Questions? Write Me at

Questions? Write me at fullcirclegardener @ cableone . net.

HSV Garden Challenge: Final Linkup

In March!
6/29/11 Update:  I just got notice that final link up is tomorrow (6/30/11).  Also found out that a July 28, 2011 'harvest' linkup has been added because so many of us have late gardens this year.  Looking forward to seeing how everyone else is doing.  :)


Today is the final link up for the HSV Garden Challenge.  It has been fun to be intentional about involving the kids in the garden and watch the kids soak in all they see, do, hear and taste.  Speaking of taste, we ate our first garden produce this week, lettuce, and my oldest was thrilled that we had grown our own food and were finally getting to eat it. :)


Our studies over the last month were mostly focused on life cycles as we watched Painted Lady caterpillars transform into butterflies.  We also learned that sometimes sickness ends in death when our first butterfly was unable to fully emerge from the chrysalis and its wings never opened up.  The remaining 4 butterflies emerged safely and we released them on a warm day about a week later.  We were all amazed at how quickly they took off and disappeared from sight!

Zinnia today!
Zinnias planted outside in May.
We continue to watch our Zinnias.  Just this week we noticed that one has formed a flower bud and we will have a flower soon.  That is going to be an exciting day too. :) The kids are impatient for some kind of change in their flowers.  I hope we will get to observe lots of insects pollinating their flowers and later collect the seeds for them to start again next year.

We finished up our My Father's World studies with the letters Q and Y last week, but look forward to continuing our informal garden studies over the summer.  My oldest and I would like to research what we can plant next year to attract butterflies to our yard.  It will be a fun project to do together. :D

Do you have plans to continue your garden education this summer?  I'd love to hear about it.

Happy Gardening (and Learning)! :)

4 comments:

  1. thanks Stacy for the information - so sorry for the wrong date. Thanks for being patient !!

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  2. Not a problem Stef. We look forward to answering your question & linking up with you in the morning. :) Thanks for organizing this event! :D

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  3. I could not get my zinnias to grow this year because bugs kept eating them, so frustrating. I am living through yours now :)

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  4. Zonnah, How sad! I direct seeded some Zinnias as well in the same bed, but they are significantly behind the two we started inside. I expect we'll see those flowers in August, but can't complain about that. Stop by again at the end of July and I'll share some flower pictures. :)

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