Beach forage walk

One of the nicest things about flexi school is that on a good day we can up and go to the beach or the park and find it completely deserted!  For our first trip in our Native American topic we decided on a favourite beach which we visit every year because of the abundance of wild garlic growing there.

 As we drove we talking about foraging, finding what grows well near us and the way we create a mental map of where things can be harvested.  Wild garlic at the beach, blaeberries on the high, peaty hills, brambles in another spot, salmonberries and mushrooms in the woods near Peebles and so on.  The salmonberry is native to the Pacific Northwest, but was introduced to Scotland by landowners who felt it was decorative and exotic.  It grows very well here and is almost a pest in some areas.  The berries aren't ripe yet, but you can see a video talking about the importance of salmonberries below.

 We talked about the other things you might find on the beach to eat or use.  We aren't fond of seafood and shellfish (and the water quality isn't brilliant either) but mussels are abundant in the river Forth, also there were various varieties of edible seaweed on the beach.  In the sandy area above the beach there were obvious signs of rabbits living in a large warren, a huge tangle of bramble bushes and you couldn't miss the springtime scent of wild (or bear) garlic growing in abundance.

While we were at the beach we picked up lots of lovely smooth pebbles to use in our Story Stones project as well as interesting shells, sea glass and bits of old pots.  Beach-combing is one of my favourite things to do.

 Naturally enough Iona got seawater in her boots and we made our soggy way back to the car.  We stopped for a quick picture with granny (another lovely aspect of flexi/home schooling is the way the whole family can get involved!) and then went home for a nice cup of tea.