How not to Grow Tomatoes in Florida

Our home school lesson on vegetable gardening, has turned into a lesson on Florida garden disease and pests. So far our tomatoes, pumpkins, cucumbers and snaps peas are a total loss!

For some reason the sugar snap peas just refused to thrive.

The tomatoes were a little slow to get going after transplanting, but then seemed to be growing great. However last week the leaves started to curl up and they got thicker. All the blooms that flowered fell off and there is no fruit. It appears our plants have developed Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus.

Photo by Robert L. Gilbertson.

This is the first time I have seen this in Florida and there is not a lot you can do about it, other than growing a virus resistant species of tomato and watching for whiteflies
.

Photo by Jack Kelly Clark.

I didn't even take pictures before I pulled them, it's was too depressing. I will try again with some new plants ( instead of seeds ) next time and see if they do better.

I'll tell you what took down the cucumbers in my next post.

The Butterflies are Free!

Our butterflies have emerged and this morning we set them free.

All five arrived alive, but one little guy had a malformed wing.

An edge seemed to fold over.

He took his time hopping around, but then all of a sudden flew up and over the fence! I assume he will make it to a flower somewhere and enjoy the sun.

My son was disappointed that he could not get one to sit on his finger. I told him we would do this again sometime in the future, so maybe next time.

Are Children Natural Photographers?

Recently after several minutes of begging, I handed my son my digital camera (probably not the smartest thing I did that day). I was somewhat amazed at how quickly with minimal instruction, he set off to point and shoot. He really loved looking for just the right shot, it seemed to come naturally to him.

He took the photos in this post, remember he is only four (granted I'm showing you the best of the lot).

Now he wants a camera of his own. I have looked at some cameras designed for kids and they seem over priced for what they are. I'd be better off just buying a $25-$50 no frills regular digital camera. Maybe for his birthday this year.

While researching the question, I found Children as Photographers, according to their site:

Children as Photographers is a large-scale research project looking at how and why children take photographs. Undertaken jointly by the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, the University of Birmingham and Kodak, the project features the photographs of 180 children from five European countries - and their comments about their work. This website aims to address every possible audience for the project, and functions at the same time as an academic resource; a huge (and fun) photo album; and a unique insight into the world of children.

They have listed their findings and it seems that children like to take photos for many of the same reasons adults do. The project focused on three age groups: seven, eleven and fifteen year-olds. This paragraph sums up the differences found between the age groups:

There are cultural and artistic precedents for speculating that children might use photography as a way of defining their world and affirming their control over important aspects of it. Consistent with this notion, we found that 7 year-olds took photographs of arrangements of their family members, toys, physical possessions, or of their home. In contrast, 11-year-olds took more photographs of the external world around them and of their pets, often posed or dressed in silly clothes. Finally, the distinctive feature of photography in 15-year-olds was that it was an interactive social activity, with many of the pictures selected showing groups of friends actively responding to the camera.

They also have a gallery of the participants photos to view. Go have a look, I was impressed with the amount of researched they had done. It must have been a terrifically fun project to be involved with!

Closure

Our "Blue" has gone to run forever in the big woods.

Happy trails Blue!

1999-2009

An End and a Beginning

It's been a week of many changes around here. We have been spending lots of time with our dog "Blue",who is dying. He has been sleeping mostly and other than a non-responsive fever, seems comfortable. My son knows what is happening and wants him to go in peace. I will make sure that happens.

We also watched our caterpillars turn into chrysalises and then transferred them to the butterfly habitat. They are now hanging by our back door and when they emerge, they will be released into our back yard. I can't say enough about this kit, we are really enjoying the events and it came at a time when a positive distraction was greatly needed!

The weather here has turned hot and humid and the bugs are out. I hope to have some more garden photos for you soon. We will get back to the vegetables after Blue leaves us. I feel that will be very soon.

Saying Goodbye to a Family Pet

Blue, my son and Spirit, June 2009

Soon I will have to help my son grieve. Our ever faithful canine friend "Blue" is dying of cancer. I became aware he was ill about a week ago when he started coughing. Chest x-rays proved to be a sad but definite truth, lung cancer.

Blue is a ten year old yellow Labrador retriever. I adopted him when he was three. When I was pregnant with my son, he would stand next to my chair or bed and support me while I pulled myself up. Like most family dogs with small children, he followed my son around all day and slept under his crib at night.
Now that my son is older, he still follows him hoping he will keep dropping crumbs. Following is Blue's thing, and he does better than any dog I have ever owned. His cancer is very advanced and his health is failing fast. There is no beneficial treatment at this point, so I have decided to provide him with hospice care until he tells me it's time.

I have always been truthful with my son about illness and dying. He sees me care for animals and pets every day in our home and in my work. Still, I know he does not understand that Blue will not get better this time. He tells me he will miss him, but he will see him later. I'm not sure what "later" means to him. Sometimes I think my son is wiser than I and that his innocent heart
holds truths mine has long forgotten.

Whether Blue dies on his own or I have to end his pain by euthanasia, he will remain at home with us. I suppose that's one advantage to being a vet tech, I have the permission of my vet to handle it myself (as I have done many times before). I plan to bury him in the yard and will be including my son if he wants to help. Right now he's a little confused, he thinks that Blue will be born again after we bury him, like the seeds we planted in the garden.

I know it will be sad for him, but I think the hardest part is going to be explaining to him that his big yellow dog is not going to be there playing with Spirit in the yard anymore. I don't know how much time we have, days maybe weeks. I will miss my four legged shadow.

I have been doing some reading about a pet's death and children. These sites were helpful to me and may be to your family, should the need arise.
Beliefnet: When a Child's Pet Dies
Grief and The Loss of a Pet

Just For Fun (part three)

Every once in a while I like to make a list of phrases my son is saying.
I previously wrote part one and two, so on to part three:

Things my son said to me this week:

• Look at me mom!
• Let me do it myself.
• I'm just pretending mom.
• Check out this cool move.
• I'm sorry I didn't listen.
• Stop talking mom.
• I will help you!
• Is that good for the earth?
• That's not fair!
• This is boring.
• But I will miss you.
• Excuse me, but I have a question.
• How about two figgy newtons and a sprinkle cookie?
• I'm fine mom, I'm fine.
• I just don't care about that.
• We will go when this is over, ok?
• Because I love you.
• I think I want a hug.
• Today was a good day!

A Visit to the Pond

It was a good day!