… and try it, I’ll wait. These tomato seeds glisten and mock me when I attempt to pick them up with my fingertips. The little brats also resist sliding off the cutting board. As you will … but some people use plastic.) Add water equal to the volume of tomato pulp. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and poke a few holes in the top. Here are the seeds from three medium-sized … top of the mixture. This is exactly what you want. In four days, my tomato seeds were ready, with a thin layer of white scum floating on top. Be very glad odors are not transmitted over the …
Type: Blog
… Ask any scientist what they are currently working on and their answer will almost always start with, “I was first fascinated by x back in y….” Something caught their attention, sparked a … asking question after question, developing hypotheses and gathering data to test them, with their answers pushing them forward, sometimes down unanticipated paths, and sometimes into … of a research idea In 2008, I started my current research program. After many conversations with Rob Raguso (Cornell University) and Tass Kelso (Colorado College), I drove out to Colorado …
Type: Blog
… “Titan Tim” Pollak here, with some thoughts about Spike the corpse flower as he goes into dormancy. I never thought I’d … individual flowers inside. If healthy enough, we could attempt to pollinate the female flowers with donor pollen from recent titans at the Denver Botanic Gardens and California’s Huntington … phenomenon. That morning, I experienced the power of one plant—an experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life. Despite the disappointment, Spike was a success: he was a rock …
Type: Blog
… child’s first preschool experience. No. 1: Children in nature preschools learn by doing and with hands-on activities. You must be hands-on when you learn in nature. You cannot be a passive … development. Growing and planting teaches a valuable lesson in change over time, and sticking with a project to see results that may take a while to be revealed. According to Ken Finch, … creativity, problem-solving, and emotional and intellectual development.” Children engaging with nature experience similar failures, and learn from them. They try new ways to solve …
Type: Blog
… gardens. Harvesting homegrown fruit continues to be a gardener’s most satisfying pleasure, and with a bit of advance planning, choosing suitable varieties to plant in the spring is possible. … berries left over to make strawberry jam. Choose healthy plants for a healthy harvest Start with quality, virus-free, and disease-resistant plants. Mail-order nurseries and garden centers … and Phytophthora that can affect new plantings. While strawberries prefer to grow in soil with a bit of acidity, a pH of 6.2 is ideal; the varieties mentioned above perform well in …
Type: Blog
… Botanic Garden. He is responsible for designing and maintaining the gardens, and working with the education staff to make all the annual displays at the Children’s Growing Garden … to everyone. At the Cove, Jankowski uses the garden to create an outdoor classroom filled with nature for children to observe and study. He also rotates on weekend duty to water gardens … urban agriculture and horticulture. He previously worked at the Chicago Zoological Society and with a handful of landscaping companies, helping to design and maintain new gardens. …
Type: Staff bio
… The whole family can get involved—even teen-agers will enjoy a chance to express themselves with this easy craft. Supplies Rocks—fist size is a good place to start * Paint Permanent … environmentally friendly. Sidewalk chalk is another great option. Instructions Wash the rocks with soap and water. Then dry them. Paint the background and set the rocks out to dry. Paint on …
Type: Blog
… look outside to know that it has been raining lately. My phone has been ringing off the hook with calls from the Illinois Poison Center requesting help with potential mushroom poisoning cases. I helped with four different cases today! Three of them … lawn mower’s mushroom, is also nonedible. (Photo with permission Michael Kuo, mushroomexpert.com .) Not all mushrooms growing in lawns are toxic. But the only way to tell is to know what …
Type: Blog
… even knows where each daffodil is— Narcissus ‘Bittern’, yellow petaled daffodils with orange cups, is under the crabapple trees in the Graham Bulb Garden, masses of large-cupped … pensive mood,” Wordsworth writes that he thinks back to his lakeside walk: “And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils.” You don’t need to come across 10,000 or more daffodils to bring good cheer. …
Type: Blog
… storm felled several trees on the grounds, Bartram’s Garden devised a collaborative project with The Center for Art in Wood, also in Philadelphia. The project, Bartram’s Boxes Remix, … throughout the Eastern seaboard to collect seeds and plant specimens. He packed wooden boxes with his finds and shipped them to British merchants, helping to seed the gardens of Europe with magnolias, azaleas, and other new plants from the New World. The three boxes honoring …
Type: Blog
