Oh, Nuts!
The best kind of study in our homeschool tends to be the kind that grows out of something done spontaneously as opposed to one that I have designed meticulously. Why is that? I’m not sure, but perhaps it has something to do with following an interest.
Anyway, one study that has developed in such a way for us started when we ventured into our back woods to explore. And what did we happen to find? Well, a Buckeye tree that was bent over by another tree from when the builders first cleared the land on our lot.
Lo and behold, we hit the motherlode of buckeye nuts within our reach! They are fascinating to behold in their spiny husks, though they are nowhere near as spiny as the American Chestnut. We were surprised to find that their husks open easily with a squeeze, revealing a dazzling shiny dark brown nut inside. The nut has a tan round spot near the top. Do you know why they are called Buckeyes? It is because the nut resembles the eye of a white-tail buck!
Here are two pages that the boys and girls created for their nature notebook this morning. They each did a leaf rubbing of a Buckeye tree leaf and sketched a buckeye. John, our avid Buckeye collector, added a sketch of the Buckeye husk below his leaf rubbing.
This discovery led to finding out about some of the other trees on our property. We have found out that we also have several varieties of Hickory trees. When I was a little girl growing up in upstate NY, my brother worked in a restaurant called “Hickory Manor” which was about a quarter mile from our house. I asked my mother how the restaurant had gotten its name and she mentioned something about there being a lot of Hickory trees in the area. Now, my childhood home was a very woodsy area, about two miles from the foot of the Shawangunk Mountains. I spent a lot of my time in the woods behind our home, roaming the hills with my cousin who lived next door. For the life of me, I don’t remember encountering Hickory nuts, though I do have memories of peeling the bark from the Shagbark Hickory…I just didn’t know it was a Hickory tree! Well, I’ve learned a thing or two since then, especially since starting to homeschool, thanks to the naturalists at our local park system. One thing I learned was how to identify a Shagbark Hickory. Anyway, while the children and I were in the woods en route to the playset,
we heard this crashing coming through the leaves. At first I thought it may have been a squirrel jumping from tree to tree, but then the tell-tale “PLUNK” alerted me to the fact that we had some nuts dropping to the ground. A quick assessment of the leaves overhead asserted that there were neither oaks nor buckeyes in the immediate area. Then I spied a tree nearby that had that wonderful shaggy bark.
Aha! Hickory nuts! Sure enough, when we got closer to said tree, we saw the large nuts in their thick green husks. The oldest boy asked, “Aren’t those walnuts, like at Mamaw’s house?” I replied that I wasn’t completely sure, but I thought that maybe they were Hickory nuts and that we could look it up on the internet once we were back in the house. One really cool thing was all around the base of this tree was evidence of animals having eaten the nuts. There were partially eaten nuts all over the ground!
It turns out that we have not only Shagbark Hickories in the woods, but also Bitternut Hickories and possibly Pignut Hickories. The nut husk of the Shagbark is similar to the Black Walnut in that it is fairly large and bright green. However, it differs in that the husk is four-parted while the walnut’s is not divided at all. The Shagbark differs from other hickories also. Its hull is about ¼” thick and difficult to remove while still green, whereas the other hickories on our land have thin husks that are easily peeled away from the nuts. Here's a selection of the nuts we found. The smaller ones that are bright green or peeled are from one of the other Hickory trees, and the larger ones that look like they've been eaten by something are the ones from the Shagbark Hickory.
That’s it for nut-bearing trees on our property. We have lots and lots of Maple trees, most of which seem to be Sugar Maples. Perhaps we’ll have to read up on maple sugaring and tap some trees once February comes rolling around. Down near the edge of the property is a fantastic little creek that has some pools nearby where the kids are able to catch little fish. Along the creek are great big Sycamore trees, which stand out with their stark white limbs and trunk on high. Easily identified in any season…I like that in a tree. Closer to the house on the edge of the woods is what I am pretty sure is a Hackberry tree. The one thing that helped me identify it were these nipple galls that I keep seeing on the leaves it is dropping.
The galls are caused by the Hackberry Psyllid, a tiny little insect. Apparently they do not harm the tree, but only cause it to drop leaves prematurely. I also have reason to believe we have a black cherry growing near the edge of the woods.
Some of the trees are starting to turn color. The Buckeyes have already turned yellow, so they're very easy to pick out amid the maples in the woods. The maple trees near the house have started changing to a yellow-orange up top and are gradually dropping leaves onto the back deck. They are sure to be very colorful if I'm right about them being Sugar Maples. So, in the spirit of the grandest change in seasons, I've chosen some books from the library to read to the children:
Autumn Leaves by Ken Robbins
Autumn Across America by Seymour Simon
Woodswalk: Peepers, Porpupines & Exploding Puffballs by Art and Robbins
The Blossom on the Bough by Anne Dowden
We will be rounding this out with our handy Peterson Field Guide for Eastern Trees. We will likely learn how and why leaves change color, and I hope to have them add some narrations to the nature notebook.
Of course, my other favorite topic of study in nature is birds. To me, trees and birds go hand in hand, so before the colder weather comes along I hung some bird feeders nearby. I got a suet feeder and some suet to attract the smaller woodpeckers, nuthatches, and any other suet-loving birds (the chickadees are frequent visitors). I also found a nifty pair of net feeders with thistle seed in them. The chickadees are loving these feeders, though I've seen at least one Goldfinch that will just sit there eating if the cats or kids don't come by to disturb him. One of the net feeders hangs on a tree with the suet feeder, giving DH a wonderful and entertaining view from his office.
These feeders are also visible from the deck and the dining room window, where I've enjoyed watching the birds feed in the mornings before the rest of the family is awake. I also hung a feeder with sunflower seeds around the front of the house near the porch. I think it's hanging too close to the porch railing for any birds to be comfortable eating there. They're not stupid...they know we have cats! So, I'll see if DH can hang that feeder from the porch roof or some other place where we'll be able to watch the feathered fans of sunflower seeds.
The best kind of study in our homeschool tends to be the kind that grows out of something done spontaneously as opposed to one that I have designed meticulously. Why is that? I’m not sure, but perhaps it has something to do with following an interest.
Anyway, one study that has developed in such a way for us started when we ventured into our back woods to explore. And what did we happen to find? Well, a Buckeye tree that was bent over by another tree from when the builders first cleared the land on our lot.
Lo and behold, we hit the motherlode of buckeye nuts within our reach! They are fascinating to behold in their spiny husks, though they are nowhere near as spiny as the American Chestnut. We were surprised to find that their husks open easily with a squeeze, revealing a dazzling shiny dark brown nut inside. The nut has a tan round spot near the top. Do you know why they are called Buckeyes? It is because the nut resembles the eye of a white-tail buck!
Here are two pages that the boys and girls created for their nature notebook this morning. They each did a leaf rubbing of a Buckeye tree leaf and sketched a buckeye. John, our avid Buckeye collector, added a sketch of the Buckeye husk below his leaf rubbing.
This discovery led to finding out about some of the other trees on our property. We have found out that we also have several varieties of Hickory trees. When I was a little girl growing up in upstate NY, my brother worked in a restaurant called “Hickory Manor” which was about a quarter mile from our house. I asked my mother how the restaurant had gotten its name and she mentioned something about there being a lot of Hickory trees in the area. Now, my childhood home was a very woodsy area, about two miles from the foot of the Shawangunk Mountains. I spent a lot of my time in the woods behind our home, roaming the hills with my cousin who lived next door. For the life of me, I don’t remember encountering Hickory nuts, though I do have memories of peeling the bark from the Shagbark Hickory…I just didn’t know it was a Hickory tree! Well, I’ve learned a thing or two since then, especially since starting to homeschool, thanks to the naturalists at our local park system. One thing I learned was how to identify a Shagbark Hickory. Anyway, while the children and I were in the woods en route to the playset,
we heard this crashing coming through the leaves. At first I thought it may have been a squirrel jumping from tree to tree, but then the tell-tale “PLUNK” alerted me to the fact that we had some nuts dropping to the ground. A quick assessment of the leaves overhead asserted that there were neither oaks nor buckeyes in the immediate area. Then I spied a tree nearby that had that wonderful shaggy bark.
Aha! Hickory nuts! Sure enough, when we got closer to said tree, we saw the large nuts in their thick green husks. The oldest boy asked, “Aren’t those walnuts, like at Mamaw’s house?” I replied that I wasn’t completely sure, but I thought that maybe they were Hickory nuts and that we could look it up on the internet once we were back in the house. One really cool thing was all around the base of this tree was evidence of animals having eaten the nuts. There were partially eaten nuts all over the ground!
It turns out that we have not only Shagbark Hickories in the woods, but also Bitternut Hickories and possibly Pignut Hickories. The nut husk of the Shagbark is similar to the Black Walnut in that it is fairly large and bright green. However, it differs in that the husk is four-parted while the walnut’s is not divided at all. The Shagbark differs from other hickories also. Its hull is about ¼” thick and difficult to remove while still green, whereas the other hickories on our land have thin husks that are easily peeled away from the nuts. Here's a selection of the nuts we found. The smaller ones that are bright green or peeled are from one of the other Hickory trees, and the larger ones that look like they've been eaten by something are the ones from the Shagbark Hickory.
That’s it for nut-bearing trees on our property. We have lots and lots of Maple trees, most of which seem to be Sugar Maples. Perhaps we’ll have to read up on maple sugaring and tap some trees once February comes rolling around. Down near the edge of the property is a fantastic little creek that has some pools nearby where the kids are able to catch little fish. Along the creek are great big Sycamore trees, which stand out with their stark white limbs and trunk on high. Easily identified in any season…I like that in a tree. Closer to the house on the edge of the woods is what I am pretty sure is a Hackberry tree. The one thing that helped me identify it were these nipple galls that I keep seeing on the leaves it is dropping.
The galls are caused by the Hackberry Psyllid, a tiny little insect. Apparently they do not harm the tree, but only cause it to drop leaves prematurely. I also have reason to believe we have a black cherry growing near the edge of the woods.
Some of the trees are starting to turn color. The Buckeyes have already turned yellow, so they're very easy to pick out amid the maples in the woods. The maple trees near the house have started changing to a yellow-orange up top and are gradually dropping leaves onto the back deck. They are sure to be very colorful if I'm right about them being Sugar Maples. So, in the spirit of the grandest change in seasons, I've chosen some books from the library to read to the children:
Autumn Leaves by Ken Robbins
Autumn Across America by Seymour Simon
Woodswalk: Peepers, Porpupines & Exploding Puffballs by Art and Robbins
The Blossom on the Bough by Anne Dowden
We will be rounding this out with our handy Peterson Field Guide for Eastern Trees. We will likely learn how and why leaves change color, and I hope to have them add some narrations to the nature notebook.
Of course, my other favorite topic of study in nature is birds. To me, trees and birds go hand in hand, so before the colder weather comes along I hung some bird feeders nearby. I got a suet feeder and some suet to attract the smaller woodpeckers, nuthatches, and any other suet-loving birds (the chickadees are frequent visitors). I also found a nifty pair of net feeders with thistle seed in them. The chickadees are loving these feeders, though I've seen at least one Goldfinch that will just sit there eating if the cats or kids don't come by to disturb him. One of the net feeders hangs on a tree with the suet feeder, giving DH a wonderful and entertaining view from his office.
These feeders are also visible from the deck and the dining room window, where I've enjoyed watching the birds feed in the mornings before the rest of the family is awake. I also hung a feeder with sunflower seeds around the front of the house near the porch. I think it's hanging too close to the porch railing for any birds to be comfortable eating there. They're not stupid...they know we have cats! So, I'll see if DH can hang that feeder from the porch roof or some other place where we'll be able to watch the feathered fans of sunflower seeds.
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