Post Revival

I feel like I am on a seesaw (does anyone remember them?). One day I'm up, the next day I'm down. This has been that kind of week. Monday it was too cold to go out, although the early morning fourth graders did go out and help me weed out some winter grasses in the pathways. The day grew colder as the wind picked up so we stayed inside and explored the micro world with our new hand held,computer connected microscope(thanks P.T.A.). We explored skin, hair, fabrics, and insect body parts. Wow, 60 year old skin sure looks different than 9 year old skin!

On Tuesday, Mrs. Uskovichs' class got out in the garden and found a very interesting plant called "bedstraw". It is very tender and the stems break easily. Throw a stem at someone and it sticks to them. The stems and leaves are covered with tiny barbs that grab and hold on to porous surfaces, especially clothes. the seeds of this plant are also covered with these tiny barbs or hooks that help in dispersal. Neat adaptation!

Later in the week we got out into the garden and examined the potatoes we had earlier tucked into the soil. To my surprise, some of the Red LaSoda potatoes were beginning to put out roots. This, even though the ground temperatures remained right around 40 degrees F. The Yukon Gold spuds showed no signs of growth. The two varieties showing different adaptations to ground temperature.

We put some 1015Y onions in the ground, in beds and pots that did not have a fall crop. On Thursday the fifth graders came out and we sifted compost, applying the fine compost to the peas we planted last week. They have not germinated yet. But with rain predicted for this weekend, I expect to see them popping up soon.
(photos: Barbara Uskovich)