summer teachers

my 2020 summer teachers are:

• cucumbers
• monarch caterpillars & butterflies

will update this post over the course of the season.

what am i learning from cucumbers?

• my friend caroline and i both picked cukes as summer teachers. funny!
• tenrils are DOPE. they grow super slender, have the capacity to spin around and around in search of something to hold onto. when they find something, they grasp tightly, but only for the purpose of supporting the plant to continue spreading out so more leaves can collect more sunlight to create more cucumbers…

what am i learning from monarchs?

• Monarch butterflies typically live from 2 to 6 weeks except for the last generation of the year, which can live up to 8 to 9 months. (this fact and the next two are from here)
• monarch’s remain in the chrysalis for 8-12 days, depending on the temperature
• so if most monarchs live for 14-42 days and the average time in the chrysalis is 10 days, they can be in the goo stage of the transformation for 23-70% of their lives. but if it’s the last generation of the year, it’s 4% of their lives. this is a HUGE range. maybe people are like this, too…?
• watching a monarch caterpillar chrysalize is unreal. link