While doing a little homework for our Yoga-Nature-Art Summer Camp at River’s Edge this summer I found my way to the blog of the Cleveland Botanical Gardens. I was very happy to find this series of posts by Josh Steffen on “Gardening with Your Children” http://www.cbgarden.org/blog/index.php/tag/youth-gardening/. Josh wrote this 8-post series based on educational principles that work in the Hershey Children’s Garden.  

Enjoy!  

I just saw this interview online at Journey Magazine: Interview with Matthew Craig. Visit The Journey website to hear audio from the interview and read other spiritual news.

Some places to purchase “Green” products:

• Good Earth – Natural Food Company http://search.store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/nsearch?unique=23d07&catalog=good-earth 
• Seventh Generation http://seventhgeneration.com/our_products/ 

Here’s what NRDC says about buying paper products http://www.nrdc.org/land/forests/gtissue.asp

Go to this website http://www.epa.state.oh.us/oleo/cw/calendar.html and find a location near – or perhaps not so near to your home. Take the fam on an adventure to somewhere new! Get Outside and help clean the shoreline of our most beautiful and exquisite Lake Erie. We are so blessed to live on this magnificant body of FRESH WATER – let’s get out there and help improve the quality of life for everyone, right in our own backyards!  

I hope my friend here wasn’t too disgruntled with me for interrupting her tasty meal. I spotted this beautiful Redtail Hawk (pretty sure she’s a redtail) dining on the side of Mills Road at about 6pm yesterday evening.

I love her fluffy white pants!

She tolerated a few minutes of camera flashing and Kirtan chanting coming from the car stereo, before taking her meal to a more private dining location in a tree across the road.

What a site! I never thought I’d be so into the birds. There’s something about me and the hawks these days. I see one pretty regularly, sitting on a lamp post near the freeway exit I take to work in the school district. I always take an extra deep breath upon spotting my morning friend. 

I almost crashed my car earlier this summer eying a young Bald Eagle up by Sandusky Bay. She flew across the road pretty low, and then landed on a big power tower right about when I was supposed to be carefully navigating a big, curvy entrance ramp. Good thing it was early morning and the highway wasn’t busy – I was driving about 5mph on the ramp.  

Last evening, as Norb, Doug and I chatted around a backyard fire, I started noticed a little, raspy, screechy bird noise. It sounded sort of like my wren when she’s irritated with me or the cats. I didn’t see the wren and she usually comes right down when she’s yelling at me.

I followed the noise with my eyes toward the shed. It didn’t take long before I noticed a unique brown lump in the trees above the shed. The lump looked birdish, kind of square – I wasn’t exactly sure, but I suspected it to be an owl. We don’t have owls very often, but this little, brown lump had the right shape for an owl. I had my cheap binoculars since we were earlier observing the hummers in the monarda, but I was pretty sure I could make out the shape of a baby owl. When I saw here eyes I was sure!

As soon as Doug was up snapping photos with the digital camera, moma owl made a fly-by to show that here baby wasn’t alone. Another young owl swooped in to rest on our neighbor’s roof. Shortly, the first owl was on the ground, a screeching ensued as she pounced on a mole. When her sibling came in to try and steal the catch, owl number 1 spread her young wings to protect her prey from her grubbing sibling. Mom flew by again, annoyed by the camera flash and then they were all off. Owl number 1 with her fresh booty.

We could hear them for several minutes in the woods, seeming to bicker or perhaps to gloat over this tasty, fresh meal.

Suburban Bliss

The books listed on this page are meant to inspire and encourage the suburban family to adventure beyond their perfectly manicured patio and get deep … into the yard that is.

• Carson, Laurie. (1995). Green thumbs: A kid’s activity guide to indoor and outdoor gardening. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. ISBN: 1-55652-238-X 
• Ford, Miela. (1999). My day in the garden. New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN: 0-688-15541-3.   
• Frazier, Craig. (2005). Stanley mows the lawn. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. ISBN: 0-8118-4846-9.
• Hewitt: Sally. (2000). Your backyard with easy step-by-step projects for the young scientist. Brookfield: Copper Beach Books. ISBN: 0-7613-1157-2.
• Maas, Robert. (1998). Garden. New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN: 0-8050-5477-4.
• Rosen, Michael. (1998). Down to earth: Garden secrets! Garden stories! Garden projects you can do! New york: Harcourt Brace & Company. ISBN: 0-15-2-1341-5.
• Ryrie, Charlie. (2001) Garden folklore that works. New York: Reader’s Digest Association. ISBN: 0-7261-0299-3.
• Schultz, Warren. (2001). The Organic suburbanite: An environmentally friendly way to live the American Dream. Emmaus: Rodale. ISBN: 0-87596-860-0.

Now get out there and get growing!

In the spring of 2006, one of my favorite professional titles, School Library Journal featured books and websites meant to inspire children to get outdoors and enjoy the wonder of the growing season. Click here for the article and complete list.  

Find here some selected readings to help you and the kids get outdoors and “notice everything!”

Streep, Peg. (1999). Spiritual gardening. New York: Time-Life Books. ISBN: 0-7370-0060-0

Growing Up Denatured an article in the New York Times by Bradford McKee, April 28, 2005.

Mother Nature Wants Your Kids! An article  in U.S. News and World Report, posted September 25, 2005.

Natural Learning: Guide your child’s curiosity outdoors and open up a love of science. An article by Mary S. Rivkin, Ph.D. from Scholastic Parents: Your Early Learner/Age 3.

Why Kids Need Nature. (2005, June). Scholastic Parent & Child.