Date: 5/21/24

Season: Spring in the Mojave Desert

Location: Red Rock Canyon (Las Vegas, NV)

Desert flora in May: Buckhorn Cholla Cactus, Prickly Pear Cactus, Virgin River Brittlebrush, Mojave Yucca, Palmer’s Penstemon

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Buckhorn Cholla Cactus
Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa

Cholla is native to the Mojave, Sonoran, and Colorado Deserts of North America.

• Description

  The buckhorn cholla is an open and spreading woody cactus, up to 1 m tall. The gray-green stems, also called "joints", are cylindrical, 5-30 cm long and 17-20 mm in diameter with tubercles or nodules. Each tubercle has a cluster of stiff spines, which are covered with loose papery sheaths. The flowers are up to 5 cm long and range from yellow to purple-red with shades in between. The fruits are obovoid, dry, shriveled and spiny and drop off later in the season. The seeds are light yellowish to gray-brown, 3.5 to 4 mm. long.

  (https://plants.usda.gov)

• Classification

  Kingdom: Plants
  Phylum: Vascular
  Class: Dicots
  Order: Pinks, Cactuses, And Allies (Caryophyllales)
  Family: Cacti (Cactaceae)
  Genus: Cylindropuntia
  Species: Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa Common Name: Buckhorn Cholla

Prickly Pear Cactus
Opuntia woodsii

Located along path to the Red Rock Canyon Visitor Center.

• Description

  O. woodsii is a medium-sized Opuntia, seldom reaching more than 50 cm in height. Nevertheless, it is not a small plant. It is typically a stiffly spreading or ascending bushy plant. However, it does grow low and spreads along the ground in cold winter climates. Cladodes may be round but are more often oval or obovate, narrowing toward the base. Areoles in the upper half of the cladodes have (1)2-4 whitish spines that may stand out from the surface. The white spines sometimes have brown bases extending halfway up the spine.

  Flowers are salmon, pink, or even bright orange-red.

  (https://www.opuntiads.com)

• Classification

  Kingdom: Plants
  Phylum: Vascular
  Class: Dicots
  Order: Pinks, Cactuses, And Allies (Caryophyllales)
  Family: Cacti (Cactaceae)
  Genus: Opuntia
  Species: Opuntia woodsii
  Common Name: Prickly Pear

Virgin River Brittlebush
Encelia virginensis

Located on the slopes of Calico Hills.

• Description

  Virgin River brittlebush is a native evergreen shrub up to three feet high and three feet wide with many slender branching stems growing from the base. Younger stems are hairy, while older stems may have fissured bark.

  Leaves are oval, simple, 0.5 to 1 inch long, with a smooth margin. Short, soft hairs give the leaves a grayish green appearance. Leaf arrangement is alternate and opposite.

  Flowers heads are borne singly on hairy stems and have yellow ray flowers less than 0.5 inches long, and yellow to orange disk flowers. The blooming period is typically March through June.

  The fruit is a dark brown to black achene, 0.2 to 0.3 inches long. Virgin River brittlebush is distinguished from other Encelia species by its smaller mature plant size, smaller leaves, and the presence of both ray and disk flowers.

  (https://plants.usda.gov)

• Classification

  Kingdom: Plants (Plantae)
  Phylum: Vascular (Tracheophyta)
  Class: Dicots (Magnoliopsida)
  Order: Sunflowers, Bellflowers, Fanflowers, Allies (Asterales)
  Family: Sunflowers, Daisies, Asters, Allies (Asteraceae)
  Genus: Brittlebrushes (Encelia)
  Species: Encelia virginensis
  Common Name: Virgin River Brittlebush

Mojave Yucca
Yucca schidigera

• Description

  Mojave Yucca is a species in the Agaveceae (Agave) family that is native to southern California. It grows in coastal sage scrub near the coast, in mountain chaparral, and in desert transition areas at elevations from sea level to 8,200 feet. Like others in this family it is a monocot, so the leaves have parallel veins. The leaves emerge from a central rosette, are succulent and quite stiff, with sharp terminal spines and long, tough fibers. Some of these fibers are typically visible along the edge of the leaves. Native people processed the leaves and used the fibers for cordage. In spring the plant produces a flower stalk 12-18 inches in height covered with white or cream colored flowers. The flower is pollinated by only a single species of Yucca Moth, and many of the flowers go unpollinated. The fruit is a large capsule holding dozens of black, wedge-shaped seeds. It reproduces only by seed, not by offsets as other Agaves do. Unlike most other members of this family, Mohave Yucca does not die after blooming, a trait it shares with Joshua Tree (Yucca Brevifolia). For this reason, it tends to grow taller with age, starting at ground level as a young plant and eventually reaching 10ft. or more. Older plants are usually branched and each branch carrying a leaf rosette. Areas that support older specimens have not been disturbed or burned for many years.

  (https://calscape.org)

• Classification

  Kingdom: Plants (Plantae)
  Phylum: Vascular
  Class: Monocots
  Order: Asparagales
  Family: Asparagaceae
  Subfamily: Agavoideae
  Genus: Yucca; L.
  Species: Yucca schidigera
  Common Name: Mojave Yucca

Palmer’s Penstemon
Penstemon palmeri

• Description

  Penstemon palmeri, known by the common name Palmer's penstemon, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the genus Penstemon that is notable for its showy, rounded flowers, and for being one of the few scented penstemons. The plant, in the family Plantaginaceae, is named after the botanist Edward Palmer.

  (Wikipedia)

• Classification

  Kingdom: Plants (Plantae)
  Phylum: Vascular (Tracheophyta)
  Class: Dicots (Magnoliospida)
  Order: Mints, Plantains, Olives, and Allies (Lamiales)
  Family: Plantaginaceae (Plantain)
  Genus: Beardtongues (Penstemon)
  Species: Penstemon palmeri
  Common Name: Palmer’s Penstemon

December in Kula, Maui. Riding upcountry for Sandra’s 7th birthday.

“Be right back, life in session” —has been the status of my digital presence. I thought I would be fully capable of writing an update every week of this new year. Too ambitious.

We hiked out of December 2023 with a trek through grazing cattle up the Waihe`e ridge trail on the West Maui Mountains, celebrated the birthday of our 7-year-old riding up in Kula, Maui on horseback, flew home to spend New Year's Eve in our abode with new friends under a lit sky of fireworks igniting above our heads; then stepped into January 2024 holding fast to annual family traditions of feasting and gathering with relatives in Pupukea. Somehow between January and April— among the beach days, hiking trails, and family visiting from the mainland— the girls kept up with their math and reading, and we finished Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and Kenneth Grahame’s classic novel “The Wind in the Willows.” My older girls joined literary clubs with friends on the Northshore, completed an 8-week ceramic class, and showcased their pieces at an Art Gala hosted by the visionary homeschool parents at a local church in Waialua. Evie breezed through all her literature for CC, attended the CC Protocol, and teamed up with her good friend/classmate, who proudly won the Challenge II debate at the end of the semester! I look back on all our accomplishments together in the 8-months of our school year, walked through valleys and climbed over mountains to get to where we are now, and I am reminded of this quote by Charlotte Mason:

“Our aim in Education is to give a Full Life.––We begin to see what we want. Children make large demands upon us. We owe it to them to initiate an immense number of interests. Thou hast set my feet in a large room; should be the glad cry of every intelligent soul. Life should be all living, and not merely a tedious passing of time; not all doing or all feeling or all thinking––the strain would be too great––but, all living; that is to say, we should be in touch wherever we go, whatever we hear, whatever we see, with some manner of vital interest. We cannot give the children these interests; we prefer that they should never say they have learned botany or conchology, geology or astronomy. The question is not,––how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education––but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?”

-Charlotte Mason, (Vol. 3, p. 170-171)

Waihe`e Ridge Trail, an intermediate-advanced trail in the West Maui Mountains, makes it to top three on my favorite hikes list on the Valley Isle.

Sandra picked the largest, tallest, and most stubborn horse, Jimmy, to ride on her 7th birthday!

Once more: “The question is not,––how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education––but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?”

These questions are profound, and a great self-reminder as a teacher, even as a mother. Early on this journey I struggled and took unsolicited advice and critical opinions about my children being homeschooled so personally, that so easily was I derailed and discouraged. Articles that put home educators in a negative spotlight comparing us to the rest of society in academic institutions, used to offend me, but I no longer feel the need to defend my calling and home life; maybe its because I just turned 39 and at this age of experience the above quote rings increasingly truer to me as the years go by and I witness my children discovering their passions and pursuing them.

