Studying Trees

Today while we were playing in the backyard my attention was drawn to our old Mulberry tree in the back of our yard which I remembered would now be ripe for picking. Those silly trees grow like weeds and I believe that ours is there as a result of a happy accident, but as a child I always loved eating the dark sweet berries that could be found in the most random spots especially for our enjoyment. Most of the trees we found were growing up unkept fences near the sidewalks we would ride our bikes on.

And now we had one in our yard that had fallen over as a result of a storm yet was still bearing fruit and was now at a level we could reach. Noticing some of the berries were not ripe I used that as an opportunity to teach a little vocabulary lesson in "ripeness". I showed him a hard green berry that was not ripe, then showing him a softer white berry that was still not ripe (and letting him taste it to let him get what "not ripe" means), then I showed him a pink berry that was almost ripe (and letting him taste it to see that it was edible yet very sour), then showing him the purplish-black berries and telling him that when the berries are all grown up and have gotten all the right nutrients from the tree and sun, they are ready to eat and look like this. When all the nutrients are in the berry they are sweet and soft and very good for us. God gave us berries for food, I told him.

Then I decided that it would be a great idea to start this long-awaited project I have wanted to do of making a tree book. You know, a binder with page protectors, some cardstock, and glued leaves inside of it. This project will, ideally, be useful to us for the rest of his education years as it will be a walking, growing memory of all the trees we've encountered.

How to Make a Tree Book

You will need:

• A three-ring binder
• Page protectors (plastic sleeves) with card stock in them
• Leaves, pictures, or drawings you've collected and identified

Slide the leaf or picture into the page protector. Glue or tape it to the card stock. Write the name at the top of the page or on the back of the page.

It can be as detailed or simple as you like. I'm thinking about including a picture of Hunter in front of the tree as well as a bark-rubbing. Then the ten facts on the back, aka Doman's "programs of intelligence" on the back.

"Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the LORD God of Israel. At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel."

Isaiah 17:6-7

Hunter is 3 years, 3 months old