Tall Meadow Flowers

Amongst the Wild Carrot and Sweet White Clover
(some folks are sensitive to Wild Carrot)

Flowers within your child's arm’s reach can be fun to touch. Many of them are in bloom in the late summer; they are also very attractive to even young eyes. Because they within your child’s reach, it is makes for good texture and tactile learning experiences as they sit in their carrier.

Joe-Pye Weed, Goldenrod, and Spotted Touch-Me-Not

Burdock's prickly burrs are soft to the touch when they are just beginning to bloom. 
Once the blooms are fully formed, the burrs can be painful to the touch.

Detail of Elecampane

Elecampane standing tall in the Background with Wild Carrot in the Foreground
(some folks are sensitive to Wild Carrot)

Joe-Pye Weed's fuzzy tops are soft to the touch

Tall Joe-Pye Weed in the Background

The above plants are generally safe to touch.  But, many others are not , especially mega-tall ones like Giant-Hogweed and the taller plants of the parsnip family.  For more on that, check out www.invadingspecies.com

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Hey, Can I Eat That?

As the summer fruit matures, your little on might ask you, “Hey! Can I eat that?”

Here are some “Yes, you can!” fruit that you might see on the trail:

 

Common Apple

We see these often because many trails cross through old homesteads and apple orchards.  The trees are still there, and the apples still grow.  The Common Apple in Ontario is not like the 'perfect' store-bought apples that are grown for commercial eyes.  But, they sure taste good!

Purple-Flowering Raspberry

The flowers look like roses, so many people are fooled by them.  Still, the edible fruit are not as juicy and are seedier than the raspberries we are used to.  Somehow, I find these sweeter than the regulare ones.

Blackberries

These grow in shrubs and are tastiest when dark purple. 

  

Enjoy these fruit on the trail only if you know for sure what you are eating.  Of course, different rules apply if you are in a conservation area where signage often indicates that you should not pick any fruit.

Which fruit do you often see on the trails?  Any that have eaten or have wondered about?

I’ll add more photos of forest fruit and update you as I see them on the trails.

Don't forget to vote in our first ever just-for-fun poll and to join the site.