It's been a while since we've had a toddler who insists on eating everything she finds outdoors... 6ish years, in fact. Well, Lucy thought we were getting too complacent, I suppose, and has decided that in addition to consuming all the permissible plants she finds outside (herbs, edible flowers, wild strawberries, etc), she will also just sample ANY flower or grass-like plant she finds. To the point where she ripped a fake leaf off a garland at Mass the other day and stuck THAT in her mouth. Our kale is looking a little ragged because she just likes to rip the ends off the leaves and munch on them for fun, even if I've given her a leaf specifically for eating! Apparently it's more fun to forage on her own.
Needless to say, I'm glad that I haven't planted anything more than just mildly toxic! (There are things like elderberries that shouldn't be consumed in great volume because the seeds can cause upset stomachs, but we have no foxglove or anything like that)
The other day the kids came inside with Very Exciting Plans for a picnic - they packed up all the yummy snack food they could think of (carrots, clementines, hard boiled eggs, bananas, sandwiches... mason jars full of water even though they have actual water bottles?) and thoughtfully brought separate ziploc bags to put any compost or chicken food in. So helpful! Though they were actually closer to the chicken yard AND the compost pile, so it would have been easier for them to throw things in the appropriate spots rather than waste bags and bring everything home for me to deal with. Still, they had a lovely wholesome time eating under the peach trees, and I'm always a big fan of any activity that takes them out of the house for long periods of time!
No comments:
Post a Comment
I *love* reading your kind comments and will always try my best to reply right here in the comment box so we can keep the conversation going! If you have a blog of your own, please do link to it so I can visit back :)