My husband grew up in Kula, Maui, where his mother still lives.
One of my favorite places on earth is the Lavender Farm and meadow overlooking the island.

She was not afraid to trot around the stable on Jimmy.

Closing in on the end of May, I watched my niece graduate high school with Honors in Las Vegas in a stunning white cap and gown and stylish platform glossy black Doc Martens. I am a proud auntie of two brilliant nieces. I wish I possessed even half the discipline and ambition they possessed when I was that young! I can only imagine the success that awaits ahead of them and the mark they will impress on this world as they navigate the road with independence. They have already made an impact on my life alone.

When I began this blog, I had the vision to share about all the curriculum and books we were using; this would be a well of information for classical educators to pull from, but it has been challenging to keep to this content standard. Over the past year, I have been debating if I will change the name of this blog, and at this point, I feel my spirit beckoning in that direction for transformation. There would be a shift toward more personal journals than what it supposedly is— an informative academic blog.

Soon, my eldest will turn 15, and our summer break will begin on the 1st of June! In these summer months, my focus and desire is to refine my sewing skills and expand my garden. With that said, I am eager to turn over a new leaf! 

x Jena

“If you wish to make anything grow, you must understand it, and understand it in a very real sense. ‘Green fingers’ are a fact, and a mystery only to the unpracticed. But green fingers are the extensions of a verdant heart.”

— Russell Page, The Education of a Gardener

I've been dreaming of growing our Spring garden since we moved to our new home in November for several reasons— as a creature of habit, I feel lost and idle without a garden to tend to, and the girls seem uninterested in spending time in a backyard with just a lawn of grass. In every home we’ve moved into its been my top priority to add our personal touch and color to the landscape; and if there isn’t a garden, we grow one. These past few months have been somewhat of a slow process.

Ultimately, the garden is the heart of our homeschool life. No matter how big or small, it provides us many moments of education in leisure and in class hours. In the primer years, I invest a lot of time teaching the girls how to grow their own herbs, flowers, and vegetables from seed, They also learn how to take notes of their observations and illustrate our kitchen garden's slow changes throughout the seasons.

x jena

photos & garden notes

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01/05 Sandie, Leia, and Ema helped to sow the first seeds of the new year to jumpstart our spring garden. Ideally we would be using terracotta pots, but instead, we are using reusable seed trays and plastic pots from my parent’s house.

01/16 This unused space was truly an answered prayer. It replaced the 4 cedar garden beds my husband built in California with Evie, which we sold to someone before we left.

02/12 Once I pulled out the weeds and amended the soil in February, I transplanted the seedlings into the beds. I bought marigolds, lavender, mint, sage, basil and rosemary seedlings from the store to fill the beds in; and also transplanted chives my mom was growing at her house. We had experienced significant rain, but thankfully the bed had excellent drainage. However, all seedlings showed signs of poor growth with little to no sunlight during those months.

03/05 Snails and slugs have already caused a lot of destruction in the beds over the last month— the marigolds, zinnias, and rows of collards and kale (on both sides of the row of arugula) have been devoured.

03/13 Sandie measures the growth of our plants and records it in her nature journal.

03/05 Approximately two dozen Giant Cactus Zinnias were planted in this tray, but 1/4 of the seedlings vanished overnight.

3/05 Chamomile sprouting
4/24 Once I transplanted it along the border of the garden bed, gastropods had a feast.

3/20 Lupine
4/24 Majority of the lupine got eaten after being transplanted into the garden bed.

3/20 Rows of seedings (lacinto kale, collard greens, marigolds, and ruby red chard planted alongside the arugula) keep getting devoured after every succession planting.

3/29 Planted a row of chives in the back to deter pests, and thyme in front for texture and ground cover. This area should be full of a dozen zinnia plants, but more than half has been eaten up.

3/29 Kale sprouting between a row of arugula and chives.
4/24 No luck in kale seedlings when direct sown into beds. Every succession has been devoured by pests. However, the arugula still stands and the chives are growing wonderfully!

3/29 Morning routine.

4/03 April showers and the view from my work desk.

4/3 Trellis for Dwarf Sugar Peas

4/6 Leia playing in the Resurrection Garden.

