Another bright berry from the hedgerow this is Solanum dulcamara, Bittersweet or Woody Nightshade.
This one is poisonous so take care.
Woody Nightshade is a vine that scrambles through the hedgerow. There are quite a few red berries in the hedgerow so you should take note of the dark woody stem and the shape of the leaves.
So if that is Woody Nightshade then what is this?
This is a Redcurrant, Ribes rubrum.
How do you teach children the difference?
You don’t. Red Berries can kill you. Ribes rubrum can kill you, of course it can’t but….. At least at first we have to say that.
You know that I love poisonous berries and I can think of hundreds of uses for them. I don’t have a television and I avoid the news but I did check out the BBC website today and I learned that I am about to declare war on Islam. I don’t remember thinking that, I don’t mind what anyone else believes. I need to make some pies.
I have become upset because I wanted to know just how poisonous it really was so I did some research and I read of two accounts of children dying, over the last 150 years, it isn’t that bad but two still upsets me. Also I read of a recent case where the child survived. He was out picking Blackberries and eating them, with his parents and nobody noticed the Nightshade twining amongst the Bramble. You have to be so careful with children. I am always a worrier.
Solanum dulcamara.
I am unpatriotic I realise that. I wish that decisions to go to war could be put to a referendum and be a group decision. I wouldn’t vote in such an absurd referendum (I am an anarchist) but it would give me the opportunity to put pies in the polling stations.
I am 100% against killing people and I have no reservations in saying that. 🙂
If two children dying from eating berries upsets me then you can probably work out how I feel about blanket bombing,
Bittersweet
A Tramp in the Woods 
My standard response in an election is No suitable candidate. Switzerland uses referenda more than most. I think the best if least patriotic response is to withdraw more and more from the modern world. As long as I can keep my blog.
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I don’t go into the woods but if I ever do, I promise that won’t eat anything, that’s for sure, especially if it’s red. Or those pretty, slim, white mushrooms that can kill us. I’m not foraging for ANYTHING. I admit that living in Chicago for my entire life, has absolutely NOT prepared me for finding food of any kind, anywhere, but the store. I can ride horses and do a lot of things but finding food…uh, no.
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There is a reason that one of the ten commandments was “Thou shall not kill.” Why do so many folks ignore that?
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Great post, Colin! I hate war! I hate killing! People are going to believe what they want to believe and we should all respect their beliefs even if we don’t agree with them. No sense in killing over it. I admire you for not having a TV. I could live without it myself . . . but I probably never will, unless someone decides to shoot me for having one. Take my TV, just don’t take my computer! Happy Trails! 🙂 Sandi
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We have these berries in our yard. Thanks for the information.
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Who was it said the only people who should go into politics are the ones who don’t want to? You’d make a great leader. Great blog.
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The bit that upsets me about the latest war is the fact we are ignoring our European cousins in Ukraine, but happy to fight a war that isn’t really a threat to these shores.
I guess we don’t give a monkeys about the Ukrainians because we could never beat Putin in any military conflict, but a rebel army in the desert look like an easy win.
TBH I’m not fussed by TV either, and prefer a Mac. News on the radio, I can just about tolerate.
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