some PEANUTS for my peanut gallery- kinderGARDENS Finale!

Can you believe we've been doing this since April? Wow - almost 6 months of kinderGARDEN updates, and it's been so fun! I have always included the kids in the garden, mostly out of necessity since it's not like I can leave them alone in the house, they'd burn it down - but this contest really enabled their personalities to shine in their creativity and ideas and is definitely something we will always enjoy doing together.

On to the week's big event: The Peanut Box!

After filming this I researched it and my instincts are right, we will leave them until the plants turn yellow and start to die off before harvesting. This enables the shell/pod to mature and cure properly. If you want to learn more about harvesting peanuts, check this link. There are GOBS of peanuts in this little space and the plants are already taking on a yellowish hue, so I think we will definitely have enough to try the kids idea of homemade peanut butter soon, probably mid-October.

In the interest of at least showing a sneak preview of what we are in for, below is a shot of what came off of one of the plants we tested:

Although with our record-breaking hot summer the "green roof" didn't work out, the kids did a great job of supplementing that with a few other projects besides that and the peanut box.

Summary in photos of the past 6 months of kinderGARDENS highlights!

When Loch announced that his teacher always wanted a garden but she lives in an apartment, the kids packed a box of goodies to take in to her on the last day of school!

The kids got to experience the building side of things in the garden when they helped make the peanut box out of scrap with Daddy before he left for deployment.

Planting seeds

I do a program with the Master Gardeners for 1st Graders called "Ready, Set, Grow!" and the kids inspired a new idea this year all about kids in the garden, and helped me create this display which was an absolute hit in the classrooms!

Kim, who hosts the kinderGARDENS contest sent Loch a fantastic book, highly recommend it - it is entertaining and educational for both kids & adults.

Everyone knows what a fan I am of violations of the child labor laws... they picked many a berry on 100 degree days and squeezed many lemons...

but the rewards were worth it!

We learned all about our garden friends up close...

they were sent out "on assignment" to photograph and caption anything they want...

Finn's caption for the above was... "I like Dill and I wanna smell it every day"

me too!

they learned about saving seed

they were surprised and excited when Miss Gina mailed them some flower seeds in support of their kinderGARDENS activities, and then a trip out to her flower farm where she taught them how to snip the flowers they wanted to bring home and got to meet the chickens that laid the eggs we brought home.

They have impressed me with their creativity - below is what happened when I was busy mowing the lawn and left my shed open...a scarecrow built from whatever they could find!

and of course there was plenty of time to just have a little fun!

I am sure most of you know that my husband/their father has been deployed to the Middle East for the past 4+ months, so I just want to say "thank you!" to Kim at The Inadvertent Farmer for putting this contest together and all the participants for giving me a project that has made the time go by quickly! Every time my alarm on my computer calendar goes off saying "kinderGARDENS update" gives me motivation to get out there with my kids and DO something. Missing hubby and their daddy certainly gives me some "blech" days, which might be fine to indulge in during the winter, but with 2 kids out of school in the summertime I definitely can't get away with "blech" days! We got some great ideas for next year from other participants and have learned so much from everyone!

Check in to The Inadvertent Farmer to see all the participants' final posts of the contest, it's been fun!

kinderGARDENS Week 22 - Butterflies!

I'll be honest, we didn't do much this week at all in the garden. Last weekend involved cleaning up after Hurricane Earl and Tuesday was the 1st day of school here so we have been busy trying to get a productive schedule together that includes homework, music, swimming, dinner, playtime and reading time - whew! Still haven't quite figured it out yet!

I did give the camera to Loch last night and asked him to go take a picture of my broccoli seedlings in the garden. He got sidetracked however and I never got my broccoli picture but he did get this:

Black Swallowtail - this is the main variety we have here, and they are huge!

We are hoping to be in the garden all weekend, we are going to try and replant their rooftop container with lettuces now that it has cooled off and we'll see if they do a little better. We will be checking "the peanut box" this week also and hope to have a harvest to show for next week. I really hope there's peanuts in there because the kids have their hearts set on making peanut butter!

