Lucy the Valiant
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Posts posted by Lucy the Valiant
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On 1/11/2023 at 1:17 AM, popmom said:
Who recommended this book? I can’t find the post now. I got it transferred from our botanical gardens library branch. I added a pic of my first attempt. It’s mostly komatsuna.
That was me! (That was I?) Oh, I'm so happy! I am doing it here, too! My windows are quite a bit cooler than 70* so mine are on a slower schedule than his, but . . . oh, my, it scratches the itch. Had pea shoots in stir fry today. I LOVE that book!
On 1/11/2023 at 10:00 PM, Serenade said:Just wanted to mention that I was at Dollar Tree today, and they already have their seeds in -- 4 packets for $1 (not $1.25 🙂) or 25 cents each. The varieties they sell are generally older, open-pollinated varieties, but they have a good selection. Today I bought Giant Noble spinach, Bloomsdale Long Standing spinach, a blend of different radishes, purple top white globe turnips, Little Marvel peas, Sugar Snap peas, Alaska peas, large red cherry tomatoes, and lavender. If you go and they are cleaned out, try again in a couple of weeks. They usually restock several times during the season, and sometimes there are different seeds with each restocking.
Yes! We get a LOT of marigold seeds from Dollar Tree, which we use to ward off bug pests in the veg garden. Also, my green beans from Dollar Tree grew FANTASTICALLY last summer. It's a cheap winter thrill to stop in at DT and pick up a few more packages, heh heh.
My store also had those coconut coir mats (that expand in water and are sterile) - I picked up a few to try some Kratky veggies here through the dark days.
15 hours ago, popmom said:@KungFuPandamentioned this method upthread. It really makes so much sense.
Have never done this in my northern zone - but now I'm intrigued to try! Last frost here is in May, so . . . I'm quite a ways off.
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23 hours ago, Quill said:
I haven’t actually bought one yet either. My main concern was that I would get it but it would just end up as one more piece of junk sitting around here and/or it was just take up space on my desk and that would annoy me more than help.
Our library has one that patrons can check out! Maybe yours does, too? Ours is in the "Library of Things" section.
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BirdNet is a FREE and truly fantastic app that teaches the various birdcalls. (PlantNet is its plant companion; also excellent and free.)
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On 1/14/2023 at 9:03 PM, Spy Car said:
Make sure you plant type of milkweed that is local to area and suited to Monarchs.
Also, be aware that the if you get the "latex" (the "milk") from milkweed in your eyes, it is dangerous. Be very (very) careful if you cut milkweed plants not to transfer the sap from your hands to your eyes.
I remember the local president of the Butterfly Club, whose backyard was devoted to all sorts of butterfly friendly plants--and who knew better--rubbed his eyes after doing some gardening, and he when through some pretty big drama that required being treated at Jules Stein.
Bill
On 1/15/2023 at 11:00 AM, Lady Florida. said:Here you go - link to a pdf about OE and how to help prevent it. It does look like it's a problem in milder climates than yours @Quill but I figured this could help anyone reading the thread who lives in a mild climate.
https://monarchjointventure.org/images/uploads/documents/Oe_fact_sheet.pdf
Thank you both for sharing these warnings! I had never heard of either thing! (We live up north, but I'm still happy to have the knowledge. I've only ever seen native / common milkweed here, and swamp milkweed.)
We sometimes eat them, too, when we're with our local foraging group - they are similar to asparagus.
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Kid is interested in "an engineering course" - is that pre-physical science? I'm not the best one to teach this, and will outsource, either online or group-style.
We're not opposed to DIY-ing a course, but need some sort of rails / guidelines to keep Kid moving forward.
- TOPS books, strung together, and kid could have a friend or two over to do the experiments together?
- a formal "Physical Science" course?
- something like Coursera's Tinkering Fundamentals
- something else?
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$4.79 / dozen at Aldi here 😞
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(Sorry, I don't know and can't tell from phone version of website. I bought book separately from Jill Pike syllabus.)
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On 4/14/2022 at 8:12 AM, Slache said:
The Jill Pike syllabus combines TTC with IEW's Windows to The World for a year long introduction to Literature course for the logic stage. I have not seen it, I just know it exists and seems well liked around these parts.
This is my all-time favorite "how to write a literary analysis" course EVER.
Happy to answer questions if anyone has any - I'm sorry to see it may be discontinued, but once you've taught it, the principles are pretty easily transferred to other (DIY-style) selections.
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30 minutes ago, Kidlit said:
I also need a picture of this
This is about 1/3 of it, but prefer not to show house.
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1 hour ago, Quill said:
This is wonderful! How do you get to be a registered Monarch Waystation?
https://monarchwatch.org/waystations/
I had a neglected (invasive) weed-infested hill where I began a multi-year rehab program lovingly dubbed "Redemption Hill" (there's a story ❤️ ). I dragged in native pollinator-friendly flowers and milkweed to meet the required minimums, replanted when those died or were eaten by the groundhog, kept on mulching, and the metal sign was a birthday gift the year I finally finished installing it.
My kids say the sign is superfluous since the butterflies can't read, but I like to remind them that we don't actually have hard evidence of that. 😉
The caterpillars are SO exciting when they come!
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I do this!
