Author: Cindi Lou Grant

Hero: Nature skills that will make you, your child’s hero.

Identifying Poisonous and Edible Plants

Kids are always putting everything in their mouths! This is one of their first instincts that assists them in exploring the world around them. Our instinct is to watch them like a hawk and keep anything harmful out of their mouth. But what if instead of resisting one of their first natural inclinations, we could create a game out of eating edible plants and at the same time, teach them which ones will hurt them? Foraging wild plants can be a fun experience for children, but parents need to be 100% confident that those plants are safe for their child. This knowledge from an early age will set them up for a successful lifetime of outdoor exploration.  

6 Edibles: 

As a parent, we are often telling our children not to pick the flowers. Foraging, however, can be fun and is a great way to teach our children about self-sufficiency!

1) Daisies

A daisy tastes a bit bitter, but the steams, leaves, and flowers are edible. Used historically for increasing appetite and its cleansing qualities, it can be fun to gather these and use them to garnish snacks or salads. May we also suggest a bouquet that is later hung to dry and make tea?

2) Elderberries

Elderberries are not ready for harvesting until fall. But it's not just the berries, the stems and leaves have long been used as well. You can hang bunches upside down and dry them for tea. The berries have been used in folk medicine for flu season and are currently being studied for viability. One randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study out of Norway showed that flu symptoms were relieved on average 4 days earlier and use of rescue medication was significantly less in those receiving elderberry extract compared with the placebo. So go ahead and get to foraging this useful plant!

3) Dandelion 

This is one of the most well-known edible “weeds.”  Often used as a garnish, herbal bitter, and to make magic wishes – picking dandelions is one of my favorite childhood past times.

4) Fire Weed

Fire weed has a beautiful stock of pink flowers and each plant can turn those flowers into about 80,000 seeds! Long used in the diets of Native Americans, in Alaska they still make fire weed ice cream and other treats out it. The stock of the plant is peeled and the inside of the stem is eaten. High in vitamins C and A, this easily foraged plant grows in large patches and is often revered as a symbol for the end of summer. 

5) Clover 

Your kids might be excited to know that their lucky four leaf clover is edible! Not to fret though, the three leaf is fine to eat as well. The common clover grows widespread and may be easier to find in the country then out in the wild.

6) Berries

Berries of huge variety grow wild all over North America. Blueberries, Raspberries, and Thimble berries are all delicious and common to find on many hikes throughout the Rocky Mountain Range. Humans are not the only ones to love berries though; bears are often found foraging these tasty treats and have been documented eating thousands in a single day.

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6 Poisonous:

Although these would not take long for your child to learn about by experiencing them; we at Sawyer want to help you spare your child that horrific experience.

So, as the old saying goes, 

"leaves of three, let them be"

Simply touching any of the following can cause a spotted, blistering rash in most people.

 

1) Western Poison Ivy

Known for its asymmetrical three leaf shape and yellow to greenish fruit, western poison ivy is a shrub that grows in wooded areas, often near streams and rivers. The ivy grows all over Canada and in most States of the US except the southeastern states, New Jersey, Delaware, and California.  

2) Poison Oak

Poison oak has a woody steam and three glossy leaves. These leaves can look a bit like normal oak leaves but have a rounded tip that give it away. In the spring it has a white flower that turns into a green berry as the summer progresses and its dark glossy leaves turn bright red in the fall. It can grow as a shrub in full sun and the vine version prefers sparse light and will climb up tree and other shrubs.

3) Stinging Nettle

Stinging nettle is identified by its long stocks, jagged leaves, and pollen coated hairy berries. It loves dispersed light near reliable water sources. This wide spread plant grows all over every mountainous region of The United States with the exception of Hawaii.

 

"Happiness is a bowl of fresh berries"

Unless it's these berries...

 1) Poke Berries 

These delicious looking berries are extremely toxic! The pink steams and grape like clusters are easy to identify and should help them standout as a poison. The look very ripe and blueberry like in the late summer and early fall.

2) Night Shade 

These small shiny black berries are one of the most dangerous blueberry look-alikes. But don’t worry too much, unlike blueberries, nightshades grow in clusters on viney stems and taste very bitter. Unlike nightshades, blueberries grow as individual berries on leafy, woody shrubs.

3) Holly Berries

Holly is beautiful and often used to bring color to Holiday décor. However the berries contain theobromine, an alkaloid that is related to caffeine and found in chocolate. Eating a couple berries should not cause much harm while eating 10-120 could be very dangerous.

 

Helping your kids understand that some plants are beneficial while others are harmful will hopefully harness their fascination with nature.

Fostering that sense of wonderment that comes so organically in kids, is our mission at Sawyer and we hope they take these skills into a life full of exploring. Give it a try and when your done, let us know what your kids thought with the share button below.