Wednesday, April 27, 2011

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Not much has changed in my garden since the first garden update. We’ve had lots of rainy and cold weather. After Mother’s Day is usually when it is safe to start planting in my area. I did venture over to my Square Foot Garden today to see what would need to be done and found:

gardenplant

garlic chives? I swore I would not forget what herb I planted there---but I did. Anyone have an idea what it is?

Besides the mystery plant, it looks like I have a couple of onions growing that I missed pulling from last year. I can’t wait to start turning over the soil and getting things ready.

cucumberplant

I am shocked that my seedlings are still doing well! This is my cucumber plant.  I didn’t start much indoors because I don’t have the space and I have little kids. I wanted my little ones to see that seeds turn into plants, but I wasn’t expecting many of the seedlings to survive their care :)  Oh, and my 2yr. old pulled out all the plant stakes. So I will have several more mystery plants in my garden! :)

seedobservatin

Since I haven’t been able to do much gardening outdoors, I’ve been taking time over the last month to do garden-related activities with my younger children.  This week we used plant printables from The Montessori Print Shop (a wealth of quality printables there!) as a spring-board for our garden-themed activities.

seedobservation2

First we did some seed observation. I had the girls try to guess what would grow from these seeds. We talked about how the seeds were all different from each other—different colors, shapes, and sizes.

plantcards

Then we placed the seeds onto the correct cards. The girls had a hard time believing that these little seeds would grow into plants!

gardenplant2

The Plants We Eat download contains several different ways to introduce children to the idea that the plants we eat fall into different categories. We talked about the different parts of a plant.

gardenplant4   gardenplant5

The plants were divided into six categories. For the first few times going over this concept, I will keep the categories together in strips for easier matching. My daughter first matched the categories like a puzzle. Then in the second activity, the control card was taken away and only the categories were listed. Later I plan on having my daughter complete her own chart (included in the Plants download).

gardenplant6 

We sorted fruits and roots. Then sorted between other categories too. I wanted to keep it simple at first and only have two category choices at a time.

asparagus

I asked my 4yr. old to show me what was her favorite plant to eat. We love to eat asparagus drizzled with olive oil, sea salt, and parmesan cheese.

favoriteplant 

My 2yr. old told me her favorite plant to eat was a rutabaga. I’ve never even seen a rutabaga let alone tasted one. I know she hasn’t either---lol! I think that will be something I’ll have to pick up the next time I’m at the store. How do you cook a rutabaga? Do you eat it raw? See, I have no clue!

So that’s how my garden is growing----so far!

My garden last year
Another view of my garden
My garden the first year
Easy Egg Garden (Homemade Chia-Pet)
Little Ones Learn About Plants

 

preschool corner

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Disclosure: I was given a free download from Montessori Print Shop for review purposes only. Opinions are my own. The way I used the cards are Montessori-influenced but not necessarily the official Montessori method.

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13 Comments:

Blogger Michelle Gibson said...

Oh, you are too funny! That is totally something I would do. ;p hmmm... My chives are more rounded, but they are regular chives. Are they hollow like a chive? Did you pick some and smell it? :D

LOVE the activities you did! Off to check out the links ~ thank you!

April 28, 2011 at 1:44 AM  
Anonymous Pam Turner said...

Those are garlic chives :)

BTW, my seed starting was a total failed experiment, so I applaud your successful cucumber!

April 28, 2011 at 7:55 AM  
Blogger Mary Prather said...

Precious pictures of your little one! Thanks for all of the great links, too.

Happy Gardening!

~Mary

April 28, 2011 at 11:19 AM  
Blogger Goat Gal said...

Rutabaga! cut it up and boil with carrots or mash it with potatoes. Then butter and salt and pepper! YUM!

April 28, 2011 at 3:03 PM  
Anonymous Angela said...

I think rutabaga's what we English call swede. If so, it's good added to stews or casseroles, but my nearly-3-year-old daughter will eat it raw if she finds it in my vegetable cupboard!

April 28, 2011 at 3:32 PM  
Anonymous Angela said...

I think rutabaga's what we English call swede. If so, it's good in stews and casseroles, although my nearly-3-year-old daughter will eat it raw if she finds it in the vegetable cupboard!

April 28, 2011 at 3:35 PM  
Blogger MissMOE said...

I love all the wonderful activities you used with your daughter! And that does look like some garlic chives! Pick some and eat it--and let us know if we were right. ;)

April 28, 2011 at 10:04 PM  
Blogger Mozer said...

Michelle and MOE, I will admit that it never crossed my mind to smell it or try to taste it! DUH!!

April 28, 2011 at 10:10 PM  
Blogger Mandy said...

your photos are simply breath taking. love your blog!

April 28, 2011 at 10:40 PM  
Blogger Zonnah said...

The last picture with your comment made me laugh :)

April 29, 2011 at 10:56 PM  
Blogger Mozer said...

LOL Zonnah! She is such a goof-ball! :)

April 29, 2011 at 11:41 PM  
Blogger Lora @ my blessed life said...

What fun gardening activities for your little ones!

April 30, 2011 at 10:38 AM  
Blogger RedTedArt said...

Oh I love gardening with the children! It is so wonderful to see their excitement when things begin to grow and this is a fabulous post of how to structure it all a little and get the most out what you are doing!

Found your blog via Michelle (Best Toddler Toys) and love it!

Would LOVE for you to come and link up to Kids Get Crafty - every Wednesday with and for children - http://www.redtedart.com/2011/05/04/kids-get-crafty-loo-roll-monsters/ Old posts welcome!

Hope to see you there!

Maggy

May 8, 2011 at 4:45 AM  

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