in article , Richard at
wrote on 5/2/03 6:43 pm:

Jane etc,

Thank you for your useful comments.

I should add that whilst I may have come across as an overly concerned
parent (re. my comment about Yew) I was simply asking whether Yew should be
avoided for this reason,

I don't know a great deal (yet) about gardening but when you read (in the
one gardening book that I own!) that Yew is "highly poisonous" you do
immediately think whether it should be your first choice or last choice as a
hedge. Funnily enough I have a Yew tree in the garden already but it is very
big and the branches would take some reaching and therefore has never
concerned me.

snip
Any parent has to use a certain amount of common sense but I don't think yew
is going to pose a serious hazard to your child. If it will help you,
contact the RHS. I'm pretty sure they'll tell you that nobody has died of
poