Journey Into Unschooling

Maker Faire 2013

2013-05-20T16:44:00.001-07:00

Maker Faire inspires me. I say this every year and it never fails to live up to expectations. Despite heat, traffic, or energy lows, we return to it time and time again. And it seems we go about it differently every time. Some years, we go for the speakers, some for the shows, and some for the crafting. This time, we went on the last few hours of the faire, and spent half the time browsing and the other half on the hands-on booths, building a terrarium and learning how to spin wool.

Honestly though, it was a short visit and I want to keep the creative juices flowing. I was going through the photos from the day and came up with the idea to do just that this summer, in the following categories:

Make Something Functional. There were alot of altered vehicles on the grounds -- carriages,

horse/bikes,

sci-fi captain's chairs,

and bikes with movable puppets.

Make Gardening Spaces using pallets,

themes,

and vertical arrangements.

Plant in a box...

or a sealed container.

Make a Design (cell phones shown here).

...especially if they are small and cute.

Make 3D art.

Make Puppets.

Make a Game.

Make a Collection.

Make a Miniature Scene.

Make Stuffed Toys.

Make Cute Bags.

Make Wearables.

Make Something Messy.

Make Another Collection.

Make Something Useful With Plastic.

Make a Contraption.

Make Fire. Well, maybe not.

Make Funnel Cakes. Or something equally bad for you.

Make Paella (or other new recipe).

Make Giant Bubbles.

Make Cool Layered Art.

Make Costumes.

Make a Miniature World.

Make Art with Everyday Object (these are belts).

Make a Map.

Make a Structure.

Make Something Geometric.

Make Designs on CDs.

So many ideas! And only one summer. Here is one of the projects we did at the FabMo booth -- an owl made from a fabric scrap swatch. From this,

...to this! LS made the one on the left. Easy, fun, and a creative reuse of otherwise "trash" material. That's my kind of project.

Quinoa with Sweet Potatoes and Greens

2013-05-18T18:28:00.000-07:00

Got 20 minutes? Make this.
Saute one onion and a handful of garlic.
Throw in 2 cups quinoa (pronounced "keen-wa" -- I always see this written with quinoa. Cracks me up every time that they feel the need to write the pronunciation) and 4 cups of water
Dash of salt
Chopped parsley
Cubed sweet potatoes (I had three small ones, pre-cooked)
Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Toss in handful of greens.
Cook another 5 minutes.
Enjoy!

Last Day of School!

2013-05-17T15:13:00.001-07:00

It's the last day of school! This has definitely been a long awaited, much anticipated day. We ditched the schoolwork and headed out to our community plot. A lot has been growing over the year. When we started, this blooming succulent looked like this:

I am amazed at the transformation.

In our other tire, we have the healthiest-looking lettuce I have ever grown. There are no bugs on it. What gives?

Over the past month, we have cleared out a little play area for the little kids. Mainly, I just needed a spot nearby to occupy them when they got tired of gardening (ie digging, hauling, snail plucking). I wish I had taken a "before" shot. It was just overgrown weeds. Those stumps were fished out of a deep, deep pile of mulch. Super heavy but I really wanted them.

We saved the one tree we found under the weeds and put a "dirt box" around it. I hope it grows.

This is Priscilla. She loves a handful of fresh grass, but not so much a fan of snails, which pretty much blew away my idea of installing a "snailbox". She lives with three other coopmates in the garden. In another month, she should start laying some eggs!

A couple of days ago, a fellow gardener explained to me the lazy man's way of prepping a plot. This is after I recounted how exhausting it was for me to break the soil and get it ready for planting. So to start, you stomp on the weeds and flatten them. Next, cover it with a layer of cardboard and wet it down.

After that, put in a thick layer of manure and let it sit for a few months. Everything will decompose and the soil will be ready for planting by the next season. I hope to use the plot before then. That is, if I ever finish covering it with the thick layer of manure.

I hauled in three barrels of horse poo and that about did me in. If I keep this up, I will surely be rocking some serious muscles by the end of summer. That or I would be lying down with a broken back and sore body.

While their mother was slowing breaking her back, the kids discovered the joy of climbing "mulch mountain". Actually, it was more like three glorious piles and they climbed up one and hopped to the rest. I drew the line at the manure.

New Kid got extremely helpful with the hose. She also got extremely wet. That by the way, is chard that I planted last fall. They have taken over the plot. I'm not sure whether I should eat them or let them finish out their life cycle in peace. I really need to grow some more stuff but this prepping business takes a lot of time.