Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts
Summer is coming!
Two days ago we got our first strawberry of the growing season. Yesterday, we got four. Today, we got nine! It looks like there are dozens out there that will be ripening in the next week or so. It's a very exciting time around here!
Not Back To School 2014
This is the time of year when most parents breathe a sigh of relief. It's back to school time, and that means the kids are being cared for and taught by a wonderful teacher (most of the time!). This is the time of year when a million and one doubts creep into my mind.
Are we really going to do this another year?
Is this the year I need to really buckle down and pack more schooling in?
What am I *doing*?
Most of the time, I am happy we homeschool. Those moments of doubt make me longingly look at my Facebook feed of friends sending their kids off to school. I know that won't ever be us. Maybe someday we will find a school that is a good fit for my kids' needs and doesn't break the bank, but for now this is where we are. I know my kids. I know it would be a disservice to them, their potential classmates, and school teacher to send them to school. This is our best option for now, so we'll keep doing it.
I have posted before about what a day in our homeschooling life looks like. Our days don't change too much during the summer or school year, though summer in the past has been less structured, this most recent summer was not. The boys had a week of swim classes, a week of chess camp, a week at the beach, several nights away with their grandparents, and BK (big kid) had two weeks of video game camp. The summer went by FAST! Fall is looming and I am worried I overbooked us. The kids will have chess class, soccer (practice and games), music class, farm school, online classes, a new co-op, and perhaps one or two other activities. For a family of extreme introverts, that's a lot going on. We will likely have a much quieter winter and I hope that is when we can tackle most of our book work.
Our homeschooling rhythm is not like a traditional classroom. I have tried that but it never sticks with us. I went to Catholic school through high school and it was very structured, overwhelming, and anxiety-inducing. I think that has influenced how I do things differently. What we've been doing lately:
A lot of gardening. It's peak harvest time. My kids know when various vegetables and fruits are ready for harvest. They gather them, and often count and weigh them.
A lot of geeking out. I don't think there is a way around this one. My husband and I both have advanced degrees in engineering. This often makes me wonder if I will fail my kids in their liberal arts education, but I hope my awareness or our tendency towards geekiness is enough that I don't fail them. BK showed LK how to make his own video games. The created a new game, in addition to the one BK made at camp, that had various levels, obstacles, and characters. There is some coding involved, though it's much more GUI based than the primitive languages I first learned!
In addition to the video game design, they are building a new machine for creating even more games and for online schoolwork.
A lot of playing! For BK's first 5-6 years, he didn't really play. He played board games, yes, a LOT. He worked on puzzles (from < 12 months). He never played. LK sparked an imaginative play streak, though, and for the last almost 2 years, there is a lot of playing going on. I think playing is probably the most important thing they can be doing right now, so I never interrupt it for something else. One of the best things about homeschooling is prolonging this sweet childhood time. Kids grow up way too fast, and I will not stand in the way of their world filled with such wild imagination.
So, while I have my doubts I know this is where we need to be. I do have a few things I know I want to tackle this year so I have some goals in mind:
That's all for now. I just wanted to share some of my recent feelings about homeschooling. I'd love to read about your homeschooling thoughts. If you have a blog post about them, please share it in the comments!
Are we really going to do this another year?
Is this the year I need to really buckle down and pack more schooling in?
What am I *doing*?
Most of the time, I am happy we homeschool. Those moments of doubt make me longingly look at my Facebook feed of friends sending their kids off to school. I know that won't ever be us. Maybe someday we will find a school that is a good fit for my kids' needs and doesn't break the bank, but for now this is where we are. I know my kids. I know it would be a disservice to them, their potential classmates, and school teacher to send them to school. This is our best option for now, so we'll keep doing it.
I have posted before about what a day in our homeschooling life looks like. Our days don't change too much during the summer or school year, though summer in the past has been less structured, this most recent summer was not. The boys had a week of swim classes, a week of chess camp, a week at the beach, several nights away with their grandparents, and BK (big kid) had two weeks of video game camp. The summer went by FAST! Fall is looming and I am worried I overbooked us. The kids will have chess class, soccer (practice and games), music class, farm school, online classes, a new co-op, and perhaps one or two other activities. For a family of extreme introverts, that's a lot going on. We will likely have a much quieter winter and I hope that is when we can tackle most of our book work.
