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Kid Friendly Horticulture
60 Plays1 day ago
In this special episode, Jessica and Alexis talk about kid friendly horticulture activities with advice straight from the 5 year old source!
Questions/Comments/Feedback/Suggestions for Topics: hortculturepodcast@gmail.com
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Transcript
00:00:13
Plant People
I
Introduction and Holiday Episodes
00:00:14
Plant People
suddenly wanted to start singing the girls are back in town. um
00:00:17
Jessica
All
00:00:18
Plant People
But yeah, welcome to a girls only episode of Hort Culture. We are doing, if you've not heard yet, we're doing some kind of some special episodes over the holidays and just kind of piecing them
Friendly Competition and Podcast Ratings
00:00:32
Plant People
out.
00:00:32
Plant People
So ah make sure that Jessica and I's episodes get more five stars than Brett and Ray's episodes because we're your
00:00:37
Jessica
right, we want to make them jealous.
00:00:38
Plant People
Yeah, we're your favorites. Even though we know Brett has this like very soothing voice, um whatever. We're more fun, right? So that's what counts.
00:00:48
Jessica
We are. We're the fun ones.
00:00:49
Plant People
ah
00:00:50
Jessica
They'll never admit that, but they know deep down.
00:00:52
Plant People
We have the most hair of the group. So I feel like, yeah, yeah.
00:00:55
Jessica
That is true. and reach true.
00:00:59
Plant People
Therefore, we are the best. But what you know if they're listening right now, they're a little offended. Ha ha. I don't care.
Holiday Treats and Traditions
00:01:07
Jessica
yeah
00:01:08
Plant People
Have you been eating too many sweets, Jessica? Because
00:01:12
Jessica
Well, ah just yes, yes. The answer is yes. um
00:01:16
Plant People
the answer is yes.
00:01:18
Jessica
I was trying to make some sort of joke, but it did not come out right. And I was going to say something along the lines of that. I have been eating gingerbread men for a breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Somebody offered me one yesterday and I was like, they're like do you want a gingerbread men?
00:01:29
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:01:31
Jessica
Even though we already had some other sort of dessert. And I was like, well, yes, I have had gingerbread men for breakfast, lunch, and dinner since last Friday. <unk> And today is Thursday. So that's almost a full week of gingerbread men.
00:01:43
Plant People
There's never never too much gingerbread men.
00:01:45
Jessica
Right.
00:01:46
Plant People
i yeah
00:01:47
Jessica
Oh, no, bring it on. It's tis the cookie baked good season.
00:01:51
Plant People
Cookie season, yeah. And like it doesn't exist. to like Sugar intake doesn't exist on holiday. But yes, my my best friend, shout out Victoria. she her Her thing is she makes a mixed cookie box for all of her friends and puts them in the mail. And yeah.
00:02:10
Plant People
So I pretty much eat some sort of cookie, blondie, brownie, whatever, um just about every morning with my coffee.
00:02:20
Plant People
And then I'm like, m just like a little sweet treat.
00:02:21
Jessica
Nice.
00:02:23
Plant People
I'm in that every, it used to be like after dinner, you have a sweet treat. And now I'm in the phase of every time I basically eat something savory, I have to have a little sweet treat afterwards, which turns into multiple times a day, sweet treats.
00:02:32
Jessica
Right.
00:02:35
Plant People
Yeah.
00:02:35
Jessica
Right. We were sent, ah my husband has a lot of out of state relatives and they very nice and send us like some gifts. And one of them sent some Kringles this year.
00:02:47
Jessica
Have you ever had a Kringle, a Danish Kringle?
00:02:48
Plant People
oh Oh, I don't, I don't think so.
00:02:51
Jessica
It's kind of like a Danish that's like in re... in Yeah.
00:02:54
Plant People
To start, think Danish. Uh-huh.
00:02:56
Jessica
think Danish. ah In like a wreath form.
00:03:00
Plant People
huh Okay.
00:03:00
Jessica
so ah So we...
00:03:00
Plant People
Okay. Okay.
00:03:01
Jessica
they One of his aunts sent us a two pack of that. And in the years past, I felt like they've lasted a lot longer.
00:03:04
Plant People
okay
00:03:08
Jessica
But I got home home i got home yesterday and I was like, well, there is literally like one tiny piece of the first Kringle left.
00:03:17
Plant People
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:03:17
Jessica
And this it was a ginger It was also a gingerbread-flavored one. um Apparently that's our theme this year. And ah the other one was like a cinnamon one.
00:03:29
Jessica
And we are very pro cinnamon in our house. Like if you know my children, those of you who do, my one son loves to douse oatmeal and cinnamon, like full layer of cinnamon on top of it.
00:03:31
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:03:40
Plant People
this is
00:03:43
Plant People
but
00:03:43
Jessica
So we use a lot of cinnamon in our house, but it was cinnamon flavor.
00:03:46
Jessica
Like think of big red gum. Right? Is that the right brand?
00:03:49
Plant People
Oh, okay.
00:03:50
Jessica
Like that kind.
00:03:50
Plant People
Yeah.
00:03:51
Jessica
So we've all tried it and we were all like, hmm, let's eat the gingerbread man one first.
00:03:52
Plant People
Yeah. Interesting.
00:03:58
Jessica
Because we all thought, yes, but yeah, we all thought the other one, you know, they'd be all about, but it, that big, rua yeah, yeah.
00:03:58
Plant People
Which also has lots of cinnamon in it.
00:04:06
Plant People
It's a smidge too cinnamony, huh?
00:04:09
Jessica
so
00:04:10
Plant People
Cinnamon has been my go-to. Usually I'm like a ah mint gum person. I love the flavor of spearmints and what peppermints and stuff. But man, I've been hitting the cinnamon lately.
00:04:22
Jessica
Yeah.
00:04:22
Plant People
Altoids. Listen, did you bring back Altoids?
00:04:25
Jessica
What?
00:04:26
Plant People
I mean, I know they're i know they're not at like gone.
00:04:26
Jessica
Oh.
00:04:28
Plant People
I know they still exist because I just bought them the other day. But I was like looking for a pack of gum and i was like – Altoids. What? Why don't I do that anymore? So here we are. I'm just like, just a cinnamon girly lately.
00:04:39
Plant People
Me and your kids.
00:04:40
Jessica
Oh, yeah. We have it like this cinnamon syrup that's used for like baking, but also to put it like in coffee or drizzle.
00:04:43
Plant People
you
00:04:48
Jessica
It's like for like coffee or drizzle on top of pancakes.
00:04:48
Plant People
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
00:04:51
Plant People
Okay.
00:04:52
Jessica
Pretty good.
00:04:53
Plant People
Okay.
00:04:54
Jessica
So lots of cinnamon.
00:04:54
Plant People
Once again, I say I would love to be a Besson family household because she makes all kinds of good stuff. Cinnamon rolls. Apparently they have cinnamon syrup. I mean, the kids get to chug honey directly out of the bears.
00:05:07
Plant People
i like to To be a Besson child sounds pretty top-notch in my opinion.
00:05:07
Jessica
Oh, yes. i
00:05:12
Jessica
Right. They don't know how good they have it.
00:05:12
Plant People
Yeah.
00:05:17
Plant People
These, you know, these millennial parents, they're doing it right. I'm
Gardening with Kids
00:05:20
Plant People
i'm proud of you. um But and speaking of your fabulous kids, I heard that they had some wisdom and tips for how to garden and do gardening things with your children.
00:05:21
Jessica
um Thank you. Thank you.
00:05:32
Plant People
I heard your oldest has some tips.
00:05:32
Jessica
Yeah. Yeah. So that kind of leads into today. We're going to talk about like some garden things you can do with kids. And especially if you are a parent, and if this comes out when we think it's planning to come out, you might be stuck with your kids over winter break and need something to do with them. So hopefully this will be a helpful episode.
00:05:50
Jessica
But my oldest, i was my oldest is five, and I have already brainwashed my child into being
00:05:57
Plant People
as As is your right.
00:05:57
Jessica
a plant a plant baby, right? Like he is he is all about it already. And I asked him today, like, what should we talk about? Like, what should I share that might be fun? And two things he told me. One was a suggestion of like taking your kids out and planting hundreds of flower bulbs with them.
00:06:15
Jessica
And I was like, don't think that's fun for everybody, sweetheart. that's That's just us.
00:06:20
Plant People
But it could be, it could be.
00:06:21
Jessica
It could be. It could be. um But the other thing was he wanted to share with this morning was he said, you need to tell the people that, and I'll put my finger up for those watching on video because he he shook his finger.
00:06:32
Plant People
I love it. Yes, those of you watching YouTube, this is good.
00:06:34
Jessica
He said, you need to tell them you plant the plants and then you don't pull the plants up. Because that's what Benny does, his three-year-old brother. And he's like, but I don't.
00:06:44
Jessica
I don't pull the plants up, but Benny does.
00:06:46
Plant People
Of course not.
00:06:47
Jessica
So tell the people to plant the plants and then not pull them up and let them grow.
00:06:47
Plant People
Of course not.
00:06:52
Jessica
So very passionate about that.
00:06:52
Plant People
Reasonable ask, I believe.
00:06:54
Jessica
Right?
00:06:54
Plant People
Very reasonable.
00:06:55
Jessica
Good advice.
00:06:56
Plant People
Very good advice.
00:06:57
Jessica
Very sound advice from a five-year-old.
00:06:57
Plant People
Yes.
00:06:59
Jessica
Leave the plants alone.
00:06:59
Plant People
We tend to like the things that we plant to stay planted. ah
00:07:03
Jessica
Right. Don't pull him out. He had an unfortunate experience with planting onions in a container that he was very excited about because my kids are also odd, as in they love to eat raw onion.
00:07:16
Plant People
Love it.
00:07:17
Jessica
um And his younger brother went along and pop up bu pulled them all out of the ground, out of the container. so
00:07:25
Plant People
That ah my in-laws have an onion story. So there was three brothers, three boys and growing up and they used to go to their grandfather's farm and help them with the farm chores and stuff.
00:07:38
Plant People
And they lived in like the city in Louisville. So they you know when they went to the farm, they went work. And so um there's a story about how they were supposed to plant all the onions. And instead, because they wanted to go do something else, they dug a big hole and they planted all of the onions, the whole like sack of onions in just one giant hole.
00:07:54
Jessica
All in one spot.
00:07:58
Plant People
And then come spring, all the onions came up in, you know, this ah hole and a grandfather knew what they had done and was very not happy. And I believe ah the term the term they used was tanned their hides.
00:08:07
Jessica
Oh my gosh.
00:08:12
Plant People
so
00:08:12
Jessica
Yeah, I bet. That's funny.
00:08:15
Plant People
Because it's funny. Yeah, right. Because like you can't with something like onions, you don't know until it's too late.
00:08:21
Jessica
hu Exactly.
00:08:22
Plant People
Can't do anything at that point, which tends to be in plants in general. ah Sometimes it's just too late. Once you once you recognize it, it's too late.
00:08:32
Jessica
Right. It's too late. Just let it be.
00:08:34
Plant People
It's just gonna it's just gonna be.
00:08:34
Jessica
ah And that's, you know, something with kids and gardening. You just have some patience with it. You know, every time you take them out there, they're learning something and you don't realize how much they're taking in.
00:08:44
Jessica
Like people don't get, I say this all the time. People get do not give little kids enough credit for how much they take in and how much they know or like,
00:08:49
Plant People
Yeah.
00:08:53
Jessica
Like my kids will shame their dad about plant things now, like get on him, like shame him about getting too close to the flower beds with the mower or like running over, you know, things and, but just be patient. Right. Cause like we were seeding some seeds this spring and I had a spot that I wanted to put them and,
00:09:13
Jessica
The boys went ahead and helped me and they ripped open the seed packets and threw them everywhere. Luckily, they were like a a mix. And so, you know, it just kind of turned into a moment of like, well, this will be our experiment bed.
00:09:26
Jessica
We'll see what comes up. Right. We'll see, you know, what we can do with that.
00:09:29
Plant People
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:09:31
Jessica
Um, but you know, not just doing like seeds with kids, right? Like starting seeds is always a fun project, right?
00:09:35
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:09:37
Jessica
You can do the whole egg carton thing and start season there, decorate the egg cartons.
00:09:40
Plant People
Oh, yeah.
00:09:42
Jessica
Um,
00:09:43
Plant People
See tape?
00:09:44
Jessica
Something like seed tape. Yeah, that's what I going to say. Like, that's a great winter activity for kids.
00:09:48
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:09:49
Jessica
And not only is it like, oh, that gives them something to do, but they also are getting to learn about like measuring. Right. Because we're like reading our seed packets.
00:09:56
Plant People
True.
00:09:58
Jessica
We're seeing like the spacing that's needed for those seeds. And then, ah you know, you getting to use a ruler and mark on that paper how far apart they need to be, you know, need to be.
00:10:09
Jessica
You know, that'll work for some of your older kids, maybe your younger kids. um They're just excited to help stick the seeds, you know, on the on the piece paper.
00:10:15
Plant People
They just want to touch the dirt. They just want to get dirty.
00:10:17
Jessica
I just want to touch it.
00:10:18
Plant People
Yeah.
00:10:18
Jessica
Right. Right. um Other things like with in the winter, something we're doing at our house right now, we have an avocado seed. We eat a lot of avocados, so we have it in a jar. Um, obviously five-year-old, he's really into it, really dedicated to this.
00:10:33
Jessica
He's also the oldest. The middle one has drowned the seed several times by breaking the toothpicks off of it that's on there. But we put new toothpicks in it. And, you know, if it fails, we have more avocados and we're going to just try again.
00:10:44
Plant People
Right, right.
00:10:45
Jessica
But it's something that they're like excited about to look and to see, um,
00:10:45
Plant People
Oh.
00:10:50
Jessica
The change in it.
00:10:51
Plant People
The change.
00:10:51
Jessica
Change. And like very simple things to show that too. Just, you know, you can start some seeds on a damp page paper towel or put them in little Ziploc baggies.
00:10:59
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:11:01
Jessica
And that's like a cool activity for kids to check.
00:11:03
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:11:04
Jessica
Like you can tape it on your window in a Ziploc baggie with like some bean seeds. Put a little moisture in there, like moist towel.
00:11:11
Plant People
Yeah.
00:11:12
Jessica
Watch it germinate. And something so simple can provide a lot of entertainment or just something like really cool for them to see.
00:11:19
Plant People
They get to check it every morning.
00:11:20
Jessica
Right. Yeah.
00:11:21
Plant People
Like who needs Elf on a Shelf when I can have ah a bean on my window?
00:11:25
Jessica
Right. There you go.
00:11:28
Plant People
I love that. Yeah. I was trying to think there was something, there was something that you have said you've done with your kids that I just blanked.
00:11:32
Jessica
Oh.
00:11:35
Jessica
Oh, I just saw another one for like Christmas time that you probably will still be able to find after Christmas are amaryllises.
00:11:35
Plant People
I was all excited about beans.
00:11:43
Plant People
Oh yeah. Yes.
00:11:44
Jessica
Right. Cause they're fast.
00:11:46
Plant People
Yes.
00:11:46
Jessica
And that's, that's a cool one too. Like my kids have been really excited over those because they've been able to see them put out the leaves really quickly or they send up the big stock and you know, it's something like I said, that you see quickly versus like waiting for a long time.
00:12:01
Jessica
um And they've, they've enjoyed those.
00:12:01
Plant People
Yeah.
00:12:04
Plant People
the um I remember what it was that you were talking about the avocado. I did a class one time um on kitchen regrowing kitchen scraps, which is essentially like the avocado was one example.
00:12:13
Jessica
Yeah.
00:12:15
Plant People
But another thing, if you all are like, people are like, I'm not an avocado person, which you know you should become one. But let's just say you have an allergy, you know right? And that's why you're not an avocado person. Anyways, I've done that really successfully and really fast with carrot tops.
00:12:28
Plant People
Have you ever done carrot tops?
00:12:30
Jessica
I haven't done carrot tops.
00:12:30
Plant People
And Yeah, so like, you know, if you're using carrots right now, ah we had ton of really wonderful, amazing carrots from our CSA um over the past few weeks, and I've been using them up.
00:12:42
Plant People
But you can cut off – when you cut off the top, you cut off a little little bit of carrot, like half an inch, you know, like nothing major. Really, you just are trying not to get into that growing point, which is where the leaves are coming out of.
00:12:54
Plant People
And so you can cut that off. You put it in a shallow dish of water just so it's kind of – think of like a petri dish and you're going put it in that like shallow little bit of water and you actually will cut most of the greens off.
00:13:06
Plant People
If you still have your greens, you can leave a little stub and then it'll shoot out new ones and come up, come out with roots, roots will form. And, and it's pretty quick and really cool. And then you could, you know, you could plant that in a pot or something and grow your regrow your carrot.
00:13:20
Jessica
You could. Right.
00:13:21
Plant People
But even just the idea of that, it's something that will, you know, grow roots pretty quick and, um, you know, so they see it, like you said, they see a change and they're like taking that in that there's like life that can form and, you know, reuse, recycle, reduce all those types of things.
00:13:33
Jessica
right
00:13:38
Plant People
um Another one that's like surprisingly fast is pineapple. so if you're a pineapple family, you've probably seen where you can kind of and basically just like twist the top off of your pineapple and then put your toothpicks on it and put it so that it's just barely into some water and it'll grow roots so fast.
00:13:55
Plant People
It's amazing to me how quickly it grows roots.
00:13:58
Jessica
Yeah, you can, and then you can repot, you can pot it and then, you know, keep them outside.
00:14:01
Plant People
Mm-hmm. I grew a pineapple from of oh a re-pineapple from my kitchen scraps class that I taught.
00:14:04
Jessica
Right.
00:14:08
Plant People
I grew i grew that, and and I harvested my first.
00:14:08
Jessica
Right.
00:14:11
Jessica
And they taste good because I have a coworker who does that too.
00:14:12
Plant People
Yeah.
00:14:14
Jessica
And we've had, we've been able to have some of the pineapple that she grows.
00:14:17
Plant People
Yeah, it's not um it's not a thing that you're going to make money on in Kentucky, but it is a fun, exciting thing.
00:14:22
Jessica
no
00:14:24
Plant People
The plant is not overly cute. It's pretty beautiful.
00:14:28
Jessica
and It's kind of vicious at times. it can be.
00:14:30
Plant People
Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It's if you've ever seen agave or ah like Spanish, what is it called? Spanish bayonet plant or yucca, any of those.
00:14:40
Plant People
And they have those real pointy leaves. It's not quite as intense as those, but it is something where like if you do have small children who are um maybe a little bit clumsy or they like to touch a lot of things, then this is a plant
Teaching Responsibility with Plants
00:14:53
Plant People
that you'll want to put up high.
00:14:55
Plant People
Yeah.
00:14:55
Jessica
Right. and just like how to talk about kitchen scraps or just general like propagating thing. If you're like already a houseplant lover to let them have the opportunity to propagate things or something that we are now propagating our second year.
00:15:01
Plant People
um um
00:15:08
Jessica
And again, this shows how my child is brainwashed with plants. And he talks to people about his coleus that he has. And people are like, what is this five-year-old telling you about?
00:15:18
Jessica
But takey Letting kids go to the garden center and pick something out that's reasonable.
00:15:24
Plant People
and
00:15:24
Jessica
I say that because one point my son tried to pick out some yellow zinnias that were like $8 in a container. And I was like, honey, we can we we don't we're not buying $8 zinnias.
00:15:32
Plant People
No, honey, we can grow those from seed.
00:15:35
Jessica
But um he picked out a coleus, like a variegated zinnias. green, pink, purple, you know, one of those coleus.
00:15:41
Plant People
Pretty. Love it.
00:15:45
Jessica
Love the thing. Obsessed with this plant. So I broke off some pieces and stuck them in water. Just stuck them in water, put them by my kitchen window, managed to keep it alive all winter, repotted it, slowly acclimated it back out.
00:15:52
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:16:00
Jessica
And it's huge. It's like bigger than he is. Right. And so now he's obsessed with this coleus plant. And so now we've started again. We have them in like little bud vases and we have them above the kitchen sink and he likes to check, check on them.
00:16:14
Plant People
That needs to be our Instagram photo for this episode is, uh, it's Bo and his coleus.
00:16:17
Jessica
i have, I have a great one. Yeah.
00:16:20
Plant People
Yeah.
00:16:20
Jessica
Yeah.
00:16:20
Plant People
Yeah.
00:16:21
Jessica
Of him and his coleus.
00:16:21
Plant People
It's very impressive.
00:16:22
Jessica
Yes.
00:16:23
Plant People
Cause he waters it and like takes care of it himself.
00:16:23
Jessica
So. He does.
00:16:26
Plant People
Right.
00:16:26
Jessica
He waters it and takes care of it.
00:16:26
Plant People
Like.
00:16:28
Jessica
And, um and that now, you know, he, he makes sure that I am taking care of it now. Right.
00:16:34
Plant People
Yeah.
00:16:34
Jessica
Because it's, it's also up where he can't reach it.
00:16:36
Plant People
You don't have to get your, um, your child, a dog. You can get them a coleus.
00:16:40
Jessica
Get him a coleus plant.
00:16:40
Plant People
Yeah.
00:16:41
Jessica
Yeah.
00:16:44
Plant People
Apartment friendly.
00:16:45
Jessica
Yes.
00:16:46
Plant People
No pet fees.
00:16:47
Jessica
Right. Well, speaking of like pets, and this is something else I thought to mention that kind of falls in our horticultural world. ah
00:16:54
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:16:55
Jessica
Talking about like if you can plant like a pollinator garden. Okay. Doing pollinator gardens for kids are awesome. Not only you going to get like those butterflies and the bees and different flies and things for them to find and see that way.
00:17:10
Jessica
a lot of sensory things that can also go into those gardens.
00:17:12
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:17:14
Jessica
um But we have been known in our house, which I'm sure my husband loves so much. ah We bring in a lot of caterpillars. and I, I intentionally planted a spice bush to get spice bush swallowtails.
00:17:30
Jessica
And if you've seen those before, they're really cool looking little caterpillars. They look like bird poop. When I say they're cool looking, then I instantly say they look like bird poop.
00:17:38
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:17:39
Jessica
But when they're, when they're really small, they look like bird poop to kind of camouflage or, you know, well not camouflage, but to deter other predators. Um, But as they grow, they change color and they are eventually one of those caterpillars that kind of looks like a snake in a way to keep other predators away.
00:17:54
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:17:55
Jessica
They have cool ways of protecting themselves. They make a little bit of silk and they wrap the leaves around themselves. So
Educational Nature Projects
00:18:03
Jessica
they're fun for my kids. Both my boys would run out to the spicebush plant.
00:18:08
Jessica
which now they know what a spice bush is. You know, they know what it looks like. They know like the leaves smell a certain way. They open the leaves and they would look for the caterpillars. And we left them out there as long as we could and until they got to a certain size.
00:18:22
Jessica
And then we cut a few branches and brought them in our house. And we bought a very inexpensive insect cage, a bigger one, not the little tiny ones that you you see sometimes.
00:18:32
Plant People
tall.
00:18:32
Jessica
A tall one.
00:18:32
Plant People
They're real tall. like They look like laundry baskets to me, like the ones that pop up.
00:18:33
Jessica
Yeah, a tall one. Yes, that's a good way. yeah and
00:18:37
Plant People
Yeah.
00:18:39
Jessica
just put them in there to watch them go through their metamorphosis, right? So depending on what, you know, caterpillars you're bringing in they take different times or do for different things. Now, the classic and easiest ones I have found are going to be those monarchs.
00:18:54
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:18:54
Jessica
butterflies. And that has become like a really special thing. um because my boys now know what milkweed looks like.
00:18:59
Plant People
Oh.
00:19:03
Jessica
And they like, they spot it like anywhere they go.
00:19:04
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:19:06
Jessica
If they see milkweed, they're like, there's milkweed and they want to go check and look for caterpillars. And this past year, we, i think we ended up rearing four of them that we let go.
00:19:15
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:19:16
Jessica
And it was our first time that we did, ah the tagging as well.
00:19:20
Plant People
Oh, yeah.
00:19:21
Jessica
So for,
00:19:21
Plant People
That's such a crazy concept to me. I'm like, this is ah a creature that weighs nothing, basically. And you're like putting a tag on. How do you? ah Okay, sorry. I'm going get us off track for like a split second.
00:19:31
Jessica
oh No, I feel like I'm going off track.
00:19:32
Plant People
um
00:19:34
Jessica
I'm like suddenly going into this whole entomology thing.
00:19:34
Plant People
No, this is great. This is great. i am How, what is that tag like made of and how do you attach it? Uh-huh.
00:19:41
Jessica
It is a tiny sticker and it is really sticky.
00:19:44
Plant People
Uh-huh.
00:19:44
Jessica
It is very hard once you get it off onto your finger, like... to be careful but there's a designated spot on the butterfly and they're more durable than you think because you also have to think about like the ones that are hatching yeah they're going like 3 000 miles to get to where they overwinter it is completely wild and they're bigger there's summer monarchs versus the migrating monarchs there's monarchs we see throughout the summer they do their whole life cycle and then they They die, you know, they do their whole life cycle.
00:19:52
Plant People
Uh-huh.
00:19:55
Plant People
Yeah.
00:19:57
Plant People
They fly. Here. Yeah.
00:20:15
Plant People
here
00:20:15
Jessica
yeah But the ones that hatch out to fly are like bigger and, um, than the ones that have been flying around all summer, but they have a,
00:20:24
Plant People
Are those different species, Jessica? Like the ones that are gonna fly south or?
00:20:28
Jessica
No, the same same species, but it's just, yeah, it's like the sun the sunlight, when they like, sort of that last generation, they're like, oh, hey, it's starting to get darker.
00:20:30
Plant People
they just are like, oh, it's cold. Let's go where it's warm.
00:20:40
Jessica
Okay, this next caterpillar's, you know, when they're eating their food and do their thing and go through the metamorphosis, they like know that, okay, we can't stay here. we gotta We got to fly based on like the sunlight and stuff.
00:20:52
Plant People
Nature, man.
00:20:53
Jessica
It's really cool. But getting to do that with kids, like if you have a spot, if you don't mind some caterpillar poop, right?
00:21:02
Plant People
It's just little pebbles.
00:21:02
Jessica
Because yeah, little pebbles.
00:21:03
Plant People
It's like very tiny goat poop. It's fine.
00:21:05
Jessica
If you can find enough milkweed because they will eat and eat, but they're one of the cool ones because like swallowtails, they would like eat at night. So they just kind of curled up in their leaves throughout the day and the kids would be like, where are they?
00:21:18
Jessica
Right. And they didn't like move around as much, but the monarch, monarch caterpillars, you can actually sit there and listen to them crunching. So we put them in the center of our table
00:21:27
Plant People
Some ASMR, ASMR caterpillar style. we just need to put a little mic in there. Mm-hmm.
00:21:32
Jessica
Right. And we'd watch them eat and then go in their cocoons, their chrysalis. And then everyone would get so excited to hatch out. And what's also cool about those are very easy to tell the difference between a male and a female, uh, uh, spots on the wings versus no spots. And, ah And yeah, and then this year we tagged them.
00:21:51
Jessica
So we got the number. They have a a special number on their tag. And then we submitted the numbers to the Monarch Watch website and they track them. So hopefully, fingers crossed, ours made it down there.
00:22:04
Jessica
and if somebody catches them, they said they like will notify you if or one of your tagged monarchs are.
00:22:06
Plant People
Yeah.
00:22:08
Plant People
Oh my gosh. I was wondering like, you know, what, what do they do with the tags?
00:22:10
Jessica
Mm hmm.
00:22:12
Plant People
Are they going out and yeah. Interesting.
00:22:14
Jessica
Yeah.
00:22:15
Plant People
Interesting.
00:22:15
Jessica
Yeah. That's how they're making sure like populations are staying high or, you know, how the population is doing.
00:22:15
Plant People
Uh huh. Sure. Did they, did they name them Jessica?
00:22:24
Jessica
Uh, they haven't named any of them ah so far because we very, we really go like, you know, they have them there eating the whole time, but then as soon as they hatch out, it's kind of quick where like, cause, because it's the same thing.
00:22:27
Plant People
Oh my gosh.
00:22:36
Plant People
Yeah.
00:22:38
Jessica
that The butterflies are like ready to go. Right. So like once they're dry, they start really flapping around and like wanting to get out. And that's always, yeah, that's always
00:22:45
Plant People
They're like, Mexico, here I come, or wherever it is. ah
00:22:49
Jessica
I worry that it's going to flap out and get out and then like fly throughout our house and we won't be able to catch it.
00:22:55
Plant People
True. Very true.
00:22:56
Jessica
So, but if you don't mind that kind of stuff, that is also really fun with kids.
00:22:57
Plant People
Oh, so cool.
00:23:02
Jessica
And imagine simple.
00:23:03
Plant People
And like simple, right? Like they do, as long as you get them their food, they do the thing that they're going to do all by themselves. Like you don't have to tag them. You can just, you know, i mean, tagging is a fun.
00:23:10
Jessica
Right.
00:23:13
Plant People
Cause like you said, if they, they'll let you know how far it made it, if they catch it or whatever. But yeah, you don't even have to do anything that hard.
00:23:18
Jessica
hmm.
00:23:21
Plant People
You just, oh, so cool. I mean, as an adult, I think that's cool.
00:23:24
Jessica
Right.
00:23:26
Plant People
So like, that's a win-win if you get to do it with your kids and and have fun that way.
00:23:29
Jessica
Right. Yeah.
00:23:30
Plant People
Yeah.
00:23:31
Jessica
Yeah. Another plant that is just like so easy and I feel like kids absolutely love are just sunflowers or like if you need something easy, sunflowers and zinnias, planting those so fast, rewarding.
00:23:43
Plant People
so fast.
00:23:46
Jessica
You can do the big sunflowers. um My kids ended up liking the smaller ones better. And then the whole thing of like, if you want to get the seeds out of there after roast, roast them and eat the seeds.
00:23:54
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:23:58
Jessica
That's also fun a fun thing to do. Um, same thing. Another easy thing that we all seem to grow. i say that like we all grow them are because pumpkins, right? That you have a, you bought a pumpkin at the store.
00:24:07
Plant People
Yeah.
00:24:09
Jessica
It rotted. It's going to pop up into your yard, right? Very easy. It's the ones, it's the ones we want to grow and we spend money on that get diseased and die.
00:24:18
Plant People
Yes. Good. Correct. Yeah.
00:24:21
Jessica
ah things that we just throw out in the cow field,
00:24:22
Plant People
The accidents. Yep.
00:24:24
Jessica
We have like tons of pumpkins, but like doing simple things with those, like having kids, you know, water them or you roll them.
00:24:31
Plant People
Roll them down a hill.
00:24:33
Jessica
Yeah, we, yes, we, all of our extra pumpkins that we had this year, we rolled them down a hill to see if they would go into our pond. So that was entertainment for for a little while.
00:24:46
Jessica
But you can etch their name on the pumpkin.
00:24:50
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:24:51
Jessica
and as it grows, it calluses over and their name is already like on a pumpkin. ah But those are like you know super easy to terminate.
00:24:58
Plant People
Cute. Microgreens are another one Like speaking of being inside and, you know, maybe needing some activities, you your kids, microgreens fast within a week, you're doing it, you're getting them hopefully to eat their greens and stuff.
00:25:01
Jessica
That's a good one. Mm-hmm.
00:25:11
Plant People
And um but every day they're going to see a change.
00:25:12
Jessica
hu
00:25:14
Plant People
And then within a week, they can, um you know, make their first harvest. And it's very rewarding, I think. Yeah. to do something like that. So ah that's another really good one to do with the kids.
00:25:27
Jessica
Right. Yeah.
00:25:28
Plant People
Yeah.
00:25:29
Jessica
And just...
00:25:29
Plant People
They have fun with that. I've done with that with us some elementary school kids and they got to do them in their classroom. And then every day they got to come in and check on their, on their micro greens.
00:25:40
Plant People
So.
00:25:40
Jessica
Yeah, that is a fun one too.
00:25:41
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:25:43
Jessica
Like, because it's just so quick, right?
00:25:44
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:25:45
Jessica
um Doing like different theme gardens, if you have the space. so like And I'm not saying anything big, right? Like nothing, like you can, in a container, right?
00:25:51
Plant People
Yeah, like could be in a container even. Uh-huh.
00:25:53
Jessica
Like there's like the pizza gardens or the salsa gardens, or um I saw one that was like a chocolate garden where it's just, but you're like looking for,
00:25:56
Plant People
Uh-huh.
00:26:05
Jessica
like
Engaging Kids with Themed Gardens
00:26:06
Jessica
darker color flowers or like there's like the chocolate chocolate mints or you know different flavors um i've seen one where it was like a rainbow garden of where you do the different colors of the rainbow and try to like make it go in order or an alphabet garden where people have like tried to like spell out like
00:26:07
Plant People
Uh-huh.
00:26:11
Plant People
with me
00:26:27
Jessica
different plants.
00:26:28
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:26:28
Jessica
So this starts with the letter A and B, you know, and go, go throughout.
00:26:31
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:26:31
Jessica
So lots of different ideas that way, if you have like space to do, do a garden.
00:26:37
Plant People
Mm-hmm. More stuff. Yeah.
00:26:39
Jessica
Yeah.
00:26:40
Plant People
Give them their, I love the idea of like giving them, even when they're like little, I mean, Bo with this coleus, he was what, like three the first time, like something like that.
00:26:49
Jessica
Mm-hmm.
00:26:50
Plant People
And so, you know, they don't have to be that old and then it's like bears and they get to water it and take care of it and check on it. And um it's like i said, way cheaper and easier than a dog.
00:26:58
Jessica
the responsibility yeah yeah or just like little kid garden tools like just so they can be able to assist you a little bit mm-hmm
00:27:00
Plant People
Yeah. Yeah.
00:27:07
Plant People
A little elephant watering can. I'm salt. Like I personally kind of want one like adorable.
00:27:12
Jessica
yeah so like yeah little watering cans little trowels little like the little garden sets for kids like they absolutely love those things um and just being able to help like any way that they they can you know
00:27:23
Plant People
Yeah. You just can't be um like hyper crazy about it if you're going to have your kids help. Like that would be – I'd have to have like the kids garden and then my garden because you know I'm a little bit crazy about certain stuff.
00:27:32
Jessica
Yeah.
00:27:38
Plant People
Yeah.
00:27:38
Jessica
Well, I think that's why Bo, unfortunately, is already like, don't pull the plants up. These are the flower beds. We don't mess with certain things. like He's laying down the law about what we're planting.
00:27:50
Plant People
Mm-hmm. Bo's going to have his own, like, garden beds out front of the house.
00:27:54
Jessica
Yeah.
00:27:55
Plant People
Yeah.
00:27:55
Jessica
yeah he He says he wants to be a farmer when he grows up, so he's going to you know, grow veggies and I don't know what else. The other one says he's going to have a farm with a lot of bulls and cats on it So, you know,
00:28:07
Plant People
Yeah, and you're like, I don't know if you want a lot of bulls on your farm, buddy. Usually that's a one or two type of situation.
00:28:13
Jessica
right. Right. Oh yeah.
00:28:16
Plant People
But it's right. He'll figure that out. He'll figure that He's only he's only three.
00:28:18
Jessica
I'll figure it out.
00:28:19
Plant People
like
00:28:20
Jessica
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And there's, there's other things like just like of like craft crafty things you could do with, them um, um,
00:28:31
Plant People
Pine cones and little like bird feeders and.
