Our Crop Plant Study: Corn!

Our crop plant study as part of the June Newsletter suggestions focused on corn. Yes, corn. We haven't had much luck in the past growing corn but we wanted to try again this year as part of our Three Sisters Garden where we plant corn, beans, and squash as companions. (There is an official Corn Crop Plants Challenge on my sidebar. You can just observe an ear of corn and make an entry if you wish.)


We did some reading beforehand and realized that we needed to plant more corn than we usually do so it will have a better chance of pollinating. We planted the corn in mounds and have let it grow to around six inches high before planting the beans around the corn and then pumpkins in alternating mounds between the corn. You can find complete directions HERE on Renee's Garden website (love this website).


Here are our young corn plants. We have been using homemade compost to enrich our soil and every time I dig around to weed the mounds I find oodles of earthworms. I am hoping that is a good sign for our corn and its health.

We had to put tomato cages around each mound for now to keep the critters out.....human kind and canine kind as well.


I noticed that there is a potato growing in the row so we decided to leave it and see what happens with it. We have never grown potatoes but there must have been one left in the compost when it was dumped in this section of the garden.

We read in the Handbook of Nature Study that corn study can take place in the spring as soon as the leaves appear and that because the corn plant grows so fast that it is a great season long study. We will be watching anxiously as our corn grows and in Lesson 168 in the Handbook of Nature Study there are many interesting observations to make as the plant grows.



You can purchase a set of notebook pages to go along with all the Crop Plants studies in the Handbook of Nature Study HERE. There are also challenges listed on the right sidebar of my blog to go along with them.



We are also anxious for our green beans to start their vines...our poles are ready!

Don't forget to post and then share your crop plant study with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. Here is the link to ENTER.

Outdoor Hour Challenge Autumn Series-Pumpkins

I realize we just had a pumpkin challenge, but many of you did not grow your own pumpkins during the Crop Plant Challenges. I thought we could revisit the pumpkin challenge with pumpkins you purchase at the grocery store or at a local farm.

Outdoor Hour Challenge
Autumn Series #5 Pumpkins
(Formerly Crop Plants Challenge #6)

Inside Preparation Work
Read in the Handbook of Nature Study pages 611-617. Make sure to highlight or underline some facts about pumpkins and also a few ideas for completing your nature study during your pumpkin time.

Outdoor Time
You can either plan a field trip to a pumpkin field to observe pumpkin plants and pumpkins or you can purchase a pumpkin at the grocery and bring it home and complete this study with a real pumpkin. You could also plan on doing both!

Follow-Up Activities
If you have a real pumpkin to observe, use the suggestions on pages 616 and 617 in the Handbook of Nature Study. Pull out your nature journals and make a colorful pumpkin entry.

Here are some additional observation suggestions for you to try with your children.
Thump your pumpkin and describe the sound.
Observe the creases on the outside of the pumpkin.
Can you tell which way your pumpkin sat on the ground when it was growing?
Cut your pumpkin open and view the seeds. Sketch the arrangement in your journal.
Are pumpkins mostly full or empty?
Observe the thickness of the pumpkin shell. Is it the same all over the pumpkin?
Carefully sketch a pumpkin seed into your journal.
Describe the feel of the pumpkin both inside and out. What is the stringy stuff for?
Describe the smell of the pumpkin inside.
Describe the taste of cooked pumpkin or the pumpkin seed after roasting.

Also try these links:
Pumpkin life cycle: http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/pdf.htm?pumpkin_lesson.pdf
Pumpkin poem for your nature journal:
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/fall/pumpkinpoem1.htm


If you purchased my Crop Plants Notebook Pages, there is a pumpkin notebook page included in that set or the one listed in the sidebar of my blog in the free downloads section.


Come back and share your pumpkin entry in Mr. Linky.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Our Outdoor Hour: Crop Plants-Pumpkin Time

From last year....fields of pumpkins not too far from our house....taken as we cruised along in the car.

Pumpkin is one of our favorite ingredients for goodies in our family. Pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread, and pumpkin pie are all partaken of year round. We started our pumpkins at the start of the Crop Plants Challenges but although the vines look healthy, there are plenty of blossoms, I fear we will not have a pumpkin crop from our garden this year.


It is a very good thing that Grandpa has been growing pumpkins right from the start and has been sharing his plants with us as they progress.

As part of our pumpkin study, we decided to make a pumpkin pie totally from scratch. This meant a phone call to Grandpa to ask if we could have one of his pumpkins from his garden. He responded quickly, "Of course!" He even delivered it to us and we got started.


Cutting the pumpkin was done with a big knife.


The guts of the pumpkin were scooped out first with a spoon but eventually that was set aside and bare hands were used. Lots of gushing around was done, seeds spilled on the floor, and strings stuck on the counter but it was ready to be cooked. We used a baking pan and the microwave to steam the pumpkin which took about 15 minutes at high.


Afterward we us used a food mill to smash the pumpkin and measure out exactly three cups of gorgeous golden pumpkin puree.


My youngest son actually made this pie all by himself.....crust and all. He used this recipe.

It took us hours to make the pie by the time we cut the pumpkin, cleaned it out, steamed it, pureed it, mixed up the crust, mixed up the pie filling, and baked it to perfection. Was it worth it? Absolutely! My son now has a great appreciation for how much work goes into a pumpkin pie from scratch. He also learned a lot about the structure of the pumpkin. Lastly, he was so proud of his pie and dished it up for dessert with a big smile on his face.

Great job Mr. B!

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Tomatoes: Our Outdoor Hour Challenge

We have been enjoying fresh tomatoes from our garden for quite some time now. There just is no comparison between homegrown and store bought tomatoes. I actually don't like the store bought ones very much. It wasn't until I grew my own tomatoes that I learned what a tomato really should taste like.

We did a bit of research into various kinds of tomatoes. There is a farm near our home that grows a variety of heirloom tomatoes that are amazing in color and shape. We are inspired to give a few a try next year. Does anyone have any experience with a particular variety? Source for seeds?


We completed our study with a few tomatoes from the garden, closely observing the seeds and flesh of the tomato.


The notebook page was filled out and filed away in the nature notebook.


But as usual, most of our time was spent outdoors in the garden looking at the plants, blossoms, and ripening tomatoes. There are quite a few blossoms on each of our two remaining tomato plants. The weather is still pretty hot and I think we have a good chance of having tomatoes at least until the end of the month.


We noted the smell of the tomato plant when you rub it and how it makes most of us itchy after working in the garden. This year is the first time we have pruned our tomato plants as they grew and it seems to have helped in two areas. First, we seem to have larger tomatoes and secondly, the plants don't bend and break so much.



We use a wire tomato cage around each plant to help support the branches but before trimming, the branches still try to get really long and scrawny. We trim those off as they start to stick out over the path.

Tomatoes are a great crop to grow in your garden. If you didn't get a chance this year, make sure to plan to grow a few in your yard next spring and summer. You will not be disappointed.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Outdoor Hour Challenge: Crop Plants-Tomato

We have come to the last of our crop plant challenges. This week we will be observing tomatoes. Since there is no section in the Handbook of Nature Study for the tomato, I found a couple of things that will help you share information with your children. You might like to read the article and watch the video in preparation for this challenge.

Excellent article on tomatoes at KidsGardening.com:
Plant of the Month: Tomato
http://www.kidsgardening.com/Dig/DigDetail.taf?ID=2073&Type=Art



Do you need a tomato tutorial? Here is a simple YouTube video to help you get started.

Here is the link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkW1wqq7tUg

Outdoor Hour Challenge
Crop Plants #7
Tomatoes

Inside Preparation Work
1. Read pages 20-21 “Gardening and Nature Study”. This small section will remind you of the value of keeping a garden or at least a small box or container with a few plants to observe.

2. Make sure to get fresh tomatoes to observe during your follow-up time. The ideal way would be to pick them from your own garden but buying them at the grocery or at your local farmers market will work just as well. If you can, have on hand two different kinds of tomatoes to compare during your follow-up time: cherry tomato, plum tomato, beefsteak tomato, green tomato, or different heirloom varieties.

Outdoor Time 3. Make sure to spend 10-15 minutes outdoors in your backyard or a near-by park. If you have tomatoes or other crop plants growing in your garden, make sure to spend some time observing the plants, insects, birds, or other living things that visit from time to time. Collect a few leaves or flowers to put in your press and then in your nature journal. You might check on your seasonal tree to see if it has changed since your last observation.

Follow-Up Activity
4. Take a few minutes to talk about anything your child found outside that was interesting. Use the Handbook of Nature study, previous challenges, or local field guides to learn more information. Give you child a chance to express in their own words something they experienced outdoors.

5. If you have a real tomato to observe and taste, you can make a journal entry to record a sketch or thoughts about the tomato. (If you purchased the Crop Plants notebook pages, you will have a page to record your observations.)

