How to plant...and name...potatoes

I don't know how it started, but we name our potato plants every year. There's something about saying "hey, Spuds is growing!" that is strangely rewarding. Almost as rewarding as frying up Spuds in a cast iron skillet in a blob of lard over a campfire, but I'm getting ahead of myself...
So yeah, we eat our friends that we carefully plant in the flower bed every year.
This year we planted 10 potato plants, some red variety that I forgot to write down when I bought them. I carefully cut them into their sections, leaving at least 3 eyes to each piece for good measure, and we dug 10 little holes. Carefully putting the chunks in eye side up and covering them over with about 3-4 inches of dirt, we blissfully planted:
Sponge Bob
Patrick
Mr. Krabs
Pearl (Krabs' giant daughter-- the largest of the potatoes)
Mrs. Puff
Plankton
Karen (Plankton's computer wife, if you're not up to speed on the show)
Gary
Sandy
Squidward

I'm a little picky when it comes to eating seafood, but I'd bet my bottom Krabby Patty that these sea kritters will taste pretty darn good.


(Click here last year's column on potato planting.)

Earth Day song follow-up

If you haven't seen the post below, take a look at the beautiful song my daughter wrote for a local Earth Day fair contest.

She took home first place! (There was only one song entry, but still. She's proud as punch about her medal.)

As part of her piano assignment, she is going to write the song out. If anyone is interested in the sheet music, please contact me here.

The day after Earth Day-- bird nest activity

Holidays come and go, and Earth Day is definitely included in that. I guarantee that for every person who recycled something yesterday, that at least half of them tossed that same styrofoam cup in the trash today.

But as they say, "Earth Day is Everyday." It's a lot easier to say than to do.

So today with the sun shining, we did our part by partipating in a community clean-up and setting out some help for our bird friends. It's both sides of the Earth Day spectrum as far as I'm concerned-- there's something to be said for keeping the world clean by not being a part of it (litter clean up) and there's something to be said for learning to enjoy nature and the world by being a part of it (the birding activity.)

Here's my Boy doing his part. All that good for the Earth and a little sunshine, too.

BIRD NEST FUN FUN FUN

You only have to clean out nesting boxes once to know all of the stuff that birds collect to use for their nests. Some birds prefer sticks and twigs, others grass, others mud. And for what it's worth, some might like yarn.

I have seen this activity in numerous nature books, and last year gave it a try using grasses and some yarn. Although some of the materials we put out were gone, we never saw where they ended up. (Once the leaves are off the trees in the Fall you can go on a nest hunt and look for the materials.) Last year we also tried using a mesh onion bag and pulled out some of the ends through the holes.

This year we're trying something new-- just a box of shredded up yarn. We've got three nesting boxes on the property. Two are currently vacant and one has a family of chickadees living in it (I think.) Regardless of whether the activity works or not, it's a fun, cheap, and easy thing to do with kids not to mention a great way to get rid of your scraps of yarn.

Earth Day Song 2009

A local Earth Day fair is hosting a competition for the big environmental day. Students of all ages can enter posters, skits, songs, videos, etc. honoring the green planet for a chance to win something, although I don't know what it is, nor do I care.
As part of her piano assignment, my daughter wrote this song to enter. Being in first grade, I admit I had to help a bit, but I can assure anyone that these are her words, her thoughts, her ideas. I just gave them some meter--the song doesn't even rhyme.
And I know she's my kid and all, but I am just so proud of her. I think she gets it, the whole idea of loving nature and nature will love you back-- you just have to see it.
The video follows, and because she's got a few holes in her mouth and a desperate need of braces, I'll post the lyrics as well.



The Love of the Earth
by EMc

The Earth is our mother
We take care of her
And she gives us gifts in return.

We have to remember
To notice her gifts
When we go outside in her world.

We see all the animals
Feel cool creek water
Smell wildflowers and spicebush too,
We hear little chickadees
Taste blackberries
And know all the love of the Earth.

So reduce your garbage
Reuse what you can
And recycle everything else.

And you’ll be rewarded
When you go outside
And know all the love of the Earth.

You can see all the animals
Feel cool creek water
Smell wildflowers and spicebush too,
Hear little chickadees
Taste blackberries
And know all the love of the Earth.

Sunflower House 2009

Here I go again.

Last year I think I planted 100 sunflower seeds. I planted another 50 or so in little tiny peat pots and nursed them to seedlings. And not once, or twice, but three times I attempted to plant a sunflower house, but my work and toil was all for naught. The bunnies got the best of me, and a fabulous salad to boot.

Boy Boy was so furious that in his best 4-year-old thought process he suggested we put up fences with lasers and cannons. I don't think I'll go quite that far (although I have to admit that lasers sound pretty attractive), but it's time to get thinking about this year's grand attempt at a sunflower house.

Don't know what I'm talking about? The idea, I believe, was first written about Sharon Lovejoy. She's got an amazing book, one of my favorites, called "Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots" and among other whimsical garden ideas is a sunflower house.

By planting giant and not-so-giant sunflowers in a square or circle, at full-growth they create their own little room or house. To me, it sounds incredibly magical, a place where fairies would surely live and prosper.

I'll try to post updates on here, including photos of me loading up the cannons should the bunnies return.

I should add that last year before the bunnies, we had to deal with the toads. Here's a shot of how we lost a few seedlings:

Mom, pass the nachos

This is an old post that I felt I had to include on this new blog, mostly because my mom didn't know that Pluto is no longer part of the family and I couldn't remember the 'real' reason why.

My very educated mother just served us nine pizzas???
It no longer works. Instead she's serving nachos. Poor, poor Pluto, we learned, isn't a planet anymore. It's a dwarf planet. And it's got a messy orbit.
My kids are always asking me obscure questions, so that we have to look them up. i've decided to start posting the answers should anyone else have this problem. Today, Flower Child asked why Pluto is no longer considered a planet.
Apparently it was decided in 2006 what the real definition of a planet is. In order to be a real planet, it has to, among other things, dominate it's orbit, which Pluto doesn't. And Pluto's not doing it's part to clean it's orbit either, which is very similar to the way Flower Child doesn't clean her room. Pluto's orbit is filled with asteroids and other such outer-space garbage, Flower Child's room is filled with dirty clothes, notepads, and Barbie shoes. Not only that, but Pluto's moon is nearly half it's size, so much that Pluto isn't the real 'boss' of the orbit, similar to the way that Boy Boy is over half the size of Flower Child and therefore doesn't let her rule the roost.
Who knew kids and planets could be so much alike?In any case, we've got to change the old saying. I chose "nachos" but if someone else has a better idea, by all means chime in!

If you haven't read this book and you're reading this blog...what gives?

I have dreamt for a long time of writing a book that makes nature fun. A collection of activities that parents and children can do together, a way to explore the natural world while having a good time and maybe learning a thing or two while you're at it.

So I read a lot of "nature activity" books, and I gotta say, I get a little tired of the foo-foo watch-a-leaf fall, touch-a-tree kind of stuff.

I want the good stuff.

I want the get dirty stuff. The stuff that is flashy and makes me look really cool to my kids, and more importantly, to their friends.

But someone has already beaten me to it, and he did it very well.

This book is a staple of my library, something I leave on my desk rather than piled up in the bookshelf. I read it every year, each time filing another activity into my repertoire, ready to pull out at a moment's notice.

If you haven't read this, go get it today.

If you have read this, then you totally understand where I'm coming from.

Here's the Amazon link for "Talking to Fireflies, Shrinking the Moon" by Ed Duensing.