4/10 Dill is always better freshly picked!

4/10 Ema’s Easter Resurrection Garden, turned into a little home for her figurines.

4/10 Beet seedlings covered with a repurposed plastic egg tray to protect it from snails. Crushed egg shells also line the front of the bed.

4/22 Dwarf Sugar Snap Peas flowering

4/24 Cilantro flowering near basil and dill

4/24 Morning duties before the rain clouds rolled in on a perfect gardening day.

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“The principal value of a private garden is not understood. It is not to give the possessor vegetables or fruit (that can be better and cheaper done by the market-gardeners), but to teach him patience and philosophy and the higher virtues, hope deferred and expectations blighted, leading directly to resignation and sometimes to alienation. The garden thus becomes a moral agent, a test of character, as it was in the beginning. I shall keep this central truth in mind in these articles. I mean to have a moral garden, if it is not a productive one,—one that shall teach, O my brothers! O my sisters! the great lessons of life.”

— Charles Dudley Warner. "Summer in a garden, and calvin, a study of character: First Week", 1870.

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After many years of gardening through the seasons in southern California, I can attest to one thing: you reap what you sow in gardening and motherhood. The labor of a gardener is not so simple, and neither are the duties of a mother. Interestingly, the more knowledge I’ve gained through growing our food, the more I’ve witnessed the parallels in raising children. The garden secretly holds such valuable wisdom through the labor of our hands. From seed to harvest, one of many moral virtues it teaches us is patience—  how to wait with gratitude and to intentionally slow down as we wait for the fruit to ripen. It also teaches us that neglect in the garden can result in a poor harvest.

The more attentive I am to how our plants grow— Does the soil need more nitrogen? Is this specific plant getting too much sunlight or too much water? Do I need to move this plant to a bigger pot?— the healthier our garden grows. I remember one year during the heat of Summer, one of our zucchini plants succumbed to powdery mildew— also known as blight—on its leaves. After a few weeks of avoiding the problem, I looked from the bedroom window and saw the disease spread from one plant to the other, including our beautiful cosmos and morning glory vine along our fence. Not only did I become even more discouraged, but I also gave up on our garden throughout the summer. Neglect led to more damage than I anticipated and more work in the long run; it was a moral lesson to me that the same goes for what happens within the walls of our homes, minds, bodies, and hearts.

“Do not despise these small beginnings,for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.”

— Zechariah 4:10

These pictures show our flourishing 2020 spring garden in our Clairemont home in San Diego. I had learned my lesson as a gardener. We had a bountiful harvest that year and a healthy homeschool that reaped the benefits of having a daily routine and aiming for small victories through small beginnings. Whether it was reading a chapter a day or fixing a bad habit, I believe we overcame so much just by caring enough for what we love.

SPRING/SUMMER 2020 NOTES

MARCH — spring seeds

Vegetables: Chinese Cabbage, Radishes, Beets, Zucchini, Cherry Tomatoes, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Carrots, Green Onions, Sugar Peas, and Peas.

Herbs: Chives, Cilantro, Basil, Dill

Flowers: French Marigolds, Benjamin Buttons, Zinnias, Assylum, Cosmos, and Hollyhock.

Results: The only seeds that did not germinate were the Chives.

JULY — summer seeds

Vegetables: Cucumbers, Okra, Pumpkin, Rainbow Chard, a variety of tomatoes, and more Zucchini.

Flowers: Sunflower, Morning Glory

Results: The summer heat killed the Zinnias and Benjamin Buttons, so we decided to grow more Zinnias and plant them in a partial sunny area. We also planted a dozen Sunflower seeds, but only 4 plants survived. A pest (squirrel or rat) would munch the head of the seedlings once they grew to about 3”.

AUGUST — late summer

I took a break from tending to the garden because I needed to prepare for our school year, which began on August 17th. Ripe vegetables would be harvested, plants were watered daily or every other day because I just didn't have the time, my husband managed our compost; and once a week, I would prune the plants, the girls would dead-head the flowers, and we'd spend a minimal amount of time pulling weeds. Caterpillars are getting the most of our greens, but at least it's a sign that our potager is thriving with life!

SEPTEMBER — almost fall

The days have been too hot to start planting anything right now, so we continue to water and harvest what remains.

x jena