Passion Vine Update Portfolios and Blue Springs

When I was taking the Zebra Longwing photos, for the previous post, I saw this Gulf Fritallary floating around the Passion Vine too. What I didn't realize, until I saw the caterpillars was that the Gulf Fritallary also uses the Passion Vine as a host plant. How exciting, though I am still not thrilled that I was sold Passion Vine, and told it was Bleeding Hearts, but oh well.

I have started working on our portfolios. DJ will actually have two, one his yearly evaluation portfolio, and the other his high school transcript. If I keep up with it, it will be much easier. Lucky for me, I keep a good daily journal, and this blog helps a lot for record keeping.

Friday, we went to Blue Springs, in High Springs, with some home school friends. This is one of my most favorite springs. There has been chatter that the state will be buying it. I hope that is true. Right now it is too expensive to visit there more than once or twice a year. Making it a state park, would make it my new home, lol. As always we had a very good time. I only got the one pic, because well I forgot to take any others. I did not see hardly any turtles this year, which is weird, kids said they saw a few, I didn't see any. The springs were low, however.

Be sure and visit my craft blog Melissas Jewelry and Gems, and check out my Etsy shop.

Science In Your Own Backyard Zebra Longwing Butterflies

I have been saying for year, especially for elementary aged children, you don't need a fancy curriculum to teach Science. You just need a yard, observation, camera, and a way to do some research. I have posted before about our Milkweed and the Monarchs that have laid eggs, hatched, fed, then morphed into Monarchs. Two years ago, I bought what I thought was Bleeding Hearts. I planted them, and they did nothing. Last Fall I decided to move them, thinking they were getting too much of something, and not enough of something else. I placed them in different spots. Early this Spring I noticed them starting to grow, but the leaves didn't quite look right. Then, I started to notice that the Zebra Longwing butterflies really liked this stuff. So, I looked up Passion Vine, and sure enough I was not sold Bleeding Hearts, but Passion Vine instead. The flowers are just starting to bud, and we noticed Zebra Longwing caterpillars on the vines, two days ago. Now, if we pay attention we will find a chrysallis, and hopefully get to see them hatch into a beautiful butterfly.

Greathouse Butterfly Farm

On Thursday we took a field trip to the Greathouse Butterfly Farm, in Melrose, FL. This is a small butterfly farm and all organic. They have grown immensely over the years. They did a nice little presentation and we learned a lot of stuff we didn't already know. Like, did you know that butterflies actually lick the nectar with their tongue like feature, by pulling the nectar towards their mouth. They then took us on a tour. The kids got to feed the butterflies, something we were not allowed to do at the other butterfly facility we visited. They had tons of host plants, and yes of course I bought one. I bought a Cassia tree, and I will post more about that later. Another thing I didn't know, is that the Luna Moth only lives three days and that when butterflies lay their eggs, they don't necessarily lay them on the host plant, but rather somewhere near the host plant. This is to confuse predators that will eat the eggs right off the plant, before they are able to hatch. Each child got to plant a Milkweed plant, a host plant for Monarch Butterflies, and bring it home with them. We will be planting all our new plants tomorrow. We got pictures of lots of chrysalis' and we even got to see several butterflies hatching from their chrysalis. An experience that is always fun to see. DJ took a lot of pictures of the beautiful flowers, while I took tons of the butterflies and other interesting things. The other images are stored on the other computer, so they are on my FB page. You can order dormant butterflies, that when defrosted you can release into the wild. I think this is so beautiful for a wedding or graduation, or just as a learning experience for kids. If you would like to visit the Greathouse Butterfly Farm, just click the link to visit their website. They do not yet have an online store, but you can call and order from them, and what awesome wedding pictures could you get there!

As DJ gets older, and school gets harder, field trips can no longer be squeezed into a school day.  That is why I am so glad I started the Earth Kids Group, we can do fun stuff outside of school hours with a group of friends.