Posted in Nature, Homeschooling and Education on Nov 29th, 2008 4 Comments »
Last weekend, we went out to see the salmon run in a local creek. We got there at the tail-end of the run, so the smell of carrion greeted us in the parking lot. I’ve never smelled so much dead stuff. When we got down to the stream, it was clear what was causing the […]
Posted in Nature, Books on Sep 24th, 2008 3 Comments »
Here’s the text for a speech I gave this week to an Interfaith group concerned with Earth Care.
Unless someone like you
cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better.
It’s not.
The words of Dr. Seuss, from The Lorax. As much as I love Dr. Seuss and The Lorax, however, this book illustrates a type of […]
Posted in Nature, Holidays on Sep 23rd, 2008 No Comments »
Mums blooming in the garden, a cool crisp in the air, and it is Fall.
Posted in Nature on Sep 22nd, 2008 1 Comment »
We recently visited the zoo in Seattle, and they have this fun station where you can buy seed sticks and feed the birds.
I have mixed feelings about zoos, but the kids sure like getting to see all of these animals up close. And modern zoos are doing important work with breeding programs and rescuing injured […]
Posted in Happy and Healthy Childhoods, Nature on Aug 23rd, 2008 1 Comment »
Last evening DH and Hypatia were hanging out in the front yard, and she was trying to ID all of his native plants out there. She calls Kinnikinnick “nicky nick”, but she can point it out. He asked her where the lupine were, and she went and pointed to one. He pointed out the deer […]
Posted in Nature on Aug 20th, 2008 No Comments »
Saturday was very hot for this region (100 degrees and I thought I would be sick, but I’m a wimp with heat), so we went out to the cabin for the afternoon. The tide was out, and the water of the Puget Sound was actually a bit warm in the shallows, so we waded and […]
Posted in Nature on Aug 3rd, 2008 No Comments »
Here are a few of the edible plants we love to walk past on our neighborhood trail system:
25. Salmonberry is delicious with a mild flavor, and has the bonus of having few thorns. They do tend to get tall, however, so the kids have trouble reaching the berries. I have to lift them up to pick […]
Posted in Nature on Jul 29th, 2008 No Comments »
These things are too small for my little digital to be able to photograph, so I will skip pictures.
22. Pineapple Weed This stuff grows in my gravel driveway, and is a pain to pull out. I’m kind of tickled by its funny name.
23. Small White Butterfly
24. Clover is very good for the soil, so we […]
Posted in Nature on Jul 23rd, 2008 No Comments »
I see that some other folks are doing more than just plants, and I’m going to do that also. Here are the animal species I’ve seen this week in my yard:
14. Woodlice, which we call potato bugs
15. Downy Woodpecker
16. Slugs We have so many slugs around here, but I’m not good at identifying the different kinds. […]
Posted in Nature on Jul 15th, 2008 No Comments »
I’m still working on my front yard, so here are 6 more plants to be found out there.
8. Salal, a very small specimen that DH planted in his native garden.
9. Vine Maple is a small shrubby maple, but very pretty in a delicate way.\
10. Oxalis/Redwood Sorrel is another tiny native plant from DH’s garden. They taste good, […]
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