Here are some journal ideas to get you started:
If your tomato has a stem and leaf, make sure to sketch those in your journal.
Measure the size of your tomato with a measuring tape.
Compare different tomatoes.
Cut your tomato crosswise and observe the seed pattern.
Describe the texture of the tomato skin and the inside flesh of the tomato.
Take time to observe the smell of the tomato and record your description.
Remove some seeds and compare them to other seeds you have studied during the crop plant challenges. (size, shape, location, color, texture)
Make a watercolor painting of your tomato or just its cross-section.


New for this series of challenges are custom made notebook pages for each crop plant we will study. I have designed simple to use pages that will complement each challenge and will be an easy way to start a nature journal. Each of the eight notebook pages is in full color, but they are just as great in black and white. These notebook pages can be purchased for $2.50.

SAMPLE

As usual, you can complete the challenges without the notebook pages or you can use freebies from the top tab of my blog.

Our Strawberry Study: Outdoor Hour Challenge

"Red, shiny, green leaves and yellow spots. It is oval in shape with a bulge on top. The leaves are short with small black lines. It is cool to the touch and slightly fuzzy. It is extremely sweet."
Quote from my son's journal page

I didn't need to do much encouraging to get the boys to participate in this nature study challenge. They are always eager to help in the strawberry box. In fact the box belongs to my middle son and he keeps it well tended.

Funny thing is that many times he comes up into the house empty handed....wonder where those berries go between the garden and the kitchen?

Pick, wash, eat....you can't get any fresher than that!

We used the lesson ideas in the Handbook of Nature Study to focus a little on the strawberry and to see what we could learn. Then we went out to our garden to investigate our plants. We have two varieties of strawberries: June berries and Everbearing. We have a big crop of berries that we harvest early in the summer and then we have plants that keep on producing a few berries all summer long.


We observed the blossom and leaves.


We saw this little berry where the petals of the flower had just dropped off and the berry is just starting to poke out and be seen.



We found a little bit bigger green berry to compare to the others.



Here are some berries growing large and pink. Look at all those seeds on the outside of the strawberry.

Like I said, not many berries end up in the kitchen but we did manage to bring up some to complete a nature journal page before they were gobbled up as well.

Here in California strawberries are a popular crop and you don't have to go far to find a roadside stand selling fresh berries of all kinds. My husband has been working down in the Monterey area and they have strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries growing commercially there. He is loving the fresh fruits and promises to bring some home when he is able. He has been working on the Lockheed Fire since last week and we are missing him terribly. He is our hero though and I know that he doesn't mind doing his job when the need arises.

Hope you enjoy your strawberry study soon and don't forget to share your blog entries.

If you don't have a blog and you would like to submit a photo for consideration as the Outdoor Hour Challenge Photo of the Week, please email the photo to harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Cotton Study: Our Family Outdoor Hour Challenge

The boys were not too excited about this study when we started but I persevered. We decided that we would read the pages in the Handbook of Nature Study together and then see what we find interesting about cotton plants. The whole discussion about cotton led to a thorough discussion about the role of cotton and slavery which I loved because it shows how nature study can be so much more than just nature study. We can draw in art, history, geography, culture, and traditions.

We checked our clothing that we had on and of course we all had something made of cotton. My pants were a cotton/linen blend and my shirt was 100% cotton. The boys each had on cotton blend shorts and 100% cotton t-shirts. A little awareness goes a long way and we were soon finding lots of things made of cotton around the house. :)

Looking at cotton with a magnifying lens was interesting and they quickly sketched the view on their notebook page for their nature journal.

We would love to grow cotton here just for fun but I don't think we have the right kind of climate. We remembered that we had seen some cotton plants when we visited Atlanta, GA at the living history museum....now that was some hot weather when we were there! Too humid for us West Coasters.

Our actual outdoor time was spent in the garden again. Here are some things we found interesting.

Green beans with their pretty purple blossoms.


Tomato blossoms still coming on the plants.


Garlic chives we need to trim....the flowers are pretty though.


Bells of Ireland in Amanda's box. This is a new plant for our garden and it really is pretty.

So even though our inside preparation work started off a little slow, we really did enjoy learning about cotton and cotton plants. Our outdoor time was the highlight of the day and having a small garden to tend and nurture is a blessing and a refuge to us all.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Outdoor Hour Challenge: Crop Plants-Pumpkins

It will soon be upon us...pumpkin harvest time. This week's challenge will prepare you for a great nature study that your children will really enjoy.

Outdoor Hour Challenge
Crop Plants #6
Pumpkins

Inside Preparation Work
1. Read in the Handbook of Nature Study pages 611-617. Make sure to highlight or underline some facts about pumpkins and also a few ideas for completing your nature study during your pumpkin time.

2. You can either plan a field trip to a pumpkin field to observe pumpkin plants and pumpkins or you can purchase a pumpkin at the grocery and bring it home and complete this study with a real pumpkin. You could also plan on doing both!

Outdoor Time (At home or during your field trip)
3. For this challenge, spend 10-15 minutes outdoors. Even if you don’t have a pumpkin plant to observe, spend this time in your own yard enjoying what you do have up close. You can compare leaves on different plants, look for vines of any kind, look for something orange like a pumpkin, sit and watch for insects, or dig a small hole and see what you can find that is interesting. The possibilities are endless.

Follow-Up Activity
4. Take a few minutes to talk about anything your child found outside that was interesting. Did they bring in something to look at with the magnifying lens? Do they have something they would like to sketch into their nature journal?

5. An idea for a nature journal this week is to sketch a pumpkin or the diagrams of the pumpkin blossoms from the Handbook of Nature Study. If you need an image of a pumpkin, do a quick Google Image search. (Preview before you share with your children.)

6. If you have a real pumpkin to observe, use the suggestions on pages 616 and 617 in the Handbook of Nature Study. (If you purchased the Crop Plants notebook pages, you will have a page to record your observations.)

Here are some journal ideas to get you started:
Sketch or describe the leaf.
Thump your pumpkin and describe the sound.
Observe the creases on the outside of the pumpkin.
Can you tell which way your pumpkin sat on the ground when it was growing?
Cut your pumpkin open and view the seeds. Sketch the arrangement in your journal.
Are pumpkins mostly full or empty?
Observe the thickness of the pumpkin shell. Is it the same all over the pumpkin?
Carefully sketch a pumpkin seed into your journal.
Describe the feel of the pumpkin both inside and out. What is the stringy stuff for?
Describe the smell of the pumpkin inside.
Describe the taste of cooked pumpkin or the pumpkin seed after roasting.
Also try these links:
Pumpkin life cycle: http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/pdf.htm?pumpkin_lesson.pdf
Pumpkin poem for your nature journal: http://www.dltk-holidays.com/fall/pumpkinpoem1.htm


New for this series of challenges are custom made notebook pages for each crop plant we will study. I have designed simple to use pages that will complement each challenge and will be an easy way to start a nature journal. Each of the eight notebook pages is in full color, but they are just as great in black and white. These notebook pages can be purchased for $2.50.

SAMPLE

As usual, you can complete the challenges without the notebook pages or you can use freebies from the top tab of my blog.

Outdoor Hour Challenge-Crop Plants: Strawberries

We have had strawberries in our garden for a very long time. My middle son has let his garden box fill up with strawberry plants and we all are reaping the benefits of this easy to grow fruit. I am looking forward to focusing this week on the strawberry and gleaning some new insight into this delicious crop plant.


Outdoor Hour Challenge
Crop Plants #5
Strawberries

Inside Preparation Work
1. Read in the Handbook of Nature Study pages 608-611.

“If a comparison of the wild and cultivated strawberries is practicable, it makes this lesson more interesting.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 609

2. The lesson suggests that each child have a strawberry plant with roots and runners attached to observe in person. This may not be possible but perhaps you can find a plant that you can observe with its leaves and a green or ripe strawberry. If all else fails, have some fresh strawberries from the grocery store available for your follow-up time.

Outdoor Time
3. For this challenge, spend 10-15 minutes outdoors. This would be a great time to check up on any crop plants that you have been growing in the garden. If you don’t have any crop plants growing, spend your time observing in your own backyard looking for a subject that interests your children. Perhaps you could bring along your magnifying glass and inspect leaves or flowers or insects. Enjoy this time together.

You can also download my daughter’s Summer Nature Walk Worksheet to complete during your outdoor time if you wish.

Follow-Up Activity
4. Allow time for discussion and a nature journal entry after your outdoor time. Follow up any interest in any subjects you observed during your outdoor time either in the Handbook of Nature Study or in a field guide. You could also check past Outdoor Hour Challenge topics to see if we have studied your subject in the past.

5. Have some fresh strawberries on hand for observation and then eating.

Here are some ideas for careful observation:

1. Notice the strawberry's color, shape, size, seeds, hull, and stem.
2. Smell the strawberry.
3. Take the stem in your right hand and the berry in your left hand and pull. What happens?
4. Look at the seeds on the outside of the berry. What are their size and shape? (use a magnifying glass)
5. Cut the berry vertically and notice the colored layers. (some red, pink, white, or green)
6. Are there seeds on the inside of the berry?
7. Cut a cross section and describe the inside of the berry.
8. Eat the strawberry and describe its taste.

6. Your journal entry could include:

• Drawing of the whole berry, showing the shape, stem, and the pattern of seeds.
• Drawing of a vertical section, showing the shape, stem, and the seeds on the outside. (cut the berry in half lengthwise)
• Drawing of the horizontal section, showing the seeds, and the colored ring. (cut the berry in half crosswise)
• Drawing of a strawberry leaf if possible showing the distinct shape.

Here is a link to an article on growing strawberries with kids.


New for this series of challenges are custom made notebook pages for each crop plant we will study. I have designed simple to use pages that will complement each challenge and will be an easy way to start a nature journal. Each of the eight notebook pages is in full color, but they are just as great in black and white. These notebook pages can be purchased for $2.50.

SAMPLE

As usual, you can complete the challenges without the notebook pages or you can use Tina's notebook pages linked below. Don't forget to share your nature study on Mr. Linky.

As usual, you can complete the challenges without the notebook pages or you can use freebies from the top tab of my blog.

Outdoor Hour Challenge- Crop Plants: Cotton

Now we are working totally out of my area of expertise. I have never grown cotton or seen it growing so we will be learning together. :)

Teri at Confessions of a FiberDrunk has been very helpful in my pre-study of cotton for this challenge. She actually grows cotton for the fiber to make into yarn. I have really enjoyed reading her blog and getting to know the process of growing cotton at home.

You might try reading these entries to get a better idea of how it all works.
Yarn Farming
Transplanting Cotton
My Cotton Harvest 2008
She also has a flickr photoset that you might be interested in viewing:
Homegrown Cotton

Thanks Teri for sharing your entries for those of us who have no knowledge of how to grow cotton.


Outdoor Hour Challenge
Crop Plants #4
Cotton

Inside Preparation Work
1. Read in the Handbook of Nature Study pages 604-608. The lesson on the cotton plant in the HNS is loaded with information about a plant that many of us have never grown or seen in person. Make sure to view the photo on page 606 and the diagram on page 607 with your children. See the links at the bottom of this challenge for websites that sell cotton bolls and cotton seeds if you wish to go more in depth with this challenge and study of cotton.

2. For this challenge it may be interesting to go through your closets and drawers and find clothing items that are made of 100% cotton. Bed linens are sometimes made of 100% cotton as well. Be creative.

Outdoor Time
3. As a family, spend 10-15 minutes outdoors. This would be a great time to check up on any crop plants that you have been growing in the garden. If you don’t have any crop plants growing, spend your time observing your own backyard and seeking a subject that interests your children. Perhaps you could bring along your magnifying glass and inspect leaves or flowers or insects. Enjoy this time together and remember that the most important part of any Outdoor Hour Challenge is the time spent outdoors as a family.

Follow-Up Activity
4. Allow time for discussion and a nature journal entry after your outdoor time. Follow up any interest in subjects you observed during your outdoor time either in the Handbook of Nature Study or in a field guide. You could also check past Outdoor Hour Challenge topics to see if we have studied your subject in the past.

5. One idea for cotton observation and then a nature journal is to use cotton balls or cotton fabric and view them with a magnifying lens. You can compare both the cotton ball and the cotton fabric and then sketch your observations in a nature journal entry. (If you purchased the Crop Plants notebook pages, there is a place on the cotton page to record your sketches.)

For future reference:
Here is a link to a website where you can purchase cotton bolls for observation.
http://cottonclouds.com/shopping/product_info.asp?id=542

Here is a link to a website that sells cotton seeds if you would like to grow your own cotton to observe.
http://www.southernexposure.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=COTT

Here is a link to a coloring book about cotton: Wonderful World of Cotton


New for this series of challenges are custom made notebook pages for each crop plant we will study. I have designed simple to use pages that will complement each challenge and will be an easy way to start a nature journal. Each of the eight notebook pages is in full color, but they are just as great in black and white. These notebook pages can be purchased for $2.50.

SAMPLE

You can complete the challenges without the notebook pages or you can use Tina's notebook pages linked below.

Thanks to Tina at Jetihoja Academy for her wonderful Outdoor Hour Challenge notebook pages.
Outdoor Hour Challenge Notebooking pages

Barb-Harmony Art Mom