Kingdom Plantae - Art - 300

 

Pressed flowers are a form of delayed gratification, but they're worth the wait. They can also be used to embellish a variety of objects and look great framed.

Objective:

Build and use a flower press.

Details:

1) Find a flower press building tutorial that works for you. You can choose to build any style of press, but construction is required to fulfill this objective. Personally, we like this tutorial from Woodlark.

2) Build your flower press.

IMPORTANT: If you currently own a flower press that you previously built (not purchased) you do not need to make a new one. Simply use the press you already have.

3) Gather your flowers. Remember that flowers with bulkier centers will be more difficult to press. 

4) Give your press a try! Put your flowers into your press, tighten it up, and wait!

5) Wait a month (some say more, some say less) and open your press. Your flowers should be flat and dry.

7) Take a photo of your pressed flowers and share it in as a post in our Facebook Group. We’d love to see a photo of the press you built as well!

 

 

Kingdom Plantae - Research - 150

 

For this research objective we'll be using plant identification guides. You can find guides in the form of books, websites and apps. Make sure to keep geography in mind when choosing your guide.

Objective:

Use an identification guide to discover the name of a plant.

Details:

1) As you go through your day to day life, keep your eyes open for interesting plants! Continue to do this until you notice a plant which you cannot identify from memory.

2) Photograph the plant.

3) Use a plant identification guide to identify the plant.

4) Share your photo of the plant, along with its name, as a post in our Facebook group.

Kingdom Plantae - Travel - 300

 

Objective:

Spend time exploring a “tourist worthy” public garden.

Details:

1) Identify a “tourist worthy” public garden you’d like to visit.

What do we mean by “tourist worthy public garden”?

Public: This one is pretty self explanatory! The garden should not be a private residence, but instead available for the public to visit.

Tourist Worthy: The garden should be a place that is worth traveling to visit- A tourist type attraction in itself rather than a footnote of a larger venue. Often the name "garden" will be in the title of the location.

Examples include Butchart Gardens in British Columbia, Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Garden in Ohio and Biltmore in North Carolina.

2) Visit the garden!

3) Take a photo while at the garden and share it in our Facebook group.

4) Alongside your photo, let us know:

  • What garden did you visit?

  • Who did you go with?

  • What did the garden look like?

  • What was your favorite plant in the garden?

  • Did something interesting or unexpected happen while you were there?

Kingdom Plantae - Visit - 300

 

Instead of going directly to the source of our food, lets meet it half-way. 

 Objective:

Create a meal using at least three fruits or vegetables from a farmer's market.

Details:

1) Visit a farmer's market.

2) Purchase three or more types of produce from the market. If you're feeling adventurous, consider choosing something you've never eaten before!

3) Cook a meal that incorporates the produce you bought from the market.

4) Take a photo of both your raw ingredients AND your cooked meal and share them in our Facebook group.

Kingdom Plantae - Literature - 100

 

For this objective you'll be writing free verse poetry inspired by a plant of your choice. Chicago's Poetry Foundation describes free verse poetry as "nonrhyming lines that closely follow the rhythms of speech."

Objective:

1. (Optional) If you're not familiar with free verse poetry, check out this 5 step guide from Power Poetry. You can also find examples of free verse poems from The Poetry Foundation.

2. Find your plant. Go for a walk (or look out a window) to find your subject. Choosing a specific plant to write about will make your narrative stronger.

3. Take a photo of the plant you chose to write about. This will be helful as reference material, and will also be posted alongside your finished poem.

4. Write a free verse poem about, or inspired by, your plant. Make sure to take the time to do your best work. This objective should take between 30 minutes and an hour, or feel free to come back to it over a few days to make sure you've got it just right.

5. Post your poem, as well as your photograph of the plant, in our Facebook group.

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