The seedlings (which I find in the wild) are notoriously hard to transplant because there's a loooong tap root, and you have to get the VERY end, which has a tiny hair on it. I've been most successful with digging up baby ones and transplanting the whole chunk of soil it's growing in. And once you get a few going, they self-populate pretty well.
We get seeds from Baker Creek, but I haven't bought milkweed seeds from them.
I have a butterfly garden, and am a registered Monarch Waystation. ❤️
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Paint rocks to be "tic tac toe" pieces and make an outdoor game place they could play?
Paint rocks as garden markers for community garden / library garden?
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We cook ours in a 13 x 9 crock pot - wash, pierce, thin coat of olive oil + garlic, and YUM.
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Spanakopita!
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Tangentially related . . . has anyone ever water glassed eggs? We are trying it this year for the first time but haven't opened the jars yet.
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4 hours ago, alisoncooks said:
A quick google told me that tap water averages 60 degrees, which seems to be the optimal for cold wash. Idk…in winter it may be colder and not wash as well.
This washer is 30 years old, so it’s due for replacement…it’s just not in the budget. Perhaps I can catch a sale in a few months (memorial weekend or something).
We live in a colder climate and have a well - my tap water is ICE cold, never even close to 60, even in the heat of summer!
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4 hours ago, Faith-manor said:
Mark found a dozen organic eggs for $5.99 at the closest grocery store here since we use quite a few eggs. We have cut way back on meat, so we tend to eat boiled and scrambled eggs regularly. They had signs up that folks could only take one dozen per household (not enforceable so they may as just say one per customer at the checkout and hope people aren't there with teenagers and sending multiple individuals through the line).
Two stores in the county are out. Wal-Mart is limiting egg purchases as well.
The teenagers are the REASON my household needs so many eggs! 😉
Our Aldi had regular eggs $4.79 / dozen. 😞 Yikes. 😞
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Just now, popmom said:
I shouldn't have clicked this thread. My wish list is getting longer and longer. lol
I found this book at the library, fell in LOVE with it, and am currently starting small with his instructions - for a sum total of closer to $25-ish. 😉 (I've had an Aerogarden in my Wish List for a long time, but want to first try the idea of not running electricity / hydroponics.) The book answers a LOT of questions, and is written in a very positive, practical tone, from a guy who lives in a similarly northern clime as my own. 🙂 I'm pretty excited. 🙂
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(Have you read Sacred Rest? ❤️ )
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5 hours ago, Ellie said:
I'm still fuzzy on what "conceptual knowledge" actually means. No one has 'splained that to me. Is it using manipulatives instead of traditional math (e.g., math that was last taught in the 50s)? That was the argument in the 80s when I started hsing, that *all* children had to use manipulatives (e.g., base 10 blocks, Cuisenaire rods) or they would be failures at math. Happily, I disregarded that information, because my dc and I would have perished if we'd had to do everything with some sort of manipulative.
Example from my own childhood (so I'm not shaming anyone else): I had rock-solid applied-algorithm knowledge of mathematical concepts growing up. I got great grades, knew exactly what the teacher wanted me to write, and memorized ALL the formulas. Imagine my amusement when I realized . . . AS A HOMESCHOOLING MOTHER (with 2 degrees, mind you) . . . that the reason it's called a "square" number is that . . . IT MAKES A SQUARE!
Thankfully, I can chuckle. I was equally thrilled with cubes.
And you can bet your beautiful buttons that my own kiddos (while also rock-solid on formulas / facts / algorithms) have a much stronger CONCEPTUAL knowledge of the stuff they're doing in math. 🙂
ETA: We had but didn't use much our actual manipulatives - cuisenaire rods, base 10's, etc. It was Singapore Math's bar models + Liping Ma that sort of woke me up and tuned me in, and honestly - once I actually SAW the mathematics, I was pretty much in love with them. ❤️ And couldn't get enough.
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Our current read-aloud (with teens) is Everything Sad is Untrue. Best book I read in 2022.
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(I just want to say thank you for doing this. We received a hand-made hat & quilt from the children's hospital when we were in a very bad place, and even though I / my baby didn't "need" the items (AKA we could afford to pay for our own), the love of strangers at such a vulnerable time in my life has never faded. I gave the hat forward, but still have the quilt as one of my Most Treasured Possessions.)
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If you're crafty / can sew basic straight seams, you can make a fabric rice-filled "pillow" that he can heat in microwave for 1-2 minutes; it will instantly warm him up, and is reusable. We throw them in our beds at night, down where our feet go, and they are wonderful. He could even have 3-4 of them - they're portable (work in cars), cheap, and handy.
Also, if you're outfitting on a budget, high quality gently used is a MUCH better bargain than lower quality brand new. We tend to be a frugal lot up here, but gear is something that is worth spending $ on, especially for someone who is not acclimated.
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January gardens
in The Chat Board
Posted
I have a Baker Creek Buddy - we split seeds so we can order twice as many for 1/2 the cost. 🙂 (I also receive BC seeds as Christmas gifts. *swoon)
We have a Meyer lemon tree (inside my zone 5 house, LOL) that we baby all winter and then put out in the greenhouse all summer. ❤️ She's LOADED with blossoms right now, which is carrying us through January. (We haul her into the bathroom for "steam treatments" and then back out to the living room for better light, etc. It's downright ridiculous.
Maple syrup season is our 1st annual harvest, and THEN we get to start the baby seeds! Waiting for it to hit 40 in the daytime and 20 at night . . .