Dear Nature’s Child,
Welcome to the last of the Youth Newsletters for 2022. I’m sure by the time you read this tests and exams will be nearly over, if not completely over and you can focus on doing what I love best … having fun in the garden!
Our gardens hold the most amazing experiences, especially when our minds are geared towards loving nature. Here are some outdoor activities that kids visiting Random Harvest over the past years have loved. Although they are not always available to do at our nursery, you can have lots of fun doing them at home, in your own garden.
Grab a notebook and a pen, a paintbrush (to pick up hairy caterpillars and little things that can bite – without hurting them), a magnifying glass and what ever else you might like to take and head into your garden.
Look around you – all around. Observe (watch closely) what the creatures in your garden are doing, where you find them, and what they might be eating. Look under leaves, under rocks (always place these back carefully), in the grass, in amongst the weeds, in soil, under trees, and if you have one, in the garden pond. Remember: Never handle any creature unnecessarily. Be quick and be very gentle with them.
Try to touch them as little as possible. You can often learn a lot more about a creature by just observing it in its natural place without disturbing it. If you remove a caterpillar from off of a plant, be sure to put it back on the same plant. Caterpillars eat certain plants only depending on what species they are, and will die without the right food.
Draw pictures of the creatures and make notes about their sizes, their colour, what they were doing and how many you think there were. You can even take a picture of it and send it to https://www.ispotnature.org/ . There may be someone who can help you identify it here, and it contributes to scientific knowledge.
If you keep all your notes of what you’ve found in the garden over the years, it is great to look back at this, and see just how many wonderful creatures are drawn to a garden where nature is welcome. You can make a file or keep a scrapbook.
This has to be one of my best garden hobbies. As I write to you, a little Cape Robin-Chat is splashing away happily in the bird bath.
Here is a pair of Grey Go-away-birds on one of our bird baths. They really love the water too.
Watching birds can be an activity on its own, or you can record what you see in your garden safari notebook.
Count how many different types of birds you see in your garden. You can learn a lot about them if you pay attention to:
• What they are doing • What they are eating – if they are feeding on something • Where in the garden did you see them, and at what time of day or night? • If you are not sure what type of bird it is, you can take a picture of it or make a quick drawing. It doesn’t even have to look like the bird – as long as you make notes about the markings, beak and feet, shape, and make a note of the sound it makes. You can download a sheet to help you with this and print it out, at the end of the newsletter.
Ask someone to get you an empty cardboard beerbox. You can line it with plastic. If you don’t have plastic, cut a used shopping or dustbin bag to fit the box. Fill the box with soil and collect pebbles, sticks, bottle tops and plants to create a wonderful miniature garden.
You can even make a swimming pool or pond by using an upturned lid, small tin or some plastic to line a hollow. Your imagination can run wild. A large, shallow drip tray for a pot plant works just as well.
Watch for seeds on your favourite plants in the garden and when they are ripe, pick them and plant them in bags or pots.
These can be planted back in your garden or make great gifts once they germinate.
If you’re not sure about how to plant them, you can send us an email on [email protected] and we’ll let you know how we get them to grow.
Christmas is around the corner, so this is a great way to save money on wrapping paper, gift bags and gift tags.
You can use any paper – even newspaper (as long as it’s not full of colourful advertisements). Collect leaves with interesting shapes and paint them on one side to stamp onto the paper. You can use the same leaf in different colours and arrangements, or lots of different leaves. The secret to successful leaf prints is to choose leaves that have veins that stick out well.
These give great lines on your paper and look beautiful when printed. Keep the paint quite thick but don’t put too much on the leaf before pressing it onto the paper. That way the print will come out clearer. You can create wonderful pictures with leaf prints too, and you don’t have to stick to leaves. Try fruit and thick potato slices cut out with cookie cutters to add interesting shapes to your creations.
A set of leaf printed gift tags and cards, and gift wrap makes a lovely gift too.
Do a scavenger hunt (attached) in your garden. See if you can find the items on the list. Then draw a picture or download and print the one at the end of this newsletter. Using craft glue, stick all the garden treasures you have found on to “colour” your picture.
Remember to respect nature - never stick insects or living creatures to your picture and if something is living under a pebble or on a leaf, choose another one that is not being used by a creature.
Seeds and seed pods from your garden can make wonderful Christmas decorations. String them on cotton, along with colourful beads, or stick shiny beads on them to make them extra festive. You can even paint them, or just leave them plain. Use your beautiful creations to decorate the tree, the Christmas table or attach them to Christmas gifts with ribbon or thread.
The birds in your garden will love you for the Christmas treats you provide. Choose a shrub or small tree that isn’t standing in the baking hot sun. Just a bit of shade will make sure that the treats don’t spoil too quickly.
• You can string popcorn on a long thread and decorate the plant with this “tinsel”. • Cut oranges into thickish slices and hang them with bright red festive ribbon for a more “Christmasy” feel. The fruit eating birds are sure to enjoy this treat. • Collect smallish pine-cones with their cone-pieces at least slightly open. Smear them with sticky peanut butter and then roll them in bird seed. Again, hang them with brightly coloured festive ribbon. You can do this with the sweetcorn and mealie cobs that are left over after a meal. Dry them out for a bit first, so that the peanut butter sticks well. Before you dry them out, poke a hole through the top of them to be able to hang them on your tree. They will be quite heavy, so hang them on thicker branches or keep your pieces of corn cob and pine-cones small.
Little creatures (spiders, insects and lizards) might need shelter from the cold in winter, but sometimes they need as much shelter from the wet weather in summer (that is, in summer rainfall areas such as Gauteng). Your bug hotel or beastie box can be as big or as small as you have space for.
Make sure it is in some sun and some shade, has lots of different kinds of hiding places in it and gives plenty of shelter from the wind and the rain. You can read more about how to build a mini Beastie Box in your garden on our website.
If you are looking for a fun outing around Johannesburg during the December / January holidays, then ask someone to bring you to Random Harvest Nursery. We have a super nature-based activity in the nursery, where you can learn about some of our more common birds, collect stickers and then claim your prize once you have finished.
We hope you have a wonderful break from school, and that our newsletters keep you passionate about nature throughout 2023.
Yours in nature,
Linda
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