Have you eaten a rainbow today?
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Monarch hunting.
A few days ago i spotted a monarch butterfly fluttering around the yard. She spent the whole day gliding from flower to flower and dancing and spinning in the garden. This is only the second monarch we've seen this year, so i suspected she was probably out laying her eggs. We went for a walk down the road to check all the milkweed plants for signs of eggs and caterpillars.
Both of the kids have become expert monarch hunters. Observing each leaf carefully for signs of munching, frass or tiny little eggs.
We found some Milkweed Tussock moth caterpillars! These guys are commonly found on milkweed along with milkweed bugs.
Sage was the first to spot an egg! They are super tiny!
Monarch eggs have a conical shape, with vertical ridges. They are usually pale yellow or creamy white.
When the eggs begin to darken, it means the caterpillar is about the hatch!!
The newly hatched caterpillar is only a little more than a millimeter in length. After they hatch from the egg, they eat the egg and then they begin eating the milkweed.
We returned home with 4 monarch eggs, one has hatched and the other three have darkened and will be hatching any time. Our little caterpillar will munch on milkweed for about 9-14 days, and then it will form it's chrysalis. As always, we will be sure to document it all!!
Both of the kids have become expert monarch hunters. Observing each leaf carefully for signs of munching, frass or tiny little eggs.
We found some Milkweed Tussock moth caterpillars! These guys are commonly found on milkweed along with milkweed bugs.
Sage was the first to spot an egg! They are super tiny!
Monarch eggs have a conical shape, with vertical ridges. They are usually pale yellow or creamy white.
When the eggs begin to darken, it means the caterpillar is about the hatch!!
The newly hatched caterpillar is only a little more than a millimeter in length. After they hatch from the egg, they eat the egg and then they begin eating the milkweed.
We returned home with 4 monarch eggs, one has hatched and the other three have darkened and will be hatching any time. Our little caterpillar will munch on milkweed for about 9-14 days, and then it will form it's chrysalis. As always, we will be sure to document it all!!
Current Reading list
My current reading list includes
The Ball Blue Book guide to preserving. This is a great book to get you started in canning and preserving. Lots of great information and recipes.
Big Little Felt Universe by Jeanette Lim. If you've ever had an interest in making your own felt toys, you need to check out this book!! The patterns and directions are clear and easy to follow, with set by set pictures for most of the projects. There are lots of patterns for playfoods, both basic and advanced. There are also patterns for a camping set, a doctor medical bag, a computer, a purse full of all the essentials and more! My daughter has already made a wishlist for Yule that i'm just starting to get to working on. This book of so many creative and inspiring ideas! If you've been wanting to make felt toys for your child, this book is a great place to start!
Keeping Chickens, Home Dairy and Keeping Bees by Ashley English. i recently was lucky enough to win this hardcover set of homesteading books from Ellen over at Confessions of an overworked mom. Ashley English lives in NC, and is the author of the "Homemade Living" book series from Lark Books. Her books showcases topics related to small-scale homesteading and some of the diverse ways people are reconnecting with their food and food communities and taking up sustainable food practices. Ashley has a great blog called Small Measures that you can check out. The books are well written, with lots of fun pictures and great information. Although i've been raising chickens for over 5 year, i still found a lot of new and useful information in her Keeping Chickens book. Her books also contain recipes, and helpful tips. Really a great series to get you started on any of these homesteading topics.
Ice Pop Joy by Anni Daulter i recieved this book a few weeks ago, and am putting together a review that i'll be posting soon. We've been trying out many of the different recipes, and so far have loved them all. i've been dying to try the Heavenly bar, which is a mix of white chocolate, coconut milk and nuts....Wow. This book has gorgeous colorful pictures, and fabulous recipes to get your kids to eat healthy. i'll be posting a full review soon.
Kids Garden (Barefoot books) by Whitney Cohen and Roberta Arenson This one isn't actually book, but a set of instructional cards that contains forty activities and games. It also comes with an eight-page booklet that contains information on gardening tools, year-round plant care and garden safety. The double-sided cards contain step-by-step instructions and colorful collage artwork. They create a fun and easy way for budding green-thumbs to plant, investigate, learn and experiment. Both of my kids love these! They have gone through the cards numerous times and have both made lists of all the projects they want to do. Many of them will have to wait until next spring, as it is too late to plant, but we have still been able to complete a few projects and crafts. This is really a cool way to get your child outside and interested in gardening.
Goat Song: A seasonal Life, A short History and the Art of Making Cheese. by Brad Kessler
i have just started this one, so i can't say much about it except that i am very much enjoying it. It's the story of a writer and his artist wife that moves to Vermont, decide to keep goats, and learn how to make cheese. The book isn't meant as a guide to raising goats, but is the personal journey of the author. His writing is moving and poetic, with a hint of spirituality. The book has been described as a love story between human and animal, past and present, earth and food. The reviews on this one have been incredible. i'm very excited to finally sit down and read it.
The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas This is what i'm reading to the kids right now. It is about a pick-pocket street boy, that ends up as a Wizard's apprentice. Like most recent boy wizard books we have have read, there is a definite hint of Harry Potter in the story. Honestly, the story started a bit slow for me, but is starting to pick up. My boy is enjoying it, and i'm interested to see where the story goes. We read lots of books over the summer, and most were just okay. The book Walls within Walls was absolutely fantastic though, and i highly recommend that one. It was incredibly well written and interesting. It combined facts with fiction, and intrigued us enough that we did our own online research of architect Rafael Guastavino after finishing the book.
That's it for my current reading list. With the kids in school now, i am finally able to pick up all these books and magazines i've been wanting to read. Would love to hear your recommendations as well.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Wordless Wednesday- Around the Homestead
or not so wordless....
