The Preschool Homeschool

Well the kids went on another outside adventure and found a bunch of black swallowtail caterpillars in our parsley patch. I have an herb garden with parsley, basil, thyme, oregano and, in the spring, strawberries. If you don’t have an herb garden, you should plant one. Even if you don’t use the herbs in your cooking, it’s a great way to attract butterflies, bees, caterpillars and birds. It makes your backyard a nature learning center for your kids. The caterpillars are attracted to our herb garden because one of their favorite foods is parsley. In the spring and summer we get plenty of bees, hummingbirds, and other birds that we have to chase away from the strawberries. We also get lots of butterflies around the lavendar.

It’s not hard to start an herb garden. If you don’t want to grow the herbs from seed, you can buy established herbs from the store. For as little as 20.00 you can get basil, oregano, parsley, lavendar, thymes and other fragrant herbs. Pick a corner of your yard, put up a rock or plastic edging border and plant your herbs. This is a great spring activity for your preschoolers, who are probably dying to get outside after the winter. Our garden also hosts a bird bath, some marigolds, a rose of sharon tree and some blazing liatris. And it’s really not all that big. You can see a picture of our herb garden here.

Here’s a pic of our newest nature residents: