Our Winter Weeds - A Continuing Nature Study

Mullein and Winter Weeds

Winter weeds have become an on-going study for our family. Our winter hikes always seem to include some sort of weed observation.

• Our March 2009 entry showing the beauty of looking at weeds up close: Even More Lovely Than I Imagined. 
• Our January 2010 entry shows some of the beautiful silhouettes of winter weeds: Winter Hike to The River.
• In February 2011, we again blogged our Winter Weeds Along Our Walking Trail.

So what did we do to study weeds a little more in depth this year?

• We have been collecting weeds on just about every walk. They have made into bouquets, looked at under the microscope, and drawn in our nature journals.




• We looked for weeds on our last snowshoe hike and made quite a few observations while adventuring in the snow.
• We have been observing our "laboratory" of mullein in the garden as it has changed over the past six months. It isn't very pretty at this point but we are going to leave it until the spring greening. There are still parts of the plant that are greenish so we figure some creature in the yard might find a use for it.
• Mr. B did the additional mullein research suggested in the More Nature Study Book 2 challenge and then he completed a notebook page.

Weeds and seeds of all shapes and sizes.

I decided to sketch and record my weed observations in my nature journal. I am trying to get better at identifying winter weeds

My mullein entry in progress

There is just so much to learn about winter weeds....it is like a whole new world to explore once you get started and train your eyes to see beyond the brownness of them. I spent two afternoons just looking closely, sketching, and researching in my field guide.

My journal included some details of the weed seeds.

"The farmer and the gardener owe quite a debt of thanks to the birds that eat weed seeds. Of course there are still bountiful crops of weeds each year; but there would be even more weeds if it were not for the army of such seed-eating birds as sparrows, bobwhites, and doves." Handbook of Nature Study, page 45 

I was thinking about this link between weeds, seeds, and birds this week after reading this in the Handbook of Nature Study. The design in the food web is such an awesome thing that we could very well overlook the fingerprint of the Creator if we don't take the time to learn more about it.

There is always something new to think about and learn from our nature study...even if we have been at it for many years.

Thanks for taking the journey with me.

OHC More Nature Study Book 2 - Mullein and Winter Weeds

More Nature Study Book #3
Winter Weeds - Mullein Study

Inside Preparation:

1. Read in the Handbook of Nature Study pages 537-539 (Lesson 146). Share a few facts and the images with your children so they can be on the lookout for mullein in your area. The distinctive rosette growth, the velvety leaves, and the flower stalk make this plant an easy one to spot, even in winter. (Ebook users have images included in the book and others can use the videos and the links in the Follow-Up section to view mullein.)
2. Make sure to note that mullein is a biennial (takes two years to mature and produce seeds). 
3. Optional: Watch this short YouTube video that gives you an idea of what a winter mullein looks like: Common Mullein. I also made my own mullein video from my garden: Mullein in Autumn. 

Outdoor Hour Time:

1. Common mullein is found throughout the United States and Canada. During your outdoor time this week, try to find some common mullein to observe in its winter state. First year mullein will be look like green, soft, rosettes. Second year mullein will be the brown plant with the flower stalk. Observe how the leaves grow out between the two of the lower circle, that the upper leaves are smaller than those below, and that the upper leaves do not lie flat.
2. Observe the mullein plant, looking at ways it survives the winter cold, rain, and snow. Make note of the plant’s location and plan to revisit it over the next year in each season. 
3. Alternate winter weed activity: Find and observe any winter weed in your neighborhood. Even if you have snow, see if you can find a part of a plant sticking up out of the snow and make some observations. You may want to click over and read my Winter Weeds challenge for additional ideas for your family.

Follow-Up Activities:

1. Complete a follow-up nature journal entry or notebook page for your mullein observations. Ebook users choose from the Common Mullein or Winter Weed notebook pages. 
2. Advanced follow-up: Research the mullein plant online and find how it is used its traditional, medicinal, and health uses. Try this LINK or this LINK (this one is excellent!). Ebook users: Complete a notebook page. 
3. Advanced follow-up: Research annual, perennial, and biennial plants on Wikipedia. Ebook users: Complete the notebook page with a summary of the information and give examples of each kind of plant. 

Here is a short video that will give you an idea of what mullein looks like in the winter. You can view our winter weeds study here: Winter Weeds - On-going Study






Winter related books and field guides you may wish to look for at your library this week. All of these books are helpful but not necessary to the Outdoor Hour Challenge.

Winter Snowshoe Hike - Jays, Tracks, and Weeds

Tahoe National Forest - California

When I posted on Facebook yesterday that we were going to head out to snowshoe, the weather forecast said something like "partly cloudy, high of 52 degrees, and 10% chance of precipitation". Sounded good to me. Well no one told us that between our house and our hiking spot that there was going to be dense fog, drizzle, and the temperatures were falling into the 30's.

I knew Mr. B was anxious to test out his new snowshoes so I didn't want to disappoint him and we kept going up over the mountain. Once over the mountain it cleared up and we had lots of clouds but no rain.


Needless to say, we kept our eyes on the sky, checking for signs we were going to get rained or snowed. We had the snow to ourselves, not counting the many animal tracks that were visible. So many tracks going so many directions...there must be a whole forest full of animals out there.
 

Isn't this a surprising sight of brilliant blue on this winter day? Steller's jays are common and this one was posing for my camera. I love the blue feathers on the nose. My field guide says that these jays are "inquisitive, intelligent, and noisy". Yep, that totally describes this bird.


We couldn't resist seeing if we could lure the jay closer and Mr. B had a pocket full of pretzels. One little bit of pretzel and that Steller's jay came swooping down for a tasty treat, making his shook-shook-shook sound as he flew. Here he is flying away back to his perch.


We had to go the long way around since the beavers have now completely dammed up the water in the creek and the resulting pond has spread over the normal trail. This is where we saw the salmon spawning last fall and the mama bear with cubs. No signs of them now, although it smells rather fishy around this bend in the creek from all the dead fish remains.



We hiked along the creek a little way and we noticed that there are places where the creek mud is piled up onto the banks. We could see lots of little animal tracks around the mud but I'm still not sure what kind of animal did this and what they were doing. Winter hikes can lead to lots of questions. You can see the muddy sludge...it is the black stuff there along the edge.


I never get tired of looking at the landscape here at Taylor Creek. The patterns of the tree trunks against the Sierra sky in the winter is amazing and beautiful. Some people get to look out their living room windows and view a similar scene and I wonder if they stop seeing the awesomeness of it. I come here a dozen times a year and I never tire of this place.


When you are on snowshoes, you can follow tracks as much as you want but I am always a little afraid of getting out into the forest too far....I have a terrible sense of direction. This area is easy to navigate because I can hear the highway in the distance and I generally know which direction I need to head to get back to the trailhead. Here is an example of a nice clear print in the snow.


We did a little preliminary winter weed study while we were out traipsing around the woods. There were plenty of subjects even with snow on the ground. I just liked the way this one looked. I think it is a corn lily. Next week we plan on doing a whole winter weed study so we will revisit these images then.

So our first real snowshoe of the year is over and we didn't get rained or snowed on. We were bundled up warmly so it was really a delight to be outdoors exploring just the two of us. Mr. B decided his snowshoes were perfect and now we will be able to explore the woods in winter as part of our Outdoor Hour Challenges.

You can read more about hiking in winter on my Squidoo page for tips on how to make it fun:
Winter Nature Walks

OHC More Nature Study #9 Thistles

“On looking at the thistle from its own standpoint, we must acknowledge it to be a beautiful and wonderful plant. It is like a knight of old encased in armor and with lance set, read for the frey.”
Handbook of Nature Study 524







More Nature Study with the OHC #9
Thistles

Inside Preparation Work:

• Read in the Handbook of Nature Study pages 524-526 (Lesson 141).
• Read and view Common Thistle Information and Canada Thistle Information. View the range maps to see which plants you have in your area.

Outdoor Hour Time:

• Spend part of your Outdoor Hour time looking for thistles or other autumn fall flowers. The thistle is a composite flower like many other autumn blooming flowers: goldenrod, aster, yarrow, burdock, chicory, and even the dandelion. If you can’t find a thistle, choose one of the other composite flowers you have access to as part of this challenge.
• If you can pull the thistle up by the roots, this will be the subject of your nature study once you return home. Make sure you are pulling a thistle where you have permission from the landowner. (I suggest taking gloves with you for this part of the activity.)

Follow-Up Activities:

• If you were able to bring a thistle plant inside with you, take time to carefully observe all the parts of the plant. Use the suggestions from the lesson in the Handbook of Nature Study to guide your children in noticing the major parts of the thistle. In autumn you will probably need to focus on the dried flower head and seeds.
• Give time to complete a nature journal, a notebook page (available in the ebook), and/or a coloring page. There are three different coloring pages available for this challenge in the ebook. 
• Watch this video on YouTube (Bull thistle) .
• Advanced Follow-Up: Watch this video about Canada Thistle on YouTube.com.
• Advanced follow-up: Sketch and compare the thistle to two other seeds you find in the autumn.

Make sure to send in your entries for the blog carnival. The carnival is posted on the last day of each month. You can enter at this link: Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival Submission Form.

Nature Study on an Ordinary Day - Autumn

Sometimes it is nice to head out the door and see what comes your way, no assignments. My neighborhood is rather ordinary - no parks, very little sidewalk, lots of empty lots with weeds/wildflowers, and a busy street. I take my lovable Labrador for a walk every morning and in the late afternoon, sometimes with my camera and sometimes without. We head down our side street, around the corner and onto the sidewalk to walk alongside two open lots. Right now if you don't stop to look closely you would think there wasn't much there to be interested in. But wait! Don't judge too soon because you might miss a few interesting things.


Queen Anne's Lace....in bloom....in November! Can you believe that? This is the latest I have ever seen with fresh blossoms in our neighborhood. I would have missed that if I did not slow down to look closely.


My neighbor has a fresh crop of chickory blooming as well and it is surprising to see it as late as this.


Now if my boys were younger we would take time to investigate this sign. Where does the water from our gutter go? The river is really far away and the creek is more of a trickle...is that where this water goes to? We will have to wait until the rains come again and try to figure it out. The gutter and sewer drain were put in last summer so this is something new to our neighborhood.



We have been on the look out for thistles and the lot has a whole field of star thistle. I was hoping to spot a purple thistle but no luck here in the neighborhood. We do know a spot along our walking trail that had thistles so we will need to hope over there one day this week to check it out. (Thistles will be this Friday's Outdoor Hour Challenge.)


I love a good mystery and this flower is a mystery! There is a little patch of these growing on the hillside around the bend from the end of the sidewalk. Kona went four wheeling off the path and I stumbled onto these beauties. I really need to look them up in our field guide. See? It isn't such an ordinary walk after all!

Heading back home I slipped the camera back into my pocket and we just enjoyed the sunshine and the time outdoors together.

Rounding the corner and into our drive, I smile at our front yard. Yes, it makes me smile every time I see it.


If you have been reading my blog for the last year you know we pulled up our grass in the Summer of 2010 and added drought resistant plants for a whole new look. Here is what our yard looks like today.


The star performers right now are the sage, the purple fountain grass, and the dogwood. Color! I love the feel and movement in this yard now that the grass is gone and the birds, butterflies, and bees have all moved in.

From ordinary to extraordinary in fifteen minutes! I challenge you to find something interesting on your next neighborhood walk. Comment and let me know what it is once you find it!