Our homeschooling rhythm is not like a traditional classroom. I have tried that but it never sticks with us. I went to Catholic school through high school and it was very structured, overwhelming, and anxiety-inducing. I think that has influenced how I do things differently. What we've been doing lately:
A lot of gardening. It's peak harvest time. My kids know when various vegetables and fruits are ready for harvest. They gather them, and often count and weigh them.
A lot of geeking out. I don't think there is a way around this one. My husband and I both have advanced degrees in engineering. This often makes me wonder if I will fail my kids in their liberal arts education, but I hope my awareness or our tendency towards geekiness is enough that I don't fail them. BK showed LK how to make his own video games. The created a new game, in addition to the one BK made at camp, that had various levels, obstacles, and characters. There is some coding involved, though it's much more GUI based than the primitive languages I first learned!
 |
| Why yes, that is a C3P0 Angry Bird flying through space, collecting coins, avoiding Jabba the Hutt. |
A lot of playing! For BK's first 5-6 years, he didn't really play. He played board games, yes, a LOT. He worked on puzzles (from < 12 months). He never played. LK sparked an imaginative play streak, though, and for the last almost 2 years, there is a lot of playing going on. I think playing is probably the most important thing they can be doing right now, so I never interrupt it for something else. One of the best things about homeschooling is prolonging this sweet childhood time. Kids grow up way too fast, and I will not stand in the way of their world filled with such wild imagination.
So, while I have my doubts I know this is where we need to be. I do have a few things I know I want to tackle this year so I have some goals in mind:
- Read more with my kids. Of course I read with them already, but I want to read more! I need to find some books that they are both interested in, and hopefully encourage LK to read with more confidence. He has the skills to read but is often hesitant because he doesn't want to make mistakes.
- Explore nature more. They attend farm school but we slacked off on other nature walks last year when my husband injured his leg and wasn't walking well for awhile.
- Be more present with them. I need to work on this one. There is often so much to do (making food, figuring out homeschooling work, cleaning, driving, working on my TpT store and all that entails) that sometimes I forget to slow down and just BE with them. I have been taking more and more tech breaks and I really like what that does for this goal. Sometimes it's just a Facebook break, and that helps a ton.
That's all for now. I just wanted to share some of my recent feelings about homeschooling. I'd love to read about your homeschooling thoughts. If you have a blog post about them, please share it in the comments!
Summer in Full Swing!
We have been so busy this summer! It is really flying by. Here is the mini update!
Big Kid (H) went to tech camp that I won in a raffle (woohoo!) and created a video game called Frosty's Adventure, where Frosty must pick up bombs (snowballs?) and hit the people with them in order to pass, and then reach the green door to get to the next level. He created 12 levels in all and I was really impressed he was able to do this in a one week, half-day camp!
My favorite part about the beach? Going in the early morning when no one is there and running on the sand! Unfortunately it was very humid one day, which made for an unpleasant run, pouring rain another, and an obscenely early morning on another day, so I only ran twice there, but I did log 8.5 miles in those two runs so I won't complain any more about it.
This was a really neat surprise! When the kids and I were jumping waves, a young artist named Sofie drew this adorable sketch of us. I absolutely love it! She initially didn't sign it but I asked her to tell me her name and then to sign it.
I hope everyone is having a good summer so far!
Big Kid (H) went to tech camp that I won in a raffle (woohoo!) and created a video game called Frosty's Adventure, where Frosty must pick up bombs (snowballs?) and hit the people with them in order to pass, and then reach the green door to get to the next level. He created 12 levels in all and I was really impressed he was able to do this in a one week, half-day camp!
We harvested the first of our garden beets last week! It's one of the few vegetables both kids like, so I need to remember to start seeds every few weeks next year. This year I forgot until the first batch was almost ready. It looks like we'll have a few dozen in the current crop. We also picked the first of our peppers! That means it's been hot! Usually we don't get peppers until August.
This past week we went to Rhode Island. My parents rent a house there in summer and I took the kids for the week, where they got to play with their cousins and spend lots of time at the beach. We also went miniature golfing, go-kart racing, bowling, and out for special treats. How lucky are these kids?
