May. 13, 2009
Leapin' Lizards, How Does Your Garden Grow?
Posted in Homeschooling
Leapin' lizards, what is this creature? My kids found him on the driveway a few days ago and snapped a picture, then he slunk off into the grass. I have no idea what kind of lizard he is, so if anyone out there knows please tell me. I suppose with all the rain we've had the past few weeks he's on the move, or maybe he just came out into the sun to warm up.  Then today I found this little guy on the carport. I've always heard these called blue-tailed lizards, but I'm not sure if that is their common name. He wasn't camera shy as DD9 was able to get very close to get the photo.  Finally our little garden is planted...well re-planted.  We don't have a large garden space but we were able to plant some cucumbers, straight neck squash, okra, purple hull peas, tomatoes, lettuce, chives, mint, and some insect repelling marigolds. In addition we have several small blueberry bushes we planted last year. For this years garden DH planted the lettuce first while the weather was still mostly cool. The morning after we found that our dear dogs had "helped" during the night by digging in the spot the lettuce seeds were planted. About a week later the lettuce was coming up in patches rather than a straight row. We decided it was going to be too hot where the lettuce was planted, so we moved it then planted the other plants. The next morning our dear dogs had "helped" again during the night (aren't they sweet). This time the okra had been uprooted. We battled this situation all summer last year, and even though we put up a fence around the garden they still managed to get in and dig. This year DH found the answer - an electric wire around the bottom of the fence. They won't go near it now, but have protested by chewing on the wood trim on the french doors (sigh). One of the dear dogs used to (before the electric wire on the fence) stand in the middle of the garden and bark during the night. When we would look out our bedroom window (down 2 stories into the back yard) we would find her in the middle of the garden looking up at us. I don't know why she had to stand in the middle of the garden in the middle of the night to talk to us, but it seemed to make her happy. We spoiled her fun when we electrified the garden fence. Now we sleep peacefully at night, and our garden may actually survive this summer. Other plants around our home are blooming and doing well after the rains. This has been great to see and has given us the opportunity to see and apply some of what we have learned this year in Exploring Creation with Botany by Jeannie Fulbright. Here are some of the plants in their glory. Clematis  Petunia  Succulent (unsure of the specific name)  Chives- The ice cubes are a good slow watering system for potted plants. They are able to utilize more of the water as it slowly melts into the soil, rather than a large quantity being poured in at once and some of it running out of the bottom of the pot.  Mint - I've heard that ants do not like mint, so in an attempt to keep the ants away I have mint on the deck near the kitchen. If anyone has a good recipe for using fresh mint to make mint jelly I would love to have it.  Moss (?) growing beside the house and moss (?) magnified (if you know what this plant is leave me a comment please)   Strawberries  Amaryllis  We have enjoyed planting and growing our own food, and many other plants, over the years. Now we are able to include our children, and they are learning and enjoying it as well.
Blessings, Missy http://homeschoolhisway.blogspot.com |
Comments
Aug. 14, 2009 - Untitled Comment
|
|
|
|
|
Posted by Anonymous