How’s Summer been treating everybody?
Hotter than the face of the Sun here (well almost), and the pool is literally as warm as bathwater. I’ve been keeping the chickens cool with frequent water changes, and trying to tend to our little suburban plot early, early in the morning.
The kids have had tons of camps and things to keep them busy. This week we had a lull in the schedule and finally got around to planting tomatoes and pepper seeds. Amish Paste tomatoes and Aji Dulche to be exact. In North Florida, we have two tomato planting times: before the worst of the Summer heat and just after. I am hoping to have these little seedlings ready to transplant outside in August.
We’ve been solarizing our garden beds (which means covering them with plastic so the sun superheats the soil and literally kills every microorganism (fungus, bacteria, pests, weeds etc). It’s my first year trying it, but we’ve had some blight in the past, so I thought hey, why not.
Chickens are getting big! Next month we’ll add on nesting boxes for eggs.
Of note, I’ve been pouring over a genius Spring / Summer ebook by the Natural Montessorian. I have been meaning to recommend it for some time now. It’s chock full of practical ideas for all ages: how to set up a kid-friendly garden, mud kitchen, and other outdoor spaces — so many learning activities from the Montessori perspective. Even if Montessori philosophy is new to you, she breaks it down into hands on, simple ideas kids will love. It’s so well done. Check that out here.
Lastly, in the previous post, I mentioned a big project-based activity for this semester aka a kids’ garden. I wanted to show off our botany journals where the kids are going to record everything from plant layout sketches, anticipated plant heights, weather-tracking, recipes and of course recording overall progress and growth. We haven’t officially begun, but we have some pineapple sage, thyme and… other herb names my brain cannot recall while my toddler screeches justbecausehecan.
That’s Summer here for now. Expecting a tropical storm type event later this week — so lots of rain. Keeping an eye on our new plantings and sweet potatoes which are going crazy. Seminole pumpkin too.
Hooray, I’m linking this up to Timberdoodle’s Summer Learning blog hop. See what other fun homeschool families are up to this time of year. Stay cool friends.
What a fun summer learning activity! I wish we had two tomato seasons! We are lucky to have one here in north Idaho. If we plant too late in the spring the frost will get the plants at the end of the season before they’ve had a chance to produce much.
I had never heard of solarizing the soil. I’ll be interested to hear how that works for you.
Such an inreresting blog post. I have never heard of solarizing a garden. That’s an interesting concept.