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Our Surprise Little Pumpkin Patch (and a Peek at the Frogs, formerly Tadpoles!)

August 9, 2008 By Laura Leave a Comment

We just realized what we have growing outside our window in the back – it’s a pumpkin patch!! Ok, a very small patch, but it’s a surprise one, so we’ll take it!! We did throw our old and soft pumpkins out there last year, and the squirrels had a feast. But it seems some seeds took root in our very sandy earth.

pumpkin-vines

Granted, it’s a brand new patch. Not sure what we’ll harvest in such a small patch, especially in it’s first year. But wouldn’t it be something to get at least 4 good pumpkins? One for each of the kids. That would just be awesome, as hopeful as it is. We don’t see any pumpkins quite yet though.

pumpkin-squash-blooms

They’re probably not growing in the most ideal place either. This is right where the squirrels (and birds) spend their days frolicking about. We have good reason not to trust the squirrels, even with our big hard pumpkins we purchase from local farms. We try to adorn our steps and deck with such Autumn-themed harvest, but the squirrels haven’t much cared about our decorating. We put a pumpkin out on the steps, and they take a bite out of it! So we turn it so it doesn’t show. They take another bite, and we turn it once again. This goes on until there isn’t a good side to show. One year, we came home to find a squirrel sitting INSIDE our big pumpkin, having a feast from the inside-out. I was mad, but he was pretty cute in there, with such an innocent expression on his face. (The same misleading one they always have, and never changes. lol). They made an absolute mess of a corn stalk we ONCE put out there.

So we’ll see what becomes of this surprise pumpkin patch. Perhaps it’ll be surprisingly fruitful! We’ll keep you posted. Which reminds us: remember our 6 tiny potted-plants?? They didn’t make it. Ok – Daddy’s has a few remaining green leafs left, but the rest are as dead as can be. Not sure if it was the transplant, or the quality of the kit. SURELY it could not have been our plant care skills. : )

pumpkin-bloom

Had to throw in a shot of {A}s frogs. I actually took it through the observation window. They have their own pond-container now, and the still-changing tadpoles are in their own next it. They’ve all got a pretty nice pad out there. No pun intended. <croak>

frogs-from-tadpoles

Thanks for dropping by!

Filed Under: Elementary Homeschooling, Elementary Homeschooling SCIENCE, Homeschooling, Nature Study, The Homestead Tagged With: american bullfrog, frogs-with-tail, pumpkin-vines-growing, tadpoles

Bullfrog Tadpole Hunting…by Alexis Grace (10)

April 17, 2008 By A 2 Comments

bullfrog-tadpole-hunting (3)

You may have seen the plans I drew up earlier, for a bullfrog tadpole breeder. Yes, we did thengo bullfrog tadpole hunting! Some good old homeschooling, nature study, field trip, FUN! We could see into the water well, because of the bright sun.  So we started scoopin’ some out right away.

bullfrog-tadpole-hunting (2)

Got another one!

bullfrog-tadpole-hunting (5)

As we caught some, I would put my hand in the net gently, and scoop them out, and put them into the water jar.  Our hands were covered in mud!  Three of the bullfrog tadpoles looked probably almost a year old, and the rest were kind of small, like they were newer.

  bullfrog-tadpole-hunting (4)

bullfrog-tadpole-hunting

My little brothers and sister helped me spot the biggest ones, and said that the smaller ones were ‘fish’.

Here’s a look at one of the bigger bullfrog tadpoles we caught.

bullfrog-tadpole
And in case you’d like a bit closer of a look!…..

Here’s a couple jar shots with a some of the bullfrog tadpoles all in there.  Isn’t the little one cute? Notice how he has a pink belly.

  bullfrog-tadpoles-in-jar

bullfrog-tadpoles

Dad and I made a habitat for them, but Mama didn’t get photos of that.  It looks like my plan I had on paper, with pond water, rocks, gravel, dirt and mud, and pond weeds to oxygenate the water. It is all set up in an open below ground level window well we have, which conveniently has a nice observation window for me and the triplets on the inside as well!  Over the years, I have raised 3 snakes, 4 toads (‘Ugly’, ‘Stinky’, ‘Yucky’ and ‘Gross’), and one bullfrog named Goliath, in that window well.  It’s a nice natural habitat for all kinds of creatures.

I have researched a lot on how to best raise and care for these little aquatic sea-monkeys. : )  I hope to have a wonderful learning experience by being able to observe them daily, and watch them develop into bullfrogs.  But if at any point they seem to not be doing well, I am going to release them back to their original home.

I’ll keep you posted!

 

Filed Under: Elementary Homeschooling, Field Trips, Homeschooling, Nature Study, Science Tagged With: bullfrog-tadpole-hunting, bullfrog-tadpoles, bullfrogs, homeschooling, homeschooling-field-trips, homeschooling-science, nature-study, tadpole, tadpole_hunting, tadpoles

Well, Alexis Grace (10) Drew Up a Plan for a Tadpole Breeder

April 15, 2008 By Laura Leave a Comment

tadpole breeder plan

The mud bucket and net is ready to go.  The big bin is ready. The empty milk jugs are lined up along the stairwell, just waiting to be filled with the pond water. And she’s got her tadpole breeder all planned out.

Looks like we’re going bullfrog tadpole hunting today! << Click that link to see our field trip hunt!

Filed Under: Elementary Homeschooling, Field Trips, Homeschooling, Science Tagged With: elementary-homeschooling, elementary-homeschooling-field-trips, plans, sketches, tadpole_hunting, tadpole-breeder, tadpole-breeder-plan, tadpoles

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