Tomato's are a ripening

Today when we looked out of the window, Betty and I noticed that the tomatoes from a few weeks ago are almost ready... sadly we also have a terrible infestation of white ash fly... so the tomato plants will not be with us long I fear. All part of the circle of life... happy Wednesday!

Eat dirt!

Ahh Monday again and some time was spent in the garden this weekend as well as making gingerbread. Kids learn so much from the garden including what dirt tastes like! Getting an opportunity to work with the concrete items in the garden is an important learning experience that allows kids to develop an interest in the environment and an understanding of where their food comes from. So don't worry about the germs and the dirt and get out there!

Gingerbread

Its almost Christmas and time to start making those cookies or at least working ouit which recipe you would like to use. I found an excellent one at http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/gingerbread_men_99096. So go on fill your house with the smell of ginger and happiness and make some today.

Pray Mantis' are cool.

Inside

Back in the garden

Having a garden is a great opportunity to study insect life. Today when I went outside to gather herbs I bought in a little friend on the basil... a baby Pray Mantis. Betty was not that impressed!

Then there were two!

The tomatoes in question!

Well,  yesterday when we were in the garden I noticed with joy that there were 2 green cherry tomatoes on one of the bushes that I grew from a seed.  These tomato plants have cost me nothing more then water and time! I just squeezed the tomato seeds onto the soil and covered lightly. In the tropics it took 4 days for tomato seeds to sprout and about 12 weeks for them to produce these fruit.  So pleased!

Magic Mushrooms

Provided by N Sheridan

Decomposers are a natural and integral part of all terrestrial ecosystems. What better way to illustrate this to kids than to growing your own mushrooms. Mushrooms are fungi they can not photosynesise and make energy from broken down plant material and manure. They reproduce through spore production. Why not try to grow some today! The mushrooms above are portabello and were grown in a pantry!

Gardening cheaply!

I am now using milk containers as pots as a cheap alternative from bought ones. Here is a link to my Permaculture page- where there are pictures. http://mymontessorimusings.blogspot.com/p/permaculture-activities.html

More Cooking!

Well we are back from our holiday and once more enjoying the warmth of Malaysia. Last night as I was surfing the net I found a wonderfully named cooking, cakes and children. There is a monthly challenge to bake and post pictures sounds like lots of fun! We will start today with cooking a Ginger cake. See my page on cooking for the link. Happy Tuesday!