Our Garden July 26, 2016

Our Garden 

July 26, 2016

This is the pile of dirt I've been collecting for a new raised-bed.  Dh hasn't put the frame up yet, but I planted bunches of marigold flowers that had taken over our "tomato/celery/kale bed."  So far, they are all accepted the move.

Our Swiss Chard is coming along.  The volunteer acorn squase keep growing leaves that grow over the chard, and every few days I have to come and cut off those leaves to maintain their light exposure.

Speaking of acorn squash---here is our first one!  

We are still harvesting a lot of lettuce's for our salads, but I've had to buy some at the store as well... I should have bought a LOT more lettuce plants/seeds.  Michele Z. said the lettuce seeds I planted around June 30th wouldn't grow--but, they are!  She also said in August I could plant more (new) lettuce seeds and they would grow for our fall eating.  I better get on that!  August is about here!

These are the June 30th seed crop...the light green lettuce...doing great!

I'm showing you the bald spots...where our kohlrabi use to be, but have been harvested already.  Now we just have some tomato plants in that back spot--which we are eating now.

This is the first week of red tomatoes for Dh's salad!

Our broccolli is coming along...slowly!

This bed is only peppers--maybe 3-4 different kinds of peppers.  Dh has been getting some peppers in his salads for 2-3 weeks now, but I did take some small ones at first.

The 'tomato/celery/kale' garden bed is still over-stuffed; even though I removed gobs of marigold plants!  At least some of the celery and kale can breath a bit better now.  I should probably remove some more marigolds...I filled quite a few pots, as well as the 'to-be' raised bed.

Here are the seven pots I've filled with the excess marigolds!  They all seem to be accepting the move as well. 

You can actually see the dirt, from my removal of the marigolds.  The celery seems like it is starting it's decline---I seem to have missed the sweet spot of prime eating.  It is still okay, but not as tender as I hoped.  You can also see the kale--last weekend I mixed up a LOT of kale chips, which were very good and repeatable.  

Here is our messy herb/lettuce/marigold bed.  We used some lettuce seed packets from our library's seed share, but some of the lettuce had a bitter taste that I wasn't sure about.  There is still some spinach and good lettuce coming up in there, but I need to weed out that weird lettuce soon.  I think I'll plant some new lettuce there.  I'd like to transplant some of those over-zealous marigolds out of the bed, so I can use more space for eat-able foods.  I haven't had too much trouble with bugs, which was WHY I had planted so much marigold!

Our precious chickens have wandered into our garden a few times this week, and I had to chase them out.  They haven't been much a problem...luckily!

The chickens are always wandering around the outside fence of the garden.  I wrapped a metal cage around my grape plant that is planted on the outside of the fence, and they leave it alone.  I don't mind them pecking at the outside leaves.

The profile pix of the tomato plants...really tall!

Why am I sharing this well lid?  I found five baby rabbits in a little hoe there this week.  I kept putting back one wild baby (2x) this week.  When a storm was coming I got out one of my umbrella to shield the nest; but apparently the rabbit mom didn't like the umbrella and moved the babies by the morning.

Now you know why I have a huge umbrella in my yard!  I've moved it around now that the bunnies are gone.  I guess I could mow again--- I had such a great reason not to mow--I was just "protecting" those bunnies!  But, now I don't know where those cute bunnies are and am afraid of finding them the wrong way.

This little side garden is doing okay too.  I'm still getting a little bit of lettuce, but which it was more.  The black raspberry plant we brought from Indiana has some berries getting close to ripping.  

  

A Painted Lady butterfly found our ragged cone-flower.  This week I have seen so many butterflies---especially those yellow Tiger Swallow-tale butterfly.

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Apologia General Science Experiment 12.3 Body Temperature

Apologia General Science 

Experiment 12.3 Body Temperature

Our first step was to take Dd's temperature, then go outside and soak up some major heat and re-take her temperature.  

We used the "Tempa Dot" and our normal thermometer to take her temperature.

After being outside, in the intense heat for 15-20 minutes, her temperature went up one degree.

Then we went to our very chilly basement, and Dd laid on the cold concrete floor.  After 15-20 minutes chilling we took her temperature again.  Her temp dropped down a degree.

Purpose:
Because we are ENDOTHERMIC, our internal temperatures don't rise or fall too much, but stay relatively the same temperature.  We use our energy to regulate our body's temperature.  This quality is unique to us mammals, but many other creatures are ECTOTHERMIC--- they are cold-blooded and their temperature does get effected by the outside temperatures.

Ectothermic organisms require less food than endothermic organisms.  We mammals require a lot of calories to maintain our stable internal temperatures.

This was an easy experiment.

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Apologia General Science Experiment 12.1 What Combustion Needs

Apologia General Science 

Experiment 12.1 What Combustion Needs

These are the things we needed for the experiment.  Dd decided to add blue food color to the liquid in the bowl, for fun, towards the end, for fun!  You don't need to though!

First Dd lite the candle, then put a glass over the flame/candle to see how it would react.

The flame is using up the oxygen in the glass.

Once the oxygen was gone, the candle went out.

Next Dd added in a cup of vinegar...maybe 1 1/2 cups.

Then she lite the candle again, and it burned.

Then she added teaspoons of baking soda.

As the vinegar mixed with the baking soda, carbon dioxide was formed, and without oxygen, the candle went out.

For fun, Dd added blue food coloring to watch it spread out.

Dd lite another candle and tried to re-light the candle, but the bowl was still full of carbon dioxide, and would NOT light!  The match went out as soon as it got below the surface of the bowl.

Dd swished the air around in the bowl and cleared out the carbon dioxide, then tried another match, and it did light.

We've done this experiment with dry-ice and it works just the same.  It is easier to gather vinegar and baking soda than dry-ice!  

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Chicken Nest Box July 2016

Chicken Nest Box 

July 2016

Dh finished up the nest box this week.

Then I put it in the coop.

Then I filled it with clean straw and within 24 hours we had five eggs in it! 

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Sonlight Core G Week 31 "B" July 18-23, 2016

Sonlight Core G 

Week 31 "B" (31/36)

July 18-23, 2016

92nd Week on this Core...getting close to completing it now!

Four chickens in one hole! The rooster is trying to go under the pile!

Hello Friends! 
A very quiet week for us in Michigan.  This was my second week with headache's and migraines, which kept our week very quiet.  My GERD was horrible this week too.  Dd and I both just didn't feel good for most of the week, and we even took a nap on Thursday.  We probably needed a stay at home week after so much going this summer.  



Homeschooling comments:
When we were at the Sparta parade last week, the people next to us were talking as our homeschooling band came marching up the street.
( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaC1wEenU68&feature=youtu.be) 
The mother asked her son if he would want to be homeschooled; and he immediately said, "YES!" Then the mom, in a very ugly tone, says: "No, you wouldn't!  You wouldn't have ANY friends!"  It was really ugly the way she snapped at him, and then made such an erroneous comment.  I wanted to point out that my Dd was there, in the middle of almost 200 kids, many of whom are her "friends" and that her son was standing there all alone!  How can people think homeschoolers don't have friends?  I guess that is better than saying the truth--which is sometimes all our social things get in the way of our lessons!!  I guess it is better they don't know!  But, I guess I could also say, that many of our social things are "educational." Either way, it really struck a cord with me, how so many people have so many pre-conceived thoughts about those of us that educate our children at home.  I love homeschooling!  I love getting to share my day with my Dd!  I am so thankful for this wonderful decision we made all those years ago, and don't regret it for a minute--even on the hard days when math isn't clicking!

Our garden is doing really great!  This is our kohlrabi, but I couldn't digest it this year.  Dh enjoyed it though.

Africa:
Educationally, this week we focused on AFRICA.  Our Story of the World, add-in Reader: Glorious Age in Africa, movie: The Good Lie, and Kingfisher Encyclopedia all focused on Africa during the Middle Ages.  I didn't go on to Week 32 so we could stop and visit African history at this point.  I *think* Sonlight use to have the Glorious Age in Africa as part of their Core G package.  Either way, I've heard many SL'ers mention the importance of this book and wanted to fit it in, especially since we didn't with Core F.

Chickens: 


We are working hard on the "Chicken Run."  This is a second run that we can open a gate to let them out of their first run, into the bigger (less safe) run. We want free-ranging chickens, but can't really let them go traipsing around while we have neighbors with multiple big dogs; not to mention all the wild-life in our area (barred-owl pair...).  This second run won't have a fence above them, but it will only be when we are home and around.  The have access to the "safer and smaller" chicken run 24/7.



This was our second week of getting eggs.  We had a plastic cube shaped tub in our garage that I put straw in to see if they would use that as a nesting box, and a few hours later there were two eggs in it!  I couldn't get the eggs at that time, so I came back about an hour later and the eggs were gone!  I wonder if our 'eat-anything' dog happened to find those eggs.  Sunday was rainy and predicted to storm all day, so we left the chickens in the coop and small run.  When we went in to feed them before bed there were five eggs in the brand new nesting box Dh had just finished building (and I had put in on Saturday).  It appears our egg counts are getting higher, and that we need to watch our dog, Sophie's newly acquired esteem for chicken eggs!  The new nesting box is very nice! 



New Nest Box: Dh completed this week.


So happy the chickens are going to actually use it, as I read many chickens don't like the official types of places to lay their eggs.

OUR LESSONS THIS WEEK:

Bible:


Veritas Press: Gospels (5 hours)

I haven't reviewed our bible program lately-so here is a link if you are interested in the Veritas Press Bible Program.

http://fleurdelisacademy.blogspot.com/search?q=veritas+press+bible+review

Card 119: Completed

Jesus and the Young Ruler

We read the story of when Jesus talked to a rich young man that wanted to know how he could go to heaven.  The rich man held his riches above the love for his neighbors, and couldn't bare to give away his riches to follow Jesus. We read the same story, in three Gospels, and compared them.

*Matthew 19:16-30

*Mark 10:17-31

*Luke 18:18-30

*Dd completed the worksheets

Journey Through the Bible: pg 297

Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris: Completed

Well, we finished our third reading of this book.  I really recommend this book, that encourages teens to expect more from themselves than they are now.  I have to admit, each time I read this I feel the same push for me to work harder and do more.  For our last time through, I made this book stretch out as much as I could.

Library: 1X

Physical Education:

Swimming: 3x (4 hours)

Workout: Leslie Sansone: (20 min)

Math: (5 hours)

Teaching Textbooks, Algebra I:

Lesson 46, Test, 47, 48, and re-do of parts of 48

The chickens were not too excited with all our hole digging and post planting going on!  

Foreign Languages:

Rosetta Stone: French

75 minutes (1:15 hours)

Sign Language:

Review this week, 1-9

After putting in all our lines for the addition to the chicken run, we changed our minds!  It is going to be smaller up on the grass, but go behind the out-building so the chickens get more running space.

Sonlight History:

Kingfisher Encyclopedia of History: 

210-211, 212, 220-221, 222

Story of the World: Middle Ages: 

Ch. 33 & 34

Favorite Poems Old and New

444-446

Sonlight Reader:

Leonardo da Vinci by Emily Hahn: Completed

History Add-In: (4 hours)

A Glorious Age in Africa by Danial Chu

History Add-In: (120 min)

The Good Lie (PG-13 DVD): This is a movie about the story of a few of the Sudanese "Lost Boys."  The group eventually came to the US (Kansas City).  It was very interesting to see how the group must have lived in Africa, and how odd their transition would be coming to the U.S.  I should mention there was one scene, after the group had grown up and were adults, one smoked pot.  I don't know if youngers would catch that scene or not, but wanted to mention it.  Half way through the movie, Reese Witherspoon, does say a few cuss words.  All-in-all, it was a good story and good movie.

Remember a few weeks ago, we put these vines in water to watch the root hairs grow?  Here is an update on how that experiment is going!

Science:

 Apologia General Science: 

Module 11: The Human Body: Completed (6 hours)

*What a great chapter!  I know I had so much fun re-learning all this information.  Dd passed her test perfectly, except she said "bacteria" instead of "pathogenic bacteria."  I pulled in some of my science add-in books to go a bit deeper.  Our How Your Body Works book has a good section on goosebumps and your epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis.  

Student Notebook for Apologia General Science: Completed pages that coincide with her text book.

(I really think adding the Student Notebook forces the student to mentally process the information.)

Experiment 11.1 results...a chicken bone in a jar of vinegar turns the hard bone to rubber!

YouTube:

We spent 45 minutes looking up video's on CELLS.  There are some really good video's available.

Bill Nye's: Human Body: Skin : Completed

Digging holes for the additional chicken run - in process.

Music:

Another "Instrument Fitting" class was held on Monday, and we drove up for it--2 hours--of Dd getting to try various instruments.  This time there were ORCHESTRA instruments!  Dd got to try the cello, violin, base, flute x 2, tenor sax, oboe, clarinet (1 hr of playing there).

Marching Band class:

9:30-11 (1:30 hours)

Private Baritone (Mrs.March) lesson: 30 min 

Private Violin (Mrs. Reed) lesson: 30 min

Practice times:

violin: 2 hours

piano: 2  hours

sax: 3:30 hours

Digging holes for the additional chicken run - in process.

Busy Hands:
Dd made Egg Salad for us this week.

I bought a dehydrator, and Dd picked many herbs out of her garden and dehydrated the herbs, then put them in ziplock baggies.  Herbs: Chamomile, Basil, Oregano, Catnip, and Sage.

Dd made a poster, on the computer, of her favorite Hobbit poem, "Not all Who Wander are Lost."

Dd playing the cello at the Instrument Fitting on Monday.  She likes the cello best, but she owns a violin and has to be content with that...for a while at least!

Fun Books:
Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey
and another Hardy Boys book

(Timeline highlights, as we are ending the Middle Ages, and beginning the Renaissance: Henry VI becomes king of England, Richard III is king of England, War of the Roses, Ferdinand and Isabella marry, Jews expelled from Spain, Prince Henry the Navigator, Mansa Musa of Malli has pilgrimage, Ibn Battuta visits Mali, Byzantine Emporor Justianian defeats vandals in N. Africa, Teutonic Knights conquer Prussians, Stephen makes Hungary a peaceful Christian nation, Pope asks German king to defend Europe, Sonhay Empire expands under Sunni Ali, Portuguese begin trade in W. Africa, Babur the Turk invades India, Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellen, New World, Pope sets Line of Demarcation, Leonardo da Vinci, Tenochtitlan is built, Huana Capa rules Inca's, Aztecs arrive in Mexico and build Tenochtitlan on Lake Texcoco, Toltecs are powerful in Mexico, Francisco Pizarro conquers the Incan Empire...)
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