Growing Together: Open Forum

Hello Everyone,
About a year ago I asked this group for advice on how to keep caterpillars safe but still allow the children to see them. 
Someone shared a resource for a zipepered habitat thing. I bout it and when the caterpillars showed up on the fennel we had planted, we pust it to use.
We raised 11 swallowtailcaterpillars and released then 2 or 3 at a time.
The children nibbled on fennel fronds. Later, fennel seeds. We fed fennel to our bunny. The timing worked out perfectly for the last swallotails to be released at our graduation.
Plant fennel!
get one of these habiatas (amazon,sorry)
Attaching pictures.

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Nina Moench
DIG Childhood Center
LOS ANGELES CA
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Added this response in the Early Childhood Gardening group but wanted to drop it here, too, so folks can get the links: 

So glad you shared this update, Nina! Did you have to secure the "tent" in any way so it wouldn't move around? Just looked it up on Amazon and a lot of the pictures show potted plants sitting inside it. Also found the original thread from last fall where @Rob Terry recommended this product (RestCloud butterfly habitats) and included a really helpful description of how their school garden used these. Thanks, Rob! Here's the link to that thread.  

For anyone wanting to avoid Amazon, I found this similar product from Gardener's Supply​ (schools can get a discount). You could probably also just search for "mesh butterfly habitat" or something similar to find other retailers carrying something like this!

Has anyone else used this?

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Amelia Dupuis
Kids Garden Community Manager
KidsGardening
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Original Message:
Sent: 9/19/2022 9:13:00 AM
From: Amelia Dupuis
Subject: RE: great ECE garden activity

Added this response in the Early Childhood Gardening group but wanted to drop it here, too, so folks can get the links: 

So glad you shared this update, Nina! Did you have to secure the "tent" in any way so it wouldn't move around? Just looked it up on Amazon and a lot of the pictures show potted plants sitting inside it. Also found the original thread from last fall where @Rob Terry recommended this product (RestCloud butterfly habitats) and included a really helpful description of how their school garden used these. Thanks, Rob! Here's the link to that thread.  

For anyone wanting to avoid Amazon, I found this similar product from Gardener's Supply​ (schools can get a discount). You could probably also just search for "mesh butterfly habitat" or something similar to find other retailers carrying something like this!

Has anyone else used this?

------------------------------
Amelia Dupuis
Kids Garden Community Manager
KidsGardening
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Hello!
We did not secure the habitat in any way. It sat in the center of our 6' diameter raised bed. The children couldn't reach it. I also laminated an info sheet I got about the life cycle of swallow tail butterflies, what they eat etc. That was loose and the children were allowed access to that sheet.

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Nina Moench
DIG Childhood Center
LOS ANGELES CA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 09-19-2022 09:13:09 AM
From: Amelia Dupuis
Subject: great ECE garden activity

Added this response in the Early Childhood Gardening group but wanted to drop it here, too, so folks can get the links: 

So glad you shared this update, Nina! Did you have to secure the "tent" in any way so it wouldn't move around? Just looked it up on Amazon and a lot of the pictures show potted plants sitting inside it. Also found the original thread from last fall where @Rob Terry recommended this product (RestCloud butterfly habitats) and included a really helpful description of how their school garden used these. Thanks, Rob! Here's the link to that thread.  

For anyone wanting to avoid Amazon, I found this similar product from Gardener's Supply​ (schools can get a discount). You could probably also just search for "mesh butterfly habitat" or something similar to find other retailers carrying something like this!

Has anyone else used this?

------------------------------
Amelia Dupuis
Kids Garden Community Manager
KidsGardening
------------------------------

This is wonderful, Nina! Yes, fennel was one of the best herbs we've grown in the garden by far. It attracted so many pollinators and it was able to withstand the heat this summer. Great photos!

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Kelly Mitchell
Balboa Gifted Magnet School

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Hello Everyone,

About a year ago, I sought advice from this group on how to safely observe caterpillars with children. Thanks to a shared resource for a zippered habitat, I made the purchase, and when the caterpillars arrived on our planted fennel, we put it to use.

We successfully raised 11 swallowtail caterpillars, releasing 2 or 3 at a time. The children enjoyed nibbling on fennel fronds and later, fennel seeds. We even fed the fennel to our bunny! The timing aligned perfectly for the last swallowtails to be released at our graduation.

As a tip: Plant fennel! And consider getting one of these habitats (Amazon, sorry).

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Lily Elliot
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