The 102nd Beith Scouts visit Spier's Old School Grounds
8 May, 2012
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The 102nd Beith Scouts at Spiers
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Garden of Botanic Education at Spiers
The 102nd Beith Scouts have visited Spier's to learn how to build shelters and how to identify wild plants that are safe to eat.
The Scout leaders led the shelter building teams and the NAC Countryside Ranger led two groups through the parklands sampling or discussing edible wild plants en route.
The young people were shown how to avoid plants that may have been contaminated and were shown how easy it is to confuse edible with harmful plants. Edible parts varied, sometimes leaves, other times flowers, fruits, sap, stems, roots and even wood.
Some of the better known plants were dandelion leaves, wild garlic, and lime leaves. A final warning was to eat nothing unless an expert was present to confirm identification and cleanliness!
The shelters have been left for others to enjoy and at some point the Scouts hope to return and camp in the grounds.
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