Food Forest

On our first field trip on Thursday May 9th we took a walk down to the food forest. One of the student Naturalist's named Ariel guided us through the forest. Ariel gave us all a little insight to what the plants were, what they were used  for, and why they were in that particular spot in the food forest. For instance, the trees and bushes that are placed just outside of the forest are called wind breakers. They are used to prevent any harsh winds to hurt the plants that are inside of the forest that may not be used to such conditions. Ariel also pointed out that even though most of the plants are edible there is much to learn about how to properly cook some of the plants before eating them. For example, the Chaya plant if not cooked properly can cause cyanide poisoning. I enjoyed learning from Ariel I think she did an awesome job with touring us around the food forest. I also enjoyed the mulberries that she let us eat! I will be visiting the food forest often for my exotic groceries.