2011 Spring Series - Spring Wildflower Study - Dandelions

Our last official Outdoor Hour Challenge for the 2011 Spring Series has arrived. I can hardly believe it but we are going into the month of May next week! With May will come some changes to the Outdoor Hour Challenge, exciting changes for us all! I will be sharing my new ideas and directions for the Outdoor Hour Challenge on May 1, 2011.


In the meantime, take this week to enjoy hunting up some spring wildflowers and/or dandelions. This was one of the most popular challenges last spring and I look forward to seeing all of your current year dandelion studies in Mr. Linky.

Here is a link to the Spring Wildflower Study- Dandelions.
Please make sure to click over and read all about how your family can study this common plant and be educated on the many things we can learn from this weed/wildflower. 

Please come back and post your link on Mr. Linky after completing this challenge and writing your blog entry. You can also submit it to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival!

Schedule for Spring 2011

• March 18, 2011: Signs of Spring (Bonus challenge with notebook page.)
• March 25, 2011: Spring Cattail Observations
• April 1, 2011: Spring Queen Anne's Lace Observations (with free notebook page)
• April 8, 2011: Spring Weather Observations
• April 15, 2011: Spring Tree Observations
• April 22, 2011: Spring Bird Study
• April 29, 2011: Spring Wildflower/Dandelion Study

Winter Weeds Along Our Walking Trail

Our world is slowly turning green and it feels nice to walk along and see the plants starting to awake for spring. We had our eyes open for winter weeds and we found some new things and some familiar things to share.


The side of our walking trail is covered in this plant with the nicely shaped leaves. I am going to watch it as the season progresses to see exactly what it is.


The California poppies are starting to grow and I can hardly wait to see their happy orange little faces in a month or so. Isn't it interesting how it can grow right there right on the rock? Not much soil here but there are plenty of poppies sprouting up for us to enjoy.


Here is what our mullein looks like right now....all brown and the tops are covered in lots of seeds.

The Handbook of Nature Study says, "Later the capsule divides partially in quarters, opening wide enough to shake out the tiny seeds with every wandering blast. The seed, when seen through a lens is very pretty; it looks like a section of a corncob, pitted and ribbed." (page 538)

This is the most interesting of the dried weeds that we observed. I like the way the bottom of the stalk looks like it is the skirt of the plant.

I can't remember what this looks like in the spring or the summer....Does it have flowers? What do they look like? Now is the best part of the nature study experience. We get to watch this spot as the seasons progress and then see if we can identify it with our field guide. There is always something to learn and I am glad our Creator made us to be curious and he filled the world with interesting things to occupy our minds productively. (If you are a Bible reader: Ecclesiastes 3:10-14.)


Here is what it looks like close-up.


The top looks like this with its thin branching arms.


Our Queen Anne's Lace looks pretty much like it did in the autumn.We had planned to pull up a specimen to observe the roots but we have snow today! We will have to wait now until we can get outside to finish our study.


I couldn't decide on what I wanted for a journal entry this week so started a bulleted list of weeds we observed. I will add a few more as the month goes on and we see some more. I had room so I made a list of random other subjects we have come across this past week...sometimes it is just nice to have a little reminder to look back on in the years to come.

One last thing to share with you. Phyllis had this link in their winter weeds study:
Weed Collection Board - awesome idea!

People always ask me what journal I use and what pens I like so here you go. (You may need to click over to the blog itself to see the links.)

2011 Winter Series Outdoor Hour Challenge #6 Salt Study and Winter Wednesday #6 Winter Weeds

Winter Weeds- Look for seeds, pods, or dried flowers.

This week's combination of challenges will give you two very different subjects to consider.

Winter Series #6 Salt Study
Winter Wednesday #6 Winter Weeds

                                                ***The salt experiments are a fun way to learn about an everyday subject that all of us have in our homes. You might find the pages in the Handbook of Nature Study an interesting read as part of this challenge.