My favorite part about the beach? Going in the early morning when no one is there and running on the sand! Unfortunately it was very humid one day, which made for an unpleasant run, pouring rain another, and an obscenely early morning on another day, so I only ran twice there, but I did log 8.5 miles in those two runs so I won't complain any more about it.
This was a really neat surprise! When the kids and I were jumping waves, a young artist named Sofie drew this adorable sketch of us. I absolutely love it! She initially didn't sign it but I asked her to tell me her name and then to sign it.
Strawberries, day 17
Today's harvest:
92 berries, 1045g
Harvest YTD:
1382 berries, over 16kg
Many of them have now been frozen and will hopefully last until at least October!
Today was our second day harvesting snow peas as well, but only a handful. I also needed potatoes yesterday so I dug up a few, even though the main harvest won't be for several weeks.
92 berries, 1045g
Harvest YTD:
1382 berries, over 16kg
Top 5 Tips: Growing Strawberries at Home
Since we are in strawberry season, I thought I would give my top 5 tips about growing strawberries at home! This is the fourth year I have grown them (not counting the first year where the crop was minimal), and over the past several years I have learned some valuable lessons that seem to improve the crop yearly. Keep in mind that I am a backyard gardener and not a garden expert by any means. This is just what has worked for me. I hope it works for you, too!
1. Sunny spot. One of my strawberry beds had partial shade and did not produce well at all. Strawberries love full sun. Pick a spot that gets lots of sun and has extra room for your strawberries to sprawl.
2. Watering: Less is more. The first year I over-watered my berries (or Mother Nature did). This made them soggier and less sweet. Yuck! Here in New England, I rarely water my strawberries now. Everything I had read said to water them more than I do, but I have found that less is more. If you live in a warmer zone (I'm in USDA Zone 6a), you may need to water your berries more often.
3. Clip and clean up. Your berry plants will send out runners. Clip off a good bit of them. The plant will put more energy into making delicious berries instead of making more plants. The runners that you leave will be good producers in the following year. When the season is over, set your mower on a high setting and mow off the tops of your everbearers.
4. Move to improve. Relocate younger and healthier plants either in fall or very early spring to a new area and amend with rich compost. If you don't have a home compost bin, consider starting one. It helps everything in the garden grow happier and healthier. I now have other plants (peppers, tomatillos, tomatoes) growing in the areas where I started my strawberries that first year, but I expect to move some young strawberries back there this fall after I pull out the current plants and amend the soil. Crop rotation really does work!
5. Variety. Include both June- and ever-bearing varieties; that way you will have a sizeable crop in June, and a steady stream of daily strawberries through September (maybe longer, depending on your zone). Some varieties may produce better in your area than others.You can even add wild yellow strawberries for something different! They have a slightly tropical flavor and don't sprawl, so you can grow them in spaces that don't have room for expansion.
Strawberries are by far my favorite thing to grow in my garden. Why?
I started with 32 strawberry babies in 2010; 16 each of two varieties. We got a small number of berries the first year, but nothing worth counting. Since 2011 I have had my kids help harvest, count, and weigh the berries daily. Here are some stats for the last few years:
2011: Picked 1052 edible strawberries (11.5 kg)
2012: Picked 945 edible strawberries (10.8 kg)
2013: Picked 1670 edible strawberries (18.3 kg)
Good luck growing this fantastic crop. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to add them to the comments below.
1. Sunny spot. One of my strawberry beds had partial shade and did not produce well at all. Strawberries love full sun. Pick a spot that gets lots of sun and has extra room for your strawberries to sprawl.
2. Watering: Less is more. The first year I over-watered my berries (or Mother Nature did). This made them soggier and less sweet. Yuck! Here in New England, I rarely water my strawberries now. Everything I had read said to water them more than I do, but I have found that less is more. If you live in a warmer zone (I'm in USDA Zone 6a), you may need to water your berries more often.
3. Clip and clean up. Your berry plants will send out runners. Clip off a good bit of them. The plant will put more energy into making delicious berries instead of making more plants. The runners that you leave will be good producers in the following year. When the season is over, set your mower on a high setting and mow off the tops of your everbearers.
