The Long-Awaited Light-hut Blog Post! Also, Gourds.

It's here!
My camera, which I left in a New Jersey church back in September, arrived in today's mail.  I've been using my Insignia video camera, which also takes stills, but it doesn't have a flash to it's been hard to get good shots indoors at some events.  I'm excited to have my Kodak back.

Now, I can post about the Botany Light Hut!
I am using Apologia Botany with the Girl and the Mayor.  Back in August we built the light hut to grow plants all year round, we live in a cold climate.  I've since discovered that the plants can't really survive in there, but it's good for getting them started and it's used for several experiments in the course of the year.

The mayor actually took these pictures, and he's only 7, so they are what they are. I let him take them because I was busy and the Girl was kind of hogging the procedure.

This was our school room and project area back on August and September.  *Sigh.*  Things have changed...

The light hut is made from a simple cardboard box. 

Then we glued aluminum foil all over the inside.

There is a hole in the top on the right in this photo.

The light source is a "work light kit" I purchased at Ace Hardware.  It's not what's recommended but was a handy-dandy solution for me!  I just tied a knot in it so it couldn't slip through the hole into the light hut.  We put in a low- wattage compact fluorescent bulb (it is supposed to be 15, I think), and voila!  Light hut!


There is an aluminum foil curtain over it to help keep in warmth and light.
It is blindingly bright.

At this time we planted basil and chives.  We also put in some lima bean plants the Mayor had been growing since last Spring.

The light hut was moved to NY in the first trip last fall, so it wasn't along for the ride when we rolled the house over in September.  We succeeded in harvesting chives, but everything else died.  It may have been overwatered.  Recently, we started some wildflower seeds, but they also died.  Currently, we're growing two bean seeds, one in a white Styrofoam cup and the other in a black cup with a black lid, so that we can watch it grow towards the light in a pencil hole poked in the bottom of the cup. 

In non-Botany news, we made a brief visit to the Mayans of Central America and Mexico during our history studies.  We were supposed to make a gourd birdfeeder.  I had not planned ahead well enough to have a dried gourd on hand to paint, but guess what?  My mom had some!  Nana comes through again.

Gourds are so gross looking (when they have been out drying in a dusty garage), that the Little Princess wouldn't use the bathroom when I had put the gourd into the sink. 
But I washed them off and scrubbed them with steel wool, and then sanded them.  We cut a hole in the big one, and let the others speak to us about what they wanted to be when they grew up!
Then, we had to cut them open, which required a saw.  There was a hole saw involved in putting the hole in the big one.





After that the insides were scooped out.  The fibers, which used to be flesh, reminded me of loofah material.  I wish I had thought to keep the seeds, because they could have been made into jewelry.

Since we'd gotten them all wet, we left them to dry overnight and called Nana again to get some shellac to coat them.  She actually brought liquid plastic.  I did this part myself, with one assistant, in front of an open kitchen window, as it was smelly and super- sticky.  That had to dry another day, after which we sanded some of them.  Finally, we went to work painting them with tempera paints.

We ended up with two bowls with lids, two ladles and the birdhouse.  No hammers, in spite of the way he is holding that one in this picture.  There's actually another coat of paint still planned for the birdhouse, but I will let you see it anyway.

I think this project counts for both Botany and History, because the birdhouse was heavily influenced by Birds and Blooms magazine.  This month's edition happened to feature homemade birdhouses, with instructions in what colors to paint it and where to hand to attract certain types of birds.  Birds are pollinators, and pollinators are necessary for botany.  I kept getting confused and thinking we were doing it for Botany class, anyway.

I'm so glad to finally be able to show you the light hut.  Mostly I am glad to have my camera, and chip full of pictures of my kids, back in my possession.

We are now studying Ancient Greece, so for coming attractions I will mention that we made plaster frescos according to Minoan style a few days ago.  The Sleeping Giant is very proud of hers.