Saturday, April 4, 2020

This morning when cleaning the chicken coop I found fresh blood and another crocodile egg.  They were in different parts of the coop, so I don't think their appearance was related.  The egg was older too, with all the insides eaten.  I know there are no crocodiles, alligators, turtles or snakes in the coop.  The egg is definitely from a chicken.

I ground up finely the 12 washed egg shells I'd collected over the course of the week and put them out for the chickens.  They gobbled them up.

We notice our cat, Bisbis, hunting in the garden. She pounced and ran off with a gopher.  She spends the day snacking on it.

I spent the rest of the morning drawing in my journal the possible cabbage-white butterfly caterpillar we found yesterday.  Here it is:

I then decided to pick out new seeds to plant for the next video.  Mosquito picked poppy seeds. These come from a seed pack, but you can also plant poppy seeds from your spice drawer, or other seeds like coriander (cilantro), cumin, fennel, sesame seeds, whole pepper, and so on.

We have been borrowing a dissecting microscope from our biology teacher neighbor for at least 6 months for Mosquito's botany lessons.  It's so cool to look at the seeds close up.   Poppy seeds are so tiny!  We measured them, 1 mm X 1 mm.  Their seed coats look super strong though.  Here is the poppy seed, and here also is the marigold seeds I drew on March 25th in my journal.

Garden math: Using a ruler, find the measurement for 1 millimeter (mm).

Mistakes are great for new discoveries. After my failed marigold seed germination, I am still led to wonder and learn more about about ancient seeds and to share what I've found with you.  I remember a story of some being recovered from clay pots that had been stored underground by ancient people.  I found a few more articles:

• After sitting in a clay pot for 850 years, ancient squash seeds are bearing fruit. In 2008, archaeologists uncovered a sculpted clay ball used to store seeds at a dig site on the Menominee reservation near Green Bay, Wisconsin. Within this seed ball, seeds from a previously unknown variety of squash were found. Squash-growing pioneers successfully germinated these ancient seeds and produced the first Gete-okosomin squash crop in centuries. The seeds of this squash are now being distributed to indigenous communities throughout North America. Source
• I found the story about the buried seeds that I remembered.  They are 10,000 year-old squash seeds that were buried under a floor in Peru.  These seeds were not viable though, but its still a cool story.  Archaeology magazine

After lunch I weeded some more and mowed the back yard, putting all the yard waste in with the chickens. It's good to mow right before it rains. 

We have caught some bees.  They are not in the supers that we baited though.  They moved into our fairy house.  We call it our fairy house, but it is actually an cute piece of yard art shaped like a house the size of Cob-weaver that Ant removed from someone else's house because it was full of bees. Even though he removed the bees inside, and blocked the holes and cracks, it still smells of old comb and safety.  After sitting in our yard, new holes have formed and now it is once again a bee home.

While I was working our backyard neighbor brings by a gift of toilet paper. Another friend walking by told me our bunnies were a breed called English Spot.

Also while I was working, Mosquito and Cob-weaver decide to take Sara for a walk.  She follows them like a dog, but like a good dog who walks with their owner off leash.  They take her for a walk in the street. Maybe they'll have to start carrying poo bags for her.

In the evening, I set up a plant nursery under my indoor grow light.  I start seeds at my house instead of the greenhouse at school so I take care of them daily.  I planted basil, catnip, kale, chard, spaghetti squash, leeks, cilantro, sweet pea, more marigolds, and yarrow.  Maybe tomorrow I will draw the seeds in my journal.

After dinner, a former farmer, now in 4th grade, writes me to see if I know where to find seeds.  I have heard that stores are empty of gardening supplies.  I think everyone is cooking, baking and gardening just like we are.  I have lots of garden seeds donated generously by Botanical Interests Seed company to our school garden.  As we've learned, seeds don't last long, so I tell her I will bring her some.  So I offer to you the same, what would you like to plant? 

Farmer Ladybug 🐞