4. Move to improve. Relocate younger and healthier plants either in fall or very early spring to a new area and amend with rich compost. If you don't have a home compost bin, consider starting one. It helps everything in the garden grow happier and healthier. I now have other plants (peppers, tomatillos, tomatoes) growing in the areas where I started my strawberries that first year, but I expect to move some young strawberries back there this fall after I pull out the current plants and amend the soil. Crop rotation really does work!
5. Variety. Include both June- and ever-bearing varieties; that way you will have a sizeable crop in June, and a steady stream of daily strawberries through September (maybe longer, depending on your zone). Some varieties may produce better in your area than others.You can even add wild yellow strawberries for something different! They have a slightly tropical flavor and don't sprawl, so you can grow them in spaces that don't have room for expansion.
Strawberries are by far my favorite thing to grow in my garden. Why?
- They require little maintenance,
- they are perennial,
- they are easy to preserve (jam, puree, freeze whole on a cookie sheet then drop in a ziplock bag), and
- they are delicious!
I started with 32 strawberry babies in 2010; 16 each of two varieties. We got a small number of berries the first year, but nothing worth counting. Since 2011 I have had my kids help harvest, count, and weigh the berries daily. Here are some stats for the last few years:
2011: Picked 1052 edible strawberries (11.5 kg)
2012: Picked 945 edible strawberries (10.8 kg)
2013: Picked 1670 edible strawberries (18.3 kg)
Good luck growing this fantastic crop. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to add them to the comments below.
First swim day at home!
One of the perks of homeschooling is that when the weather is nice, we can do things like go on nature walks. If the temperature is as warm as it was today, the kids can go in the small pool we have in the backyard. I happened to grab my camera and snap this photo as well:
I also noticed while sitting outside that the caterpillars are out of CONTROL this year!
I think they're gypsy moth caterpillars and I'm not sure what we can do about them all! =( The happy news is we picked three strawberries! That means we each got to eat one. June tastes delicious so far!
You know it's almost June when...
the strawberries are almost ready to be picked! I love incorporating our home garden into our homeschooling curriculum. We always count and weigh our strawberry harvest, and then plot the results. Last year we grew over 40 pounds of edible strawberries! It was likely around 50-60 pounds if the donations to local wildlife were included. They always pick the sweetest ones to take a bite out of!
Garden Update: Here we go again!
It's that time of year again! Gardening is something I couldn't easily live without. There is nothing like eating fruits and veggies as you pick them. It's almost May, which means the days of harvest are not quite in sight, but the days of prepping are here. This past weekend I cleaned up and/or turned over all of the gardening beds. Pea seeds, summer squash seeds, and beet seeds are in. The sage, rhubarb, and lovage have all woken up. The blueberry shrubs have buds. The strawberry plants are
looking spry. My handy husband and helpful kids built me a new box for some tomatoes! Here they are about halfway done:
We dug a trench for potatoes! This year I am taking a break from pumpkins and winter squash and instead growing potatoes. I got tired of those pesky squash vine borers and we get plenty of winter squash from our CSA as well. I put in the seed potatoes just a few days ago and am hoping they fare well.
Here's the rhubarb waking up! This is one we have transplanted from the HippySticks' homestead in Maine. We split it off last year into two and that one is doing well. I may split this one again since it is always so healthy!
What we will be growing this year:
Tons of herbs, including basil, oregano, lemon balm, mint, dill, sage, thyme, borage, and lovage
Tomatoes
Tomatillos and ground cherries (if they self-seed; I didn't save any seeds.)
Peppers
Snow peas
Beets
Rhubarb
Blueberries (I hope! We've had a few horrible years. If they don't produce this year, I'm pulling them and putting something else in!)
Summer squash (possibly under row cover to avoid those SVBs!): Scallop and other bush varieties
Yellow and red strawberries
I'm not sure what else off the top of my head. I'm open to suggestion, and will often let volunteer plants that grow from the compost just keep on growing.
Though I've grown greens, parsnips, and carrots in the past, I think this year I will take a break from those as well. We get so many from our CSA I often found myself composting greens that wilted before we got a chance to eat them!
Perhaps as the garden starts growing I will give a virtual garden tour! =)
looking spry. My handy husband and helpful kids built me a new box for some tomatoes! Here they are about halfway done:
What we will be growing this year:
Tons of herbs, including basil, oregano, lemon balm, mint, dill, sage, thyme, borage, and lovage
Tomatoes
Tomatillos and ground cherries (if they self-seed; I didn't save any seeds.)
Peppers
Snow peas
Beets
Rhubarb
Blueberries (I hope! We've had a few horrible years. If they don't produce this year, I'm pulling them and putting something else in!)
Summer squash (possibly under row cover to avoid those SVBs!): Scallop and other bush varieties
Yellow and red strawberries
I'm not sure what else off the top of my head. I'm open to suggestion, and will often let volunteer plants that grow from the compost just keep on growing.
Though I've grown greens, parsnips, and carrots in the past, I think this year I will take a break from those as well. We get so many from our CSA I often found myself composting greens that wilted before we got a chance to eat them!
Perhaps as the garden starts growing I will give a virtual garden tour! =)
week in review: spring is here!
From top left, and clockwise: Finishing a 1000 piece puzzle, the start of soccer season, nature walk (4), playground fun, seedlings growing!
Three other exciting things started this week:
1) Chess class! All 3 of my boys (husband and two kids) are participating. They have learned the fried liver attack.
2) Tennis club! The local homeschoolers will meet weekly to learn how to play tennis. I volunteered to lead the 6-9 year olds and our first class was a blast.
3) Baseball! My 6yo is playing baseball as well as soccer. Almost 8yo has tried both soccer and baseball but decided they aren't for him, so I'm hoping he likes tennis. It's nice to have a sport you love.
We are quite busy, but the weather is warmer and the daylight hours are longer, which makes it a bit more manageable.
garden love
The gardening season is dying down. In a few weeks we will get our first frost, and many of the plants will not survive. For now, the harvest is abundant and colorful beyond belief!
Here's another recent photo as well:
Oh how I love my garden! The kids are such wonderful harvest helpers. They also help count and weigh the strawberries and tomatoes we pick. In 2013, we have picked 38.5 POUNDS of edible, delicious strawberries (or, 1670 strawberries, if you like to count by berry instead of by weight)! It would likely be over 60 pounds if I counted the ones that have gotten tossed straight into the compost due to slug holes, mushy berries, or squirrel bites. The kids at at least 95% of the good strawberries. Here is the most recent chart:
As you can see, most of the strawberries were picked in June. It's nice to have a small amount to snack on almost daily at this point. I know we missed several days of charting, but I think it's still fun to look at our graph. What's growing in your garden?
Here's another recent photo as well:
Oh how I love my garden! The kids are such wonderful harvest helpers. They also help count and weigh the strawberries and tomatoes we pick. In 2013, we have picked 38.5 POUNDS of edible, delicious strawberries (or, 1670 strawberries, if you like to count by berry instead of by weight)! It would likely be over 60 pounds if I counted the ones that have gotten tossed straight into the compost due to slug holes, mushy berries, or squirrel bites. The kids at at least 95% of the good strawberries. Here is the most recent chart:
if you give a mom a cucumber
If you give a mom a cucumber (or 20), she's going to ask "Seriously, what the %@#! am I going to do with all of these cucumbers?" While I LOVE our CSA, the past few weeks have been overflowing with cucumbers! We have had cucumber salad, refrigerator pickles, sliced cucumbers, and so on. Finally I donated some to Jen's relish endeavors and used up the remainder tonight in some delicious cucumber soup, which went really well with a mojito. I am so thrilled to be caught up with the cucumbers...for now.
mystery squash revealed!
A squash plant grew out of some compost in with the tomatoes. I decided to leave it, and it has revealed itself finally! I'm not terribly surprised it's a butternut plant; last year's garden had several of the same mystery squash! I haven't planted any butternut squash in three years so I doubt I will even save seeds this year. Likely I will just get another mystery one or two next year!
Two of my other mystery plants were watermelon, though they have no fruit on them yet, so I doubt we will see any as it's already almost August. Can you spy one of my garden helpers below?
Two of my other mystery plants were watermelon, though they have no fruit on them yet, so I doubt we will see any as it's already almost August. Can you spy one of my garden helpers below?
what's growing
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