Why learn about plants?

Plants are all around us. From the meadows and fields outside our towns to the pavements that line our streets, from the borders of our gardens to the fresh produce sections of our supermarkets. They nourish us, prime our land, sustain our wildlife and pump precious oxygen back into our atmosphere.

And yet so many of us know so little about the plant life that surrounds us - about where they grow, what they can be used for, whether they can be eaten... In fact, a 2014 survey by BBC Gardeners' World magazine found that 98% of us couldn't name five varieties of tree on British soil, including oaks, birches and limes!

I'm not complaining. I have no right to: I used to be one of those people. But I am sad - sad that we have lost touch so much with the astonishing diversity of flora in both our natural and man-made habitats.

The truth is, 98% of us (or, probably more) don't really need to know about plants. We buy our fruit and veg from the supermarket, neatly packaged and correctly labelled. We have no need to go out and forage. We buy our furniture on-line and have it delivered direct to our door. We have no need to memorise the strength and pliability of different woods.

So why learn about plants?

Many foragers out there would have you believe it's a matter of life and death. You must know your plants, because you never know when you might get stranded in a storm while out on a walk in the Dales, the Moors or the Peak District, your mobile phone signal cut off and your backpack empty of provisions. How else will you survive if not by nibbling the fruits of nature's bounty? And what should happen if you gorge on the berries from a yew or some deadly nightshade? How quickly come the undiscovered country if that wild parsnip you nibbled on turns out to be hemlock water dropwort?

The truth is that foraging is no longer a necessity; it's a pastime. You're unlikely ever to be more than a few miles from civilisation, even if that means one man and his cabin. I've experienced more mobile phone blackspots in my own home than in fields, meadows and woodland. Even then you can usually summon emergency services if you absolutely have to.

We learn about plants for pleasure. To reconnect with the world around us. For the sheer satisfaction of knowing what a plant is called, who its genetic brothers and cousins are, whether we can snaffle a little snack while out on a walk, when we can expect to see that lovely bloom we enjoyed staring at so much last Spring.

This blog is not intended to be authoritative. For that, you can consult a botanist, a forager, a wildflower key or an encyclopaedia. Rather, this blog is, for the most part, a random collection of musings and learnings as I come across them and teach myself.  It is, unlikely so many texts, websites and social media groups out there, deliberately aimed at the amateur and the beginner. At times it touches on things quite niche, at others covering ground quite basic. I make no apology for this. We all have to start somewhere, and better we do it unashamedly and without reproach.

Now get out there and enjoy your world.