On 10/04/15 13:20, Spider wrote:
On 08/04/2015 11:18, Tom Gardner wrote:
On 08/04/15 09:46, Stephen Wolstenholme wrote:
On Wed, 08 Apr 2015 09:39:07 +0100, Tom Gardner
wrote:

On 08/04/15 02:08, Tim Watts wrote:
Although yew is exceptionally toxic to humans which might be a
consideration. OK
there's lots of plants you don't go eating, but yew is quite a bad
boy in that
respect.

My father gave me bits of yew to eat.

Why?

Yes, I've occasionally wondered that

The most accurate answer is, probably, "because we saw it on a walk,
and he had eaten bits as a child". He always was a /little/ dismissive
of /excessive/ health and safety, preferring that I learned to recognise
and avoid hazards.


Your father was very sensible.

Not /this/ time! He didn't mention not to eat the seed; that was my
choice.

He did have a tendency to bring home conc HCl and iron sulphide, so
we could make stink bombs indoors.

My father also invited me to eat the flesh of a
yew berry, but leave the seed. I trusted him and ate the flesh, then discarded
the seed. I knew my father was a very knowledgeable gardener, plantsman and
countryman, plus he would never have risked my life on a whim. From being very
tiny I was taught not to eat any plant or berry that was not served to me with
proper guidance. All children should be taught those very simple rules that will
preserve their life.

I've found ways of allowing my daughter to learn, assess risks, and
then "have fun, safely". (Skiing, flying gliders, backpacking in India).
She thought I had wrapped her in cotton wool - until she went to university
and saw how much other people hasn't done.

But I can still surprise people by showing them a 1930s "The Boy
Electrician" that describes some of the things you can do with your
homemade XRay machine. It does warn you not to let your skin get too
red!