The kids cousins have recently put in a vege garden. So we thought we would send them some seeds to plant in it. Most of the seeds we have collected from our own garden, and we also shared some seeds that we recently bought commercial packets of. Things you will need: Seeds (we had dwarfContinue reading “Homemade Seed packets”
Category Archives: Gardening
Citizen Science with Monarch Butterflies
We have a whole bunch of swan plants (Gomphocarpus physocarpus) in our garden in order to attract monarch butterflies into the neighbourhood. This year we participated in Professor Phil Lester‘s (Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka) citizen science project Tracking Disease in New Zealand’s Monarch Butterflies. Professor Lester is investigating the infection of monarchContinue reading “Citizen Science with Monarch Butterflies”
Bug Hotel
We are starting to get our garden sorted out, and looking for ways to invite beneficial insects into it. So we decided to make a bug hotel, so they would have to somewhere nice to stay. Things you will need: Untreated wood – we used wood from old pallets -make sure you use safe ones.GalvanisedContinue reading “Bug Hotel”
Raising Monarch Butterflies
I am a biologist by training, so I like to slip in a biology lesson when I can. Raising monarch butterflies offers a unique opportunity for an insect life cycle learning opportunity. We have been growing swan plants for a couple years now. This year, I think we have finally reached critical mass of 14Continue reading “Raising Monarch Butterflies”