One more thing that you MUST do - gather your kids around the computer and hop over to friend Kelly's blog "How My Garden Grows" and watch her video - she caught a Monarch butterfly emerging from it's cocoon and it is amazing! We all try so hard to give them a habitat, see the cocoons, caterpillars, etc, but rarely is someone there when the big event happens, so thank you, Kelly! Plus, it's just darn cute listening to her kids in the background :)

Head over to The Inadvertent Farmer to see what the other kinderGARDENS participants were up to this week!

Hurricane Summary - kinderGARDENS Week 21

Sadly, this will have to suffice for my kinderGARDENS Update this week: it pretty much involved child labor outdoors prepping for a storm, and we will all be back working this evening putting the yard back together again! While waiting for Earl last night instead of watching the Panic Channel (The Weather Channel!) we opted instead to spend the down time planning the fall garden. Hopefully we will get our seedlings and some of the fall seeds planted this weekend.

Here's a summary of the past 12 hours, I promise no more lazy video blogging after this! Looks like this is a non-event for us, so it was a good drill for the kids at least. We still have power, yay! So the following are the before, during & after weather videos. Looks like it will continue to weaken and hopefully the northeast will be spared any damage.

The above turned out to be a very breezy evening with the storm approaching, and since we were prepared for the worst already, were able to sit outside with neighbors for awhile enjoying a glass of wine while the kids played in the yard. You'd never realize watching this that Nags Head and the Outer Banks is a mere 80 minute drive via road and only about 45 if you took the beach!

This morning... Earl isn't so big and bad, after all. I heard that he diverted to Judy's homestead in Iowa of "My Freezer is Full" in the form of her daughter's messy room! She is also a participant of the kinderGARDENS contest and her teen daughter is doing a "Goth Garden" - cool idea, isn't it?!

Below is the garden walkthrough... apparently the only damage was pretty much to things that were already scheduled for removal! - I still have those horrid cosmos on the brain obviously, every time you hear "cosmos" I mean ZINNIAS! Zinnias-good, Cosmos-bad LOL. I should have a swear jar in the garden only I have to pay every time I say "cosmos".

Here's a gem for you: apparently we have a storm related death here already this morning. I would call it stupidity related. Just watched a news video with his girlfriend, she states they wanted to "go for a swim" at 1:00 a.m. and he yelled at her that he was caught and she watched him drown. Very tragic, but really-a swim? It gets better, she had her 10 year old with them! At least the child is apparently fine and did not go in the water. Smart kid!

I guess we should expect no less from a storm with a lame name like "Earl". What we need is a Hurricane Bubba, but I'm sure the NWS people would never name a storm that for fear of encouraging partying of the commoners!

I didn't have time the past two days to comment on all of your blogs, but I read them all, sounds like everyone is getting "fall fever" if there is such a thing! I may take a day or so off from the blog to get the fall garden in, you are relieved to hear that, aren't you?! :)

I'm headed over to the Inadvertent Farmer who hosts the kinderGARDENS contest and see what real gardening the other participants did with their kids this week!

kinderGARDENS Week 20 - New Friends & Food Security!

Wow, Week 20 is upon us! How nice it is to see September drawing near, and the intense weather start to break. This week has seen more in the way of education for the kids relating to their food instead of the usual tending the garden.

I met a wonderful gal a few months ago at a seed swap party and she is a fellow blogger as well, and has been following the kids' garden adventures and took time out of her busy schedule to mail a card to the kids this week and enclosed some seeds for them to plant - so cute, the card was addressed to "Farmers Finn & Loch", they were ecstatic!

That same day, in the evening, we went out to her flower farm and homestead to pick up some fresh eggs from her, and the kids loved it! They got to enjoy and pet the chickens while we were there, and Loch remarked how nice it was to see who laid "his eggs"! On the way home he commented that he didn't know that chicken butts were cute - they are cute, indeed!