***Winter weeds are one of my favorite winter nature study subjects. If you would like to participate, here are a few suggestions from the challenge
1. Collect a variety of seeds from weeds in your local area and sketch them in your nature journal.
2. Gather a few varieties of weeds and display them in a vase.
3. Pick a weed you know you have and print out a coloring page for your nature journal. 


Don't forget you can click over to my winter pages on Squidoo too for some winter nature study ideas.
Winter Series
Winter Wednesday


My daughter has graciously made available her Salt Study Lapbook pdf to go along with this challenge. Please click over to her blog at Hearts and Trees to read more about it!

Yesterday's Hike: Our Familiar Trail

I love having a "familiar trail". The subtle changes that take place from week to week sometimes escape my notice until I look at them through the lens of my camera. The light is different this time of year and the colors so very different. This trail that is bursting with wildflowers in the spring and early summer is now just a palette of browns and greens, with an occasional splash of color if you really look for it along the edges.

Although this may sound like a complaint, it really isn't. I love having the contrasts between seasons, anticipating the next progression of growing. It is something at the core of me that knows this is the natural way to keep time. Thinking about it...perhaps this is why I don't wear a watch or carry my phone with me at all times. I just like to feel the natural rhythm of the day and the seasons without fussing too much with the minute by minute ticking of time. It's cloudy, rainy, cold, the oaks have lost their leaves, the buckeyes are sprouting on the ground, the ferns are unfurling.....it must be close to the first day of winter.

Guess I'm feeling sort of reflective on this cold, gray afternoon. :)

What to see a few images from our walk? Enjoy!


It was still wet from the melted frost we had overnight and the mood was very somber.


It is a steep hike back up the canyon after we hike down. Great exercise for humans and canines. (If you want to see what this place on the trail looks like in the spring, you can click HERE.


Dried up blackberries still hanging on the vines next to the trail. This is near the mushy part of the trail and soon we will have a little creek to hop over at this point.


Wet wintery weeds are everywhere....I can visualize what the spring will bring but for now the landscape is pretty sad.



The most colorful spot we found on our hike was right near the top where the ferns, mosses, and fungus are all bursting out.

So there you have it....a December day on our familiar trail. We are now facing ten forecasted days of rain so we may  not make it back for another week or so down this trail. If the weather clears, we will jump on the chance to get out and hike again on this path so close to home.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Queen Anne's Lace Study-Autumn Season Comparisons

We finally completed our autumn observations for the Queen Anne's Lace in our neighborhood. The challenge asked us to go back to our patch of this flower and compare the changes since our summer observations. Most of the Queen Anne's Lace looks like this right now...dry, brittle, brown, and stiff. We cut a stem or two to take inside to observe closely and compare to our summer observations.


We had a great time observing closely the flower heads we brought in and were able to observe some interesting things. The challenge suggested using a hand lens to look more closely at the seeds of the Queen Anne's Lace.

• Each dried cluster was made up of many dried flower clusters.
• The large cluster was made up of more than 70 small clusters.
• Each small cluster had over 20 seeds in it.

We drew a flower cluster and a seed after viewing it with our loupe. The little seeds were sticky and I found them in the carpet and the hem of my skirt after we had finished. We thought about our dandelion seeds (akenes) and how they are blown away in the wind and compared them to the Queen Anne's Lace seeds that are definitely spread by adhesion or attachment. Our dog regularly helps disperse the seeds of the Queen Anne's Lace as she romps through the weeds on our walks.


On today's walk with the dog, we found a patch of Queen Anne's Lace that is not quite dried up yet. There is still a little greenness to the stem, leaves, and flower head. We are experiencing some unseasonably warm weather with the afternoons in the 70's. I actually took a walk without a sweatshirt and we worked up a thirst by the time we reached home again. We will be trying to get out in the warm temperatures again tomorrow....who knows how long they will last.

The season of abundant Queen Anne's Lace is over but we shall be watching as we enter the winter season to see if the plants make much of a change.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom