Thursday, June 24, 2010

Planting a Sunflower House

I am currently reading Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder by Rochard Louv.  This is a great read in motivating us as parent to get our children back outside and into nature.  The book contains many ideas to help encourage this.  One idea that they suggesting was to "plant a sunflower house."  I think even I can manage this gardening project.  Here is how the book reads,
"A unique gardening project is the sunflower house.  In an eight-by-eight foot square, parents and kids can plant sunflower seeds or seedlings in a shallow moat, alternating varieties that grow about eight fee high with ones that grow to four feet.  You can also plant a few corn plants among the sunflowers; corn discourages Carpophilus beetles, and the sunflowers protect the corn from army worms.  Inside, plant a carpet of white clover.  As a child plays within the containing protection of the sunflower house, bees, butterflies, and other insects will congregate at the blooms above.  Plant seeds of indigenous pollinating plants that provide nectar as well as roosting and nesting sites, and also help increase the number of pollinating birds and insects.  This activity can strengthen interrupted pollination corridors and help reestablish the migration paths of butterflies and hummingbirds; and your child can become a participant in the winged migration, not just an observer." Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv pg.173-174.
I think this would be a fabulous science project!

4 comments:

Kelly said...

Hi Deanna,

I've been following you for several months and enjoy the ideas you discuss on your blog. Thanks for being so willing to share your thoughts!

When I was a teen, my mother purchased a book called "Sunflower Houses" that I have kept in the back of my brain. I don't currently live in an area where sunflowers grow well (foggy coast), but someday I hope to do such a project!

http://www.amazon.com/Sunflower-Houses-Inspiration-Children-Grown-Ups/dp/0761123865/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277473352&sr=1-3

Lara said...

It sounds dreamy!

My Little Corner said...

Great idea! I have heard a lot of positive things about this book and am planning on reading it in the future.

Kassie said...

Deanna, thanks for visiting my blog. I appreciate your comment. My daughter wanted to have a sunflower hut a couple of summers ago. Unfortunately, although we bought the seeds we never did plant them. Maybe next year!