Hey Kids! Out the Door, Let’s Explore

Hey Kids! Out the Door, Let's Explore cover

Editor’s note: An emergent curriculum builds on the interests of students, developing as they learn. Rather than being entirely set in advance, emergent curricula grow naturally from the chosen environment (indoor or outdoor), the curiosity of children, and the instructor’s knowledge and experience.

A good walk stimulates both mind and body and provides the invigorating theme and energizing structure of Hey Kids! Out the Door, Let’s Explore by Rhoda Redleaf. Walking is free, easy, and can be done almost anywhere. The walks are grouped into three categories: Nature Walks, Community Walks, and Concept Walks. Nature Walks include Cold Day, Windy Day, Trees Walk, and more. Community Walks can be Hardware Store Walk, Market Walk, or other walks in the neighborhood. Concept Walks might be What’s It Made Of? Walk, Color Walk, Light and Shadow Walk, as examples. Redleaf includes appendices to help teachers organize the excursions.

At the early childhood level, Rhoda Redleaf’s approach is emergent curriculum, with an emphasis on human relationships and language development while exploring common everyday experiences that are engaging and meaningful to children. “The most important learning task of young children remains constructing their own knowledge to make sense of the world. You, the adults in their world, provide the bridges from the unknown to the known,” writes Redleaf.

The book is full of ideas to explore and to build on, involving flexibility and creativity on the part of the adults as well as an openness to seeing where the learning takes the children. Both adults and children take initiative and make decisions. Children’s thinking and learning are documented with suggested activities related to the walks. Hey Kids! Out the Door, Let’s Explore is a valuable resource for teachers with both preschool and primary school children.

Published in the November 2017 Leaflet Volume 4, Issue 11

The Lord Treasurer of Botany: Sir James Edward Smith and the Linnaean Collections

The Lord Treasurer of Botany: Sir James Edward Smith and the Linnaean Collections cover

James Smith was a lion of the study of botany in 18th century England, when botanizing became a popular activity for both women and men, and the study first entered English university curricula. This biography aims to bring Smith’s accomplishments to twenty-first century attention. Son of a Norwich woolen draper, Smith was smitten with botany at an early age. His astounding accomplishment was to purchase all the botanical specimen collections and manuscripts of Carl Linnaeus, the great Swedish botanist, when Smith was only 25. Then he parlayed this coup into a career in botany which involved a vast output of books and papers, plus hundreds of public and university lectures. And he helped found the Linnaean Society in London, which to this day houses those collections.

Read from cover to cover, The Lord Treasurer of Botany offers a winsome experience that includes social striving, amazing luck, decades of incredibly hard work, and introductions to multiple English and Continental botanists, most notably Sir Joseph Banks, an early mentor of Smith’s. The Miller Library copy is a reference edition, which means it must be read in the library, so reading cover to cover would require remarkable persistence. Here are some suggestions for shorter activities: If you have 15 minutes, do look at the photographs. This is a beautifully produced book, and the colored prints of plants, though few, are wonderful, as are the portraits and architectural drawings.

If you are a student of early Flora, start with the index and turn to the numerous discussions of books on mostly British plants. The book includes many by other authors, as well as Smith’s.

If you want a sample of the biographical narrative, the opening chapter, “Roots – The Early Life of James Edward Smith,” and the second, “London – the Sale of the Century,” on buying Linnaeus’s collections, are good starts.

None of these shorter stays will give you the ups and downs, the trials of health, the strained generosity of a father who wanted James to earn his own living (which he eventually did), and the long friendships with fellow botanists that the book has to offer. Perhaps they will encourage you to keep coming back for it all.

Published in the October 2017 Leaflet for Scholars Volume 4, Issue 10

Fronds and Anemones: Essays on Gardening on Nature

Fronds and anemones cover With fronds like these, who needs anemones? This old horticultural quip inspired the title Fronds and Anemones, a book of essays by William Allan Plummer. In his preface he warns, “I am an incorrigible punster, for which I make no apology.”

Fun aside, these collected essays reveal the author as a keen and skilled observer of the native birds and wildflowers around his home in upstate New York. He also reflects on his discoveries as an avid gardener, with a particular interest in ferns.

This latter interest led him to join the Hardy Fern Foundation. In the summer of 2003, this organization, along with the British Pteridological Society, sponsored a “Best of the West Fern Excursion” to explore both the gardening and natural attractions found in Washington State. The emphasis, of course, was on those sites rich in ferns.

The resulting essays, which form a significant part of this book, make an outstanding travelogue to some of the best gardens of the region. These include public gardens such as the Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden and the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden, but many private gardens are featured, too.

