, and grow our own food (or try to).
Thursday, 10 July 2008
Caterpillar Buddy, the Eulolgy
Caterpillar buddy cocooned, but he never emerged. That was weeks ago. Yesterday Lil'Bug realized there was something wrong with his "coon" and I explained to her what happened. She cried. She's never had a pet or a loved one die. She'd seen movies where characters die and I think she somewhat understands the concept, but still, her heart hurt her to know that caterpillar buddy was dead. We set him out in a shady place for the wind to take him to heaven. That was her idea.
Goodbye caterpillar friend. You were very special to my sweet child. May you eat lots of broccoli leaves and flutter with delicate wings on the breeze.
Goodbye caterpillar friend. You were very special to my sweet child. May you eat lots of broccoli leaves and flutter with delicate wings on the breeze.
Mother, wife, sister, friend. This is our second year on the farm, a dream we've had since we were first married. We unschool, AP parent, and grow our own food (or try to).
Monday, 7 July 2008
Slug baby!
The first photo reminded me of the stylized baby photos that studios do. LOL. Anyway, this is our bug find for the week!
Mother, wife, sister, friend. This is our second year on the farm, a dream we've had since we were first married. We unschool, AP parent, and grow our own food (or try to).
Friday, 6 June 2008
Friday Rain Check
It rained. Usually this is no big deal. Actually, it set up to make our first Friday field trip to the local marsh even marshier. Lil'Bug was very excited. As we loaded up into the truck to head out, Nana and Pawpaw called- their sump pump was malfunctioning and their finished basement was flooded. They needed Dearest to help.
Lil'Bug was fine with missing her field trip to help Nana and Pawpaw BUT the thing that devastated her was that she wasn't actually allowed to help because of the bacteria in the accumulating water. She has always been able to help Daddy at our house with just about everything from tile grouting to oven repair. She was pissed. She moped, she stomped, she pouted. She even put on her rain boots and stomped down to the basement anyway only to be escorted back upstairs and given a box of cookies to keep her occupied. Yes, a whole box. Not my idea, but I helped her eat them.
When all was as stabilized as possible, Dearest took me and Blueberry home and Lil'Bug to a different park for a nature explore. They revisited the poached deer carcass from last month to observe the changes. For almost four hours, they climbed rocks, overturned logs, examined bugs, and then came home exhausted.
I hate that she missed her field trip BUT it is very important to us that we demonstrate for our children the importance of helping family and friends even when it means you miss out on something fun now and then. Goodness knows that friends and family have done the same for us time and time again; for that we are forever thankful.
Lil'Bug was fine with missing her field trip to help Nana and Pawpaw BUT the thing that devastated her was that she wasn't actually allowed to help because of the bacteria in the accumulating water. She has always been able to help Daddy at our house with just about everything from tile grouting to oven repair. She was pissed. She moped, she stomped, she pouted. She even put on her rain boots and stomped down to the basement anyway only to be escorted back upstairs and given a box of cookies to keep her occupied. Yes, a whole box. Not my idea, but I helped her eat them.
When all was as stabilized as possible, Dearest took me and Blueberry home and Lil'Bug to a different park for a nature explore. They revisited the poached deer carcass from last month to observe the changes. For almost four hours, they climbed rocks, overturned logs, examined bugs, and then came home exhausted.
I hate that she missed her field trip BUT it is very important to us that we demonstrate for our children the importance of helping family and friends even when it means you miss out on something fun now and then. Goodness knows that friends and family have done the same for us time and time again; for that we are forever thankful.
Mother, wife, sister, friend. This is our second year on the farm, a dream we've had since we were first married. We unschool, AP parent, and grow our own food (or try to).
Wednesday, 21 May 2008
Delight in the Sunshine
After such a long and harsh winter we have relished these Spring days. Some mornings it is all Lil'Bug can do to snarf down her cheerios and bolt for the back door. Out she goes! Last fall we got a free swing set from another homeschool family. Thank goodness! She lives on her "pirate ship" and now with the addition of the Pooh Bear themed superhero cape she is "Larry Boy, the hero pirate!".....????.....Veggie Tales does have a pirate movie, but she has never seen it. Behind her is her pet pig who sails the open sea with her and only eats "wishing" flowers mixed with sand.
We had a great child labor thing going for a while. It was her job to pick and gather all the dandelions and bury them in a hole by the back fence. Then....someone showed her that, un-picked, those pesky weeds turn into wishing flowers. Sigh. She has made thousands of wishes that her sister would hurry up and be born. Thousands.
The innocence of childhood. Cape, t-shirt, denim shorts, and....black patten leather princess shoes? My sweet days.
Mother, wife, sister, friend. This is our second year on the farm, a dream we've had since we were first married. We unschool, AP parent, and grow our own food (or try to).
Garden Update, Spring Progress
Broccoli! These are doing awesome. The strange absence of bugs this year also includes cabbage moths and such so maybe we won't have a huge problem with them this year. I plan on harvesting and freezing these in June and another rotation in the fall. Yum. Also, Lil'Bug says we will find June Bug in the broccoli bed and that will be her birth day- just like we found her in the pumpkin patch 4 years ago, in Narnia, in Heaven. Ah, the creation story of a wee babe.
Yum. Spinach. I will have my first garden fresh spinach salad tomorrow and then use some for lasagnas to freeze for the first week June Bug babe is home.
The other part of my salad mix: lettuce and various greens. So tender are they when fresh and young. Drool....
Strawberriest blossoms. Two different kinds. Lovely with morning dew......or wait...no Lil'Bug do not spray Mama with the hose while I have the camera out here! AGH!
And last....we planted blueberries. Again. We are the gardeners of ever innocent hopefulness. Every blueberry plant we have ever planted has died. This one has blossoms! Ok, to be fair, it came with the the blossom buds, but still!
Mother, wife, sister, friend. This is our second year on the farm, a dream we've had since we were first married. We unschool, AP parent, and grow our own food (or try to).
Tuesday, 6 May 2008
Backyard Bugs May 4
Mother, wife, sister, friend. This is our second year on the farm, a dream we've had since we were first married. We unschool, AP parent, and grow our own food (or try to).
Monday, 5 May 2008
Lil'Bug Update
Lil'Bug read her first words last week.
We were out in the garden working on the raised bed when she pointed and read this:
Cool. She read COW! She also picked up a book at the book store and asked to buy it. I said, "Sure, if you can tell me what it is called."
"Space. Mom, it says Space right here," she pointed to the cover title.
So now she is the proud owner of a book about space and a bag of cow poop. :) She asked to keep it a secret for a while, but finally relented to letting me blog about it. For those of you who don't know, we do not do active reading/writing lessons. We read to her a lot. She HATES the ABC song and people quizzing her on the alphabet, so we don't. She knows her letters though and can write most of them when she wants to. I suspected she was reading when I heard her screaming at Super Why last week that they got the wrong answer AGAIN, but I did not push her on it.
She will and is now reading at her own pace. She does it for curiosity and not performance. She is growing and learning naturally.
We were out in the garden working on the raised bed when she pointed and read this:
Cool. She read COW! She also picked up a book at the book store and asked to buy it. I said, "Sure, if you can tell me what it is called.""Space. Mom, it says Space right here," she pointed to the cover title.
So now she is the proud owner of a book about space and a bag of cow poop. :) She asked to keep it a secret for a while, but finally relented to letting me blog about it. For those of you who don't know, we do not do active reading/writing lessons. We read to her a lot. She HATES the ABC song and people quizzing her on the alphabet, so we don't. She knows her letters though and can write most of them when she wants to. I suspected she was reading when I heard her screaming at Super Why last week that they got the wrong answer AGAIN, but I did not push her on it.
She will and is now reading at her own pace. She does it for curiosity and not performance. She is growing and learning naturally.
Mother, wife, sister, friend. This is our second year on the farm, a dream we've had since we were first married. We unschool, AP parent, and grow our own food (or try to).
Thursday, 1 May 2008
Backyard Bugs April 29
Confirmation. Scary grub= June Bug!
Mother, wife, sister, friend. This is our second year on the farm, a dream we've had since we were first married. We unschool, AP parent, and grow our own food (or try to).
Wednesday, 23 April 2008
Backyard Bugs April 23
Lil'Bug's cricket friend.....
Mother, wife, sister, friend. This is our second year on the farm, a dream we've had since we were first married. We unschool, AP parent, and grow our own food (or try to).
Tuesday, 22 April 2008
First Planting!
Princess Lil'Bug in the Garden......
Pulling weeds......
Raking the compost smooth......
Finished bed, planted with spinach, spicy greens mix, and romaine lettuce.
Ah, and all I had to do was enjoy the sunshine!
Mother, wife, sister, friend. This is our second year on the farm, a dream we've had since we were first married. We unschool, AP parent, and grow our own food (or try to).
Monday, 21 April 2008
Science Fair Project: Phase 1
Lil'Bug decided to document the bugs in our backyard. I took the pictures, but she found the bugs. She wants to keep doing this so we have a good record of what lives back there. Not all the critters are identified. She also went through our picture archive so we could put together a post of what we found last summer too, but then I realized we've already done that with the GARDEN CRITTERS tag. :) Wow, we found some neat stuff last year!
While a traditional Science Fair has one entry on one day, we are going to continue our project through the warm weather. We'll be buying a bug book to help with identification too. Any ideas on the larva thing in the first picture? Last year my aunt told me not to kill those because they turn into a beneficial bug, but I can't remember which one!
Mother, wife, sister, friend. This is our second year on the farm, a dream we've had since we were first married. We unschool, AP parent, and grow our own food (or try to).
Tuesday, 15 April 2008
Score!
Thank you so much to Needleroozer for help in identifying our weird coccoon! After some early morning research, I have confirmed as best as I could, that it is in fact a PRAYING MANTIS EGG CASE! It is 3 feet from the ground, about the size of a quarter, right color and texture......
Totally awesome.
Mother, wife, sister, friend. This is our second year on the farm, a dream we've had since we were first married. We unschool, AP parent, and grow our own food (or try to).
Monday, 7 April 2008
Growing Naturally
Growing Naturally (in my sidebar) is just what I needed! Basically, we aren't homesteading yet so we don't quality for the homesteading homeschooler webrings or forums BUT we are steadily moving towards that life and we value many of the same things. We are not alone!
What drew me to this project were these lines:
I want to honor all of those things, for her to learn from life, and to nurture every joy she has. This project seems perfect for us. :) There will be a new label. There will be new adventures. There will be a gingham "spinning" dress!
What drew me to this project were these lines:
That being a child who is familiar and fascinated with rocks, birds, mosses,AND
squirrels, tracks, lizards, bugs, rivers, seashells, frogs, ducks, or mud puddles is a
Grand Thing To Be.
In catching frogs -or trying to- and chasing lizards.AND
In leaving a couple of weeds in our gardens alone because the beneficial spidersAND
call them home.
We believe in painting outdoors.Why? This is my Lil'Bug to a T. She is a child of the outdoors, of mud, of barefoot delight in the sunshine. She is my muddy hippo. When the boat was mentioned at breakfast, she lit up and insisted on going tonight. It is raining and she doesn't care. She wants to plant seeds even though the frost date is 40 days away. She splashes in every puddle she can.
In collecting acorns and pine cones.
In compost.
And earthworms.
I want to honor all of those things, for her to learn from life, and to nurture every joy she has. This project seems perfect for us. :) There will be a new label. There will be new adventures. There will be a gingham "spinning" dress!
Mother, wife, sister, friend. This is our second year on the farm, a dream we've had since we were first married. We unschool, AP parent, and grow our own food (or try to).
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