00:28:31
Jessica
Yeah. It was just like the bird feeders making, and we did like some of the stuff with plant camp. Alexis and
Creative Plant-Based Crafts
00:28:39
Jessica
I used to do a plant camp together for kids, but just like um making the pollinator houses.
00:28:46
Plant People
Oh yeah.
00:28:47
Jessica
Yeah. Yeah.
00:28:48
Plant People
Just a bunch of sticks.
00:28:48
Jessica
And that, bunch of sticks for like those, for like mason bees and things like that.
00:28:50
Plant People
Was it? Yep.
00:28:54
Plant People
Okay.
00:28:54
Jessica
Making like little stepping stones or doing the hyper tufa kind of things with kids.
00:28:57
Plant People
Thanks, Ana.
00:29:00
Jessica
um They enjoy that. Of course, it's like getting messy.
00:29:03
Plant People
We did the the fruit and veggie prints, which is would be like a good indoor one.
00:29:04
Jessica
Mm-hmm.
00:29:08
Plant People
So, um you know, get get the get the paint and or ink of your choice. Probably something washable would be good. would be good And then you just cut fruits and veggies in half and use them like stamps.
00:29:20
Plant People
And so, you know, half of an apple and they can use it, dip it in the paint and then make, um you know, make prints with them and stuff like that. So, And then, you know, maybe you make a recipe with them.
00:29:32
Plant People
The other half of the apple gets to be a snack.
00:29:33
Jessica
Right.
00:29:34
Plant People
So, yeah.
00:29:35
Jessica
We snack and thank you to like older kids to something that like with 4-H that's really big. They have leaf collections and leaf prints.
00:29:43
Plant People
Oh, yeah. Enter that baby in the state
00:29:46
Jessica
That's right. So like my son in preschool got to do a leaf print. And that was they they said they asked people to bring in two two leaves.
00:29:58
Jessica
And i said, this will be the one thing that we will go above and beyond on.
00:30:03
Plant People
Because like this, this is where I excel. Thank you.
00:30:05
Jessica
This is where I excel.
00:30:05
Plant People
love it.
00:30:06
Jessica
And in that moment, I was like, what do you need? What are these leaves you need? And this is like our one time that I was like, Beau, you're going to take 20 different leaves in, even though they asked for two.
00:30:17
Jessica
Because I was like, I can get you different shapes, different sizes. We're not all just going to have a red maple leaf to, you know, to do a leaf rubbing of, but that's, you know, leaf rubbings, doing, ah the leaf collections, uh, leaf prints is another one.
00:30:27
Plant People
love it
00:30:37
Plant People
Yeah, is it this it's the same concept of like the fruit prints right like you're using a paint and then doing it or yeah.
00:30:42
Jessica
Yeah. Yeah. yeah Yeah.
00:30:44
Plant People
Just in but they can use a paintbrush with that and they paint it on the leaf and then um and then do it.
00:30:48
Jessica
Kind of like press it.
00:30:50
Plant People
Yeah.
00:30:50
Jessica
Yeah.
00:30:50
Plant People
I've seen, um you know, a granted, ah we know it's cold when you're listening to this, but have future ideas. ah They can take some of those flowers and do like some really simple and like natural dye ah type scenarios.
00:31:02
Jessica
That's good.
00:31:03
Plant People
So they can do like bandanas or white t-shirts or whatever um and ah like pound the flowur flower pounding, but you're doing it on a shirt or a bag or something.
00:31:14
Plant People
And, you know, it creates the print of the flower. You can also do... with a bunch of petals and this is a little bit more in depth but just like you know spur giving you some things to you know get excited about for spring but um you steam them and so like you will take let's just say um a bandana and uh then you will put lay out your flowers whether they're petals or whole flowers or leaves or whatever it is and then just kind of roll up that bandana ah into you know just like a little snake shape right i roll it up And then put it in like a steamer basket, you know, on on your stove and that steam will release the color.
00:31:55
Plant People
And then you've got um like these kind of real perfect prints.
00:31:57
Jessica
That's very cool.
00:31:58
Plant People
And so it's a lot less loud. I did the flower pounding with the kids one time. And I mean, they made some cool stuff and it was fun. But ah my head was there was like 30 of them in my defense, but my head was pounding.
00:32:10
Jessica
Yeah. that Yeah. Yeah.
00:32:12
Plant People
Yeah. afterwards from all the pounding so uh but yeah those are those are options and uh if you've got house plants right now and you want to do it if your african violet blooms that's a perfect one that you can use so yeah little leaves from in there and some of those colorful leaves oh that would be cool too like thinking if you're one of those people who has like crotons or some of those leaves that are not green right they've got some reds or black or whatever color um
00:32:16
Jessica
yeah
00:32:25
Jessica
Oh, that's a good idea. Yeah.
00:32:43
Plant People
when you pound them, it's probably still gonna be green. And so then the kids will get to see sort of how that works with it. But anyways, yeah. Trying to think if there's anything else.
00:32:53
Plant People
I mean, Jessica, obviously you would know with two small ones at home, but um you got three, but like two plant plant ones.
00:32:58
Jessica
Well, I got, you know, three, right? But she but she's, yeah, two two plant ones. One, I'm just trying to prevent from eating, like, plants and stuff, eating the plants and things right now.
00:33:06
Plant People
Eating the plants, yeah.
00:33:10
Jessica
ah You know, just, like,
00:33:11
Plant People
this The immobile one.
00:33:13
Jessica
Yeah, the in-mobile ones. Starting to scoot around. So now I got to pay more attention to to things.
00:33:16
Plant People
oh my goodness. With the plant name. Little magnolia.
00:33:20
Jessica
magnaia Magnolia. um Yeah, just trying to think of other things like that are also fun out in the garden for kids. Like making a like a little toad house. Or making a little, you know, things like that to add around.
00:33:32
Plant People
Frog hotels.
00:33:33
Jessica
A frog hotel. Yeah, like...
00:33:35
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:33:36
Jessica
Um, and, and then this is like hopping topic again, going back like with the caterpillars, but like also like nature, just naturey things like tadpoles. I remember doing that as a kid, like getting to watch them go through their life cycle and, you know, having just a spot for them is pretty cool.