These travel stories were originally published in the Hardy Fern Foundation Quarterly, Volume 14, No. 1 and 2 (Winter and Spring 2004). Those issues are available in the Miller Library, but I recommend reading Plummer’s writings in the context of his other fine work found in this book.

Published in the October 2017 Leaflet Volume 4, Issue 10

Let Your Kids Go Wild Outside

Let your kid go wild cover Fiona Bird is a true champion of appreciating the wild outside world. Her work inspires deeply breathing fresh air, opening up the mind, and enjoying the excitement and mystery of the world we live in, starting early in life. Let Your Kids Go Wild Outside: Creative Ways to Help Children Discover Nature and Enjoy the Great Outdoors encourages children to appreciate their countryside. This Scottish author writes with strong feeling as a mother of six: “With encouragement a child will develop a personal relationship with our natural world, one that stretches way beyond facts assimilated in a classroom.”

The introduction of the book emphasizes the value of a mentor and highlights the importance of the environment. Chapters include: Into the Woods; Meadows, Hedgerows, and Hills; Seashore; Water and Wetlands; and My Wild Garden and Kitchen. Each chapter describes and explains the particular environment and the wild plants and animal treasures that can be discovered there. Activity suggestions are rich exercises that are realistic, local, and impress all the senses of young citizen naturalists – blossoming conservationists.

Published in the October 2017 Leaflet Volume 4, Issue 10

Birds of the Pacific Northwest

The popularity of birding in our region sparked the release of two new birding books with nearly identical titles by major regional publishers. “Birds of the Pacific Northwest: A Photographic Guide” by Tom Aversa, Richard Cannings, and Hal Opperman was published in 2016 by the Seattle Audubon Society and the University of Washington Press. In 2017, Timber Press continued their Field Guide series with this book, “Birds of the Pacific Northwest,” by John Shewey and Tim Blount.

Confusing? Yes, and as a minimal birder, I don’t feel qualified to make a recommendation between the two, especially as to my eye there are more similarities than differences. If you are serious about identifying the birds in your garden or on your local travels, you clearly need both books!

The photography is one of the outstanding features of both, and the photos capture a very wide range of species, often with multiple images to show variation in sexes, juveniles, breeding plumage, and other color forms. Throughout there is help with identification between near look-alikes, and the authors address behaviors, bird songs, specifics on where to find rarer birds, and conservation status.

The Timber Press book includes helpful and practical introductions to most species. For example, in discussing the American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) and the Northwestern Crow (C. caurinus) the authors conclude “… they are indistinguishable” and if you want to add the latter to your life list, going to the right location “…is the safe bet.” While on the large size for taking into the field, this book’s heavy cover will help protect it from the weather.

Excerpted from the Fall 2017 Arboretum Bulletin.

Birds of the Pacific Northwest : a photographic guide

The popularity of birding in our region sparked the release of two new birding books with nearly identical titles by major regional publishers. This book was published in 2016 by the Seattle Audubon Society and the University of Washington Press. In 2017, Timber Press continued their Field Guide series with “Birds of the Pacific Northwest,” by John Shewey and Tim Blount.

The Audubon book includes an excellent essay on the climate, geology, and ecology of different sub-regions, especially as it pertains to the birds found there. It covers a bigger area, extending the region eastward to the continental divide. I like that each photograph includes both the location by county and the month taken.

Excerpted from the Fall 2017 Arboretum Bulletin.

Hoptopia

Hoptopia cover “Hoptopia” is the intriguing name of a well-researched and documented new book by Peter Kopp that tells the history of growing hops, especially in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. To set the stage, the author reviews the natural history of hops, including Humulus lupulus, a wide spread species throughout much of the north temperate world, but that is not found in our region.

This all changed in the mid-19th century with the rise of the hops growing in both Oregon and Washington. Puyallup, Washington was an early center for this crop. Residents of that city are likely aware of their historic Meeker Mansion, but perhaps they do not know that its builder, Ezra Meeker, was the “Hop King” during the 1880s.

In the 20th century, prohibition threatened to destroy this industry. However, the opposite happened, because of the rising demand for the American crop in war-torn Europe. By the 1930s, hop growing was at its peak in the Willamette Valley, celebrated by the Hop Fiesta in Independence, Oregon, an event revived in this century. There were challenges, too. The extreme physical demands of harvesting hops led to strife between labor and management. Downy mildew required the breeding of resistant varieties, a process that did not have significant success until the 1970s.

Today, the center of hops growing has shifted back to Washington, as the greater Yakima Valley now is by far the largest producer of hops in the world. Meanwhile, Portland has proclaimed itself “Beervana” for its many small breweries as, according to Kopp, “…there is little question that the hop became the signature ingredient of the craft beer revolution.”

Excerpted from the Fall 2017 Arboretum Bulletin.

Mosaic Garden Projects

Mosaic garden projects cover “Mosaic and garden design have similar characteristics. They are each made of an assembly of pieces laid out in a certain way.” This is the premise of primary author Mark Brody in “Mosaic Garden Projects,” co-written with Sheila Ashdown. Both authors, along with photographer Justin Myers, whose work is a critical part of this book, are Portland residents.

Wisely, Brody starts his orderly series of lessons with defining your working space – it must be a dedicated as mosaics take room and some time to complete. You can’t just pick up the project to make room for dinner! You’ll need tools and, if you jump in with both feet, lots of tools and places to put them. Good lighting, excellent ventilation (some of the materials are smelly), and a handy source of water are other necessities.

If you’ve completed this checklist, you’re set to go. Excellent close-ups introduce the tools, the various types of tesserae (the pieces that make up the mosaic), and other critical parts. These include the substrate that supports your art, including the marvelously garden-sounding wedi (pronounced “weedy”) board, the adhesives to attach, and the grouts to fill in the gaps.

There are instructions on creating the image, with many templates to help, but filling the bulk of the book are projects. In my experience, many do-it-yourself books have a number of frivolous projects, but not this one. Each, from easy to challenging, has a place in your garden or nearby – the first and, according to Brody the easiest, is a mosaic of your house numbers to welcome your guests.

Excerpted from the Arboretum Bulletin.

Floret Farm’s Cut Flower Garden

Floret Farm's cut flower garden cover “Florets Farm’s Cut Flower Garden” is an excellent handbook to creating and running a very successful cut flower business on the model of Floret Farm in Washington’s Skagit Valley. However, if your goals are not quite so ambitious, there is still a lot of advice here for creating a cutting patch in your own garden and using the bounty for filling vases and many other purposes.

Primary author Erin Benzakein speaks from a lot of experience. Her farm began as a big patch of sweet peas, grown in memory of her beloved, gardening great-grandmother. Friends requested cut flowers. The tears and emotional memories evoked in one recipient was an epiphany for Benzakein. “In that moment, I realized that I’d found my calling. Witnessing the profound impact that a simple bouquet could have on a person, I knew I had discovered something worth pursuing.”

While the introduction prepares the reader for both the cultural and business side of cut flowers, the core of the book is the author’s choices of favorites and her hard-earned experience with each. And not just flowers. She encourages growing at least as many plants for their leaves, seed pods, colorful branches, and other features as supporting cast – or stars in their own right – for your arrangements. She also encourages the use of grasses, shrubs, trees, and even vegetables in your cutting plans; a spray of tomatoes – in various stages of ripeness – has considerable ornamental value.

To this end, there is an introduction to all the equipment familiar to a florist. Many of these are useful to the home arranger for various projects involving both fresh and dried flowers. The most striking photo (and there are many) in the book is of the author wearing a spring crown of ranunculus, viburnum, muscari, and campanula!

Excerpted from the Fall 2017 Arboretum Bulletin.

Witness Tree

Witness tree cover How would it be to spend a whole year observing a forest, the changing seasons and all the beings – plants and animals – that lived there. This is exactly what Lynda Mapes, a science reporter for “The Seattle Times,” decided to find out. She lived on the edge of the Harvard Forest, a 3,000 acre managed research forest in Petersham, Massachusetts, over 60 miles west of the main Harvard campus. “The Witness Tree” is the story of this undertaking.

To focus her attention, she concentrates on one tree, a northern red oak (Quercus rubra), of early middle age for this species. She examines this tree in every conceivable way, and with the help of experts from many professional and avocational perspectives. She also considers the humans that interact with the tree and the forest, including the cultural history of the area, and its impact on the natural history.

Throughout there is an ongoing consideration of climate and other changes in the forest. Both from the long view over millennia, and the more recent changes, such as the increase of the hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae), and near demise of such forest stalwarts as the American elm (Ulmus americana) and the American chestnut (Castanea dentata). Some of this is told from the supposed perspective of her beloved hundred-plus-year-old red oak.

Mapes stayed in New England during the winter of 2014-2015, one of the coldest and snowiest on record. She writes, “While I froze in the Northeast, my husband at home in Seattle was cutting the grass and watching flowers burst forth in the warmest winter on record.” Contrasts like this, and the author’s gentle role in teasing them out of the world around her, makes this a very satisfying book.

Excerpted from the Fall 2017 Arboretum Bulletin.