Canning season is officially here!
i have two broody hens, so hoping for new peeps in about two weeks. So far we've had zero luck hatching peeps this summer, my rooster may be getting a bit to old to get the job done.
Our new hens have started to lay so we are finally seeing a bit of variety in our eggs.
My girl loves to help shell October beans,
Still picking and freezing lots of beans. Hoping to can some, but am still a bit afraid of my pressure canner.:)
Casper and Delilah just doing what they do. :)
Still have lots of sunflowers blooming.
Peach season starts now...
Canning season is officially here!
i have two broody hens, so hoping for new peeps in about two weeks. So far we've had zero luck hatching peeps this summer, my rooster may be getting a bit to old to get the job done.
Our new hens have started to lay so we are finally seeing a bit of variety in our eggs.
My girl loves to help shell October beans,
Still picking and freezing lots of beans. Hoping to can some, but am still a bit afraid of my pressure canner.:)
Casper and Delilah just doing what they do. :)
Still have lots of sunflowers blooming.
Peach season starts now...
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Caterpillar Transformation and a Surprise!
At the end of July my boy found a tiny little caterpillar, that we quickly identified as a Black Swallowtail. We left it to munch in our carrots and when it was full grown we brought it inside so that we could watch it transform.
We put him in an aquarium, and gave him some carrot greens. Black swallowtails also eat fennel, parsley, dill and queen anne's lace.
i placed a few sticks inside our aquarium, so that he could find a perfect place to form his chrysalis. When he found a good spot, he got very still and stayed like that for a quite a while. Then we watched him turn around on the stick, and spin a bit of silk.
He stuck his back feet in the silk, and spun a thin silk sling to support his body. Then he got into position. He stayed like this for maybe 24 hours or so. We started to notice he seemed to be puffing up a bit, and his skin began to look very stretched.
The more he puffed the thinner his skin became and it changed to a dull color. He let go of the stick, and his skin began to split. He slowly wiggled the skin down his body.
Underneath, you can start to make out the familiar chrysalis shape. His skin is about half way down now, and he is still working on pushing the skin off.
One the skin is completely off, he rests. His new chrysalis is green and soft.
After a few hours, his new skin has darkened and hardened into it's chrysalis. It's camouflaged to resemble a dead leaf on the twig, or a part of the branch. After pupating for around 2-3 weeks the Black swallowtail butterfly should emerge from its chrysalis. Caterpillars that are found in the fall, will often overwinter in their chrysalis emerging instead in the spring. Our Caterpillar formed it's chrysalis on August 1st, so we have been patiently waiting for him to make his apprentice.
Instead we got quite the surprise!
Instead of a butterfly, this Ichneuman parasitic wasp emerged from the chrysalis!
When our little caterpillar was outside munching carrots, a female wasp had found it and laid her egg inside the caterpillar. As the caterpillar continued to feed and grow the wasp egg hatched and a tiny wasp maggot began to feed on caterpillar. While our caterpillar was pupating, the wasp larva was feasting.
When the wasp is fully grown, it exits the chrysalis through a large hole in the side. Although it just part of nature, it was rather disappointing being that it was our only Black Swallowtail cat this year. My daughter was completely fascinated by the whole thing, but my boy was a little more bummed. We've witnessed other parasite infections with the monarch caterpillars we've raised.
No matter how many times we raise caterpillars, it is always a learning experience. The process is always amazing, no matter what happens to hatch out.
We put him in an aquarium, and gave him some carrot greens. Black swallowtails also eat fennel, parsley, dill and queen anne's lace.
i placed a few sticks inside our aquarium, so that he could find a perfect place to form his chrysalis. When he found a good spot, he got very still and stayed like that for a quite a while. Then we watched him turn around on the stick, and spin a bit of silk.
He stuck his back feet in the silk, and spun a thin silk sling to support his body. Then he got into position. He stayed like this for maybe 24 hours or so. We started to notice he seemed to be puffing up a bit, and his skin began to look very stretched.
The more he puffed the thinner his skin became and it changed to a dull color. He let go of the stick, and his skin began to split. He slowly wiggled the skin down his body.
Underneath, you can start to make out the familiar chrysalis shape. His skin is about half way down now, and he is still working on pushing the skin off.
One the skin is completely off, he rests. His new chrysalis is green and soft.
After a few hours, his new skin has darkened and hardened into it's chrysalis. It's camouflaged to resemble a dead leaf on the twig, or a part of the branch. After pupating for around 2-3 weeks the Black swallowtail butterfly should emerge from its chrysalis. Caterpillars that are found in the fall, will often overwinter in their chrysalis emerging instead in the spring. Our Caterpillar formed it's chrysalis on August 1st, so we have been patiently waiting for him to make his apprentice.
Instead we got quite the surprise!
Instead of a butterfly, this Ichneuman parasitic wasp emerged from the chrysalis!
When our little caterpillar was outside munching carrots, a female wasp had found it and laid her egg inside the caterpillar. As the caterpillar continued to feed and grow the wasp egg hatched and a tiny wasp maggot began to feed on caterpillar. While our caterpillar was pupating, the wasp larva was feasting.
When the wasp is fully grown, it exits the chrysalis through a large hole in the side. Although it just part of nature, it was rather disappointing being that it was our only Black Swallowtail cat this year. My daughter was completely fascinated by the whole thing, but my boy was a little more bummed. We've witnessed other parasite infections with the monarch caterpillars we've raised.
No matter how many times we raise caterpillars, it is always a learning experience. The process is always amazing, no matter what happens to hatch out.
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