00:33:47
Plant People
Oh yeah.
00:33:53
Jessica
or doing um, you know, i mentioned like the kind of the different theme gardens, but like the sensory kind of gardens, like if you're putting that mint or that other stuff in, maybe put it in a container and plant it or, you know, so it doesn't take over everything.
00:34:01
Plant People
Lamb's ear and.
00:34:05
Plant People
Yeah.
00:34:08
Jessica
But
00:34:08
Plant People
Just your reminder, mint will take over.
00:34:10
Jessica
Yeah, mint will take over. But that can be a fun thing for kids as well. Getting to smell the different plants, getting to fill them, like you said, the lambs, the lamb's ear. um There's all different ones that you can do.
00:34:24
Jessica
The Arboretum has a great place that you can walk through. they they they used to, but I think they still do.
00:34:30
Plant People
Yeah, they still do.
00:34:30
Jessica
Like a a sensory garden kind of um and get ideas from that.
00:34:34
Plant People
Get some ideas from it. Yeah.
00:34:36
Jessica
Mm-hmm.
00:34:36
Plant People
Yeah, I love their sensory garden. I personally also love a sensory garden because I just, I'm that person who like walks through garden center and like touches all of the plants. I'm like, oh, hello, hello.
00:34:45
Jessica
Same.
00:34:47
Plant People
And so, I mean, I'm basically a child in that way and get to see what what's going on. And yeah, take them to a greenhouse this time of year too you know, let them just enjoy some, we all find some, um I mean, there's like studies about how like your heart rate drops and stuff like when you're around ah plants.
00:35:07
Plant People
And so, you know, take them to a nice warm greenhouse. If you guys are feeling really stuck inside, then just kind of can walk around and look at plants and talk about what you're going to grow in the spring and let them just kind of be around some be around some green things.
00:35:23
Jessica
Right.
00:35:23
Plant People
That'll also be good for your your your mental health as a parent.
00:35:26
Jessica
Right. Yeah. Yeah. And, and then this is me like channeling my Brett if he's like listening right now.
00:35:32
Plant People
Shout out!
00:35:33
Jessica
Like, a yeah, I've talked to like my kids already about like, we need to be like good stewards of the land. Right. And about trees and like tying in like books and everything that you read about trees.
00:35:41
Plant People
Mm.
00:35:47
Jessica
You know, it can be something as simple as reading the Lorax with somebody who speaks for the trees, right?
00:35:52
Plant People
Mm.
00:35:53
Jessica
to like, there's more in-depth like kid um kid nature books, you know, that they can read.
00:35:58
Plant People
Mm. since
00:36:00
Jessica
Like we have a great one that is a part of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library that i just happened to be like, it's all... uh, the viewpoint of a tree of like how there's this one tree, but like, there's also a squirrel that lives in the tree, but the, like, because it has acorns, there's a squirrel, but then there's a bird and it it like goes through this whole, like how many, you know, things in the ecosystem depend on one single tree, but it's like a nice, like little rhyming, you know, story, you know, in the end, it ties it all together.
00:36:26
Plant People
Right.
Teaching Stewardship and Wrapping Up
00:36:31
Jessica
Like, Oh, if they didn't have this one tree, then, you know, all these things wouldn't be here. so you know, being able to take that opportunity with your kids and the importance of, of those things and, ah read to your children.
00:36:45
Plant People
Read to your children.
00:36:48
Jessica
So
00:36:49
Plant People
Then they'll want to read and then they'll be super smart. We don't tell any of you all listening. We know if if you're here, you likely read to your children. so
00:36:59
Jessica
probably I would say,
00:36:59
Plant People
And if you don't, maybe you read to your dogs. And that's great too because they they like the sound of your voice and to snuggle with you and stuff. Or you just read and they get to lay in your lap, which is what I do.
00:37:10
Plant People
so Well, cool. Well, that ah I think is fun. Lots of ideas to do kind of over Christmas break or things to look forward to. Or if you're making your seed tape now, something that, you know, they can do and plant once spring arrives and it's something to get excited about. So.
00:37:28
Plant People
ah Those are all awesome ideas, Jessica. Thank you for sharing them with us, especially i have now learned things about monarchs and tagging, and I'm very excited.
00:37:39
Plant People
I'm probably not going to do it, but i always leave them the milkweed I find them on out in the fields, and I feel like that's enough. So like, all right, fine, this can be yours.
00:37:47
Jessica
Right, right.
00:37:49
Plant People
I was going to cut it, but okay, whatever. So okay. and I rescued a bunch one time in my high tunnel. i was like, you guys, like, this is not where you need to be right now.
00:37:58
Jessica
You have to get out. You have to go.
00:38:00
Plant People
You have to go south.
00:38:01
Jessica
You cannot stay here.
00:38:01
Plant People
Like, what are you doing? You cannot stay here. I know I'm worried I confused them um a little bit. i'm like, it's not as warm as you think it is. It's not, I swear. Go outside. go outside and play.
00:38:13
Plant People
Well, awesome.
00:38:14
Jessica
is
00:38:15
Plant People
we hope you guys pick something up, whether you have kids or work with kids or have nieces and nephews or whatever that is, just like some helpful tips and that you've enjoyed the episode full of hair and feminine wisdom and all of that good stuff.
00:38:30
Plant People
And of course, you know, give us five stars because we're your favorites. And if we're not, lie to us.
00:38:35
Jessica
And we're better.
00:38:38
Plant People
That's fine. I don't care. I'll take your five stars.
00:38:40
Jessica
just boost Just boost our ego.
00:38:42
Plant People
They start you go. And you can also do that. You can follow us on Instagram at Horde Culture Podcast. If you have any questions about raising caterpillars or, hey, what was that book Jessica talked about? I want to buy it or where where you get it and that kind of stuff. You can always send us an email as well. You'll find that in the show notes. And like we all get that email when it comes through. so we'll be able to get back to you on that. But we are so glad you were here with us today. And we hope you have a great one. And you are not suffering from seasonal depression because you're just so excited for plant season. Have a great one.