Last week, during a "Rent-a-Naturalist" program, I did an edible wilds walk. The idea behind Rent-a-Naturalist: for $15, a group of up to six visitors can hire one of our interpretive staff to do the program (hike, talk, tour, paddle, etc.) the group has always dreamed of! One gentleman in my group had a keen interest in wild edible plants - so we did a customized walkabout, nibbling as we went. Though no wild fruit is ripe yet, we found no less than ten tasty wild edibles within twenty metres of the Interpretive Centre.
Loyal followers of the blog know that though I appreciate the aspirin content of willow-bark tea, I'm not a fan of the crushed-aspirin-in-brine flavour...my guest's suggestion: mix the tea with tomato juice to hide the taste. I've not yet tried the idea, but it seems like a good one!
This was all happening at the same time my colleagues Dana and Melanie were busy leading a fishing experience for Grandparents and Grandkids. The fishing line might have only been five-pound-test line, but the memories the participants walked away with are strong enough to last forever...it was great fun to watch that group as we foraged through the forest.
.jpg) |
| - A fisher, not unlike FortWhyte's! |
Just in case you think the action ends with the Education Team, our accountant saw our resident fisher later in the day as she biked home. We normally see fisher tracks in the winter, but this summer, we've had reports from all over the property, about one a week. You can go for a lifetime in the forests of Manitoba and rarely, if ever, see a fisher...understandably, we're thrilled to have people seeing them!
We had Bison Safaris on Sunday, I had the thrill of making botany come alive to a group of older adults yesterday, and summer camp is in full swing....whew!
FortWhyte really has been alive these past few days. Sometimes, I wonder if it sleeps!
-Barret
No comments:
Post a Comment