She took time to grab a bucket and snips and let them pick some flowers to bring home, showing them where to cut and how to strip the leaves

Take a minute and meet Gina at Back Bay Botanicals! She is raising chickens and bees on their flower farm as well as building a farm stand all while working full time and preparing for her upcoming wedding, I don't know how she does it all! It's always so nice to connect with fellow bloggers in person!

Thanks for taking the time to show us around, we loved it!

And who else loved it? When we got home the dogs know the smell of fresh eggs right away - Marley's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree! She was a rescue from a "real farm" and although she is much loved and cherished, she has had to "settle" for becoming a frisbee dog at our little suburban homestead instead of herding chicks and goats.

Finnegan showing off the eggs and flowers, not sure what that expression is about!

As far as the kids' garden goes, a few lessons learned:

The peanut box: looks great, healthy, unaffected by insects... the problem?

Peanuts grow by these little "shoots" or "pegs" growing downward into the soil and forming the peanuts... they are in a container, so there was no soil for them to bury themselves in on the edge!

Here is a close-up of the "pegs" that would each become peanuts if they could reach the soil! We will be checking the box itself soon, but just think how many there would be had they been in the ground instead of a container!

Check out Kim at The Inadvertent Farmer for updates on all the kinderGARDENS participants' activities. She has a guest author this week who wrote about a school garden and educating our kids through being outside, what a concept! :)

kinderGARDENS Week 19 : Update from Planet Kid

Kim at the Inadvertent Farmer asked us this week what we've learned! A few things to be sure...

1. A "green roof" cannot be based in a container here. It's TOO DARN HOT! This would have worked great with a short structure where the plants could have been based in the ground, but their playset is a high structure, so we attached a container running the length of it - nope! Although there are plants that are alive and a couple of mini-pumpkins growing on it, it is far from "a green roof"!

2. Peanuts in a container - not a great idea since they need room for their "branches" to drop and root in the soil. We spaced them way too close. They look fantastic though, and are completely unbothered by insects or any disease. Very healthy plants, I just don't think we will get as many peanuts as we would have had they been in a raised bed and spaced properly.

3. Kids in the garden are awesome! They have definitely been more involved this year, and are wanting to make their own decisions about their garden space, and are learning so much by doing. Loch even yelled at me one day while I was spraying something and it got breezy "hey, cut it out, you'll kill my bees!"

As for this week, not much outside stuff going on, it has rained for the last 5 days, so we have been busy doing inside things.

Today, more Blackberry Lemonade!

Working hard for their sugar fix...

Waiting for the simple syrup to cool so we can add ice... so patiently!

Happy at last!

Froze some for another day!

Me? I am completely overwhelmed this evening. The sun is shining, but the grass is long and still wet, which means the mosquitoes are horrendous out there. The grass needs to be cut, garden needs to be ripped out, insects to deal with on the plants, fall planning to be done, the stewed tomatoes for the freezer actually need to be stewed - staring at them hasn't worked! Knitting project needs to be finished, what is it about weaving in the ends that will make me just put it aside right when I'm at the finishing stage?

Beans need to be picked, and...

the kids were assigned extra homework for music lessons... to watch The Sound of Music! The VonTrapp Family! You don't have to ask me twice... I think I will rent the movie tonight and try this whole work/chore thing again tomorrow!

As always, check out The Inadvertent Farmer to see updates from other contest participants!

kinderGARDENS Week 18 - We're saving seed!

We all know how poorly the green roof has done this summer, it's creeping just as slow as can be so I have had to find other projects for the kids to work on in the garden.

This week: Seed Saving!

Teaching the next generation to just say "no" to genetically engineered seed one kinder "gardener" at a time!

The storms over the past couple of weeks have shown me that the time is NOW for saving seed from the UFO tomato aka J. Gyllenhaal if we are to have future generations.

History: This seed was handed to me on the sly in a Master Gardener training class by an elderly lady who could no longer garden. She had 6 seeds left in the world, they had been saved in her family since the early 1900's and she was the last. That's a lot to live up to! Even though we have no clue (obviously from the name I have given them) what they are, they are huge heirloom, a beefsteak-meaty interior, the taste has improved steadily over the season, and is hands-down the healthiest tomato plant I have ever grown, hybrids included. These laughed in the face of wilt and extreme heat and windstorms that my other tomatoes succumbed to. Even if they didn't taste good, I kind of owe it to her to save the seed!

Enter the kids: this involves goo and mold so it is the perfect project for them!

Step 1: Select the best looking, ripest tomato of the harvest (i.e. the most Jake G. looking specimen!)

Step 2: Slice in half across the equator exposing all the seed cavities

Step 3: squeeze seeds AND pulp into jar or container, adding water really isn't necessary and can slow down the fermentation process, just make sure to get plenty of the pulp/juice in there

Here's what's left after squeezing! The kids love this step for the goo factor!

Step 4: cover and put aside, wait for mold to start growing! This is a fun step for the kids, it can take several days but in our house with the A/C struggling to keep up it only took 24 hours!

oh, the science of it all!

24-72 hrs later you should have mold growing and fermentation is underway! This natural fermentation is what removes the protective seed coat to prepare the seed for germination. Think of it this way: if left to its own devices, the tomato simply drops to the ground and turns into a rotten, slimy mess - but it's nature's way of perpetuation, that's how we get all those volunteers, another way is by animals eating the seeds and in turn their digestive systems break down the seed coat and it is then "pooped out" somewhere else where the seed will grow! Believe me, this is fun gross stuff to little boys!

Step 5: Once the mold has grown and fermentation has obviously been taking place (you'll smell it LOL), skim off the mold, add water and stir up. Look for floating seeds now and skim out, they are most likely not viable. Strain the rest out, rinse well, and leave to dry on a paper towel for 1-4 weeks, you want them to be fully dry before storing.

The kids can't quite figure out why mom put a picture on the paper towel, but I'm sure you can guess! Maybe for those that want to try these next year, I can send you a homemade J. Gyllenhaal artsy seed packet - sounds like a good winter project, albeit a loony one. But that's me, crazy mom!

Step 6: Store in airtight container, envelope, baggie, etc and make sure you LABEL them!

Step 7: Revel in the satisfaction of watching budding little botanists (pun intended) take a plant from SEED TO SEED!

Kids training video!

Bonus Footage...

Check out The Inadvertent Farmer and click on the kinderGARDENS button to see other participants' updates!

kinderGARDENS Update: Week 17

Week 17, the summer is flying by!

Better late than NEVER, which is what I thought had happened here. Remember the limp leaves on the green roof? Well here they are, same leaves, recovered and now climbing. Note how they have only grown about a foot in 17 weeks?????

And just look - a mini pumpkin developing on the green roof!

The seeds the kids sowed last week have sprouted and now we have the promise of a new season in the garden!

Next up: another of the kids' favorite garden activities... digging potatoes!

While this didn't happen this week, it does involve the kids digging the much anticipated potato cages. Suffice it to say they were very disappointing this year, so traumatic was the experience for me that I am just now able to talk about it LOL! Due to my fantastic results last year, I really had tried to convince many people to do the potatoes in straw cages this year... I'm Sorry! I don't know what the difference was this year, but the yield was horrible:

Total Potato Harvest

Rose Finn Fingerlings - didn't even weigh, one plate's worth!

Red Pontiac - 3 lbs

Red Norland - 3 lbs

ugh!

Too bad my butt serves as the opening frame of this video, here is the way "things are supposed to work" in the cage system. It really is easy to harvest them this way, that is, if there were potatoes to harvest!

He was so excited!

Poor Finn searching for his non-existent Finn potatoes! The few we found are in the front of his little wagon.

Rose Finn Fingerlings, kids call them airplane potatoes because the usually have wings! This is how I first got my kids to eat potatoes.

Red Pontiac harvest. The Red Norlands are not pictured since I waited an extra few weeks on them, but they look the same as this, same yield, although the potatoes in general appeared to withstand heat better and skins were stronger than the Red Pontiacs.

Go to The Inadvertent Farmer to see what other kinderGARDENS contest participants are doing this week! She has a guest author this week who writes about using a Praying Mantis nest as a way to get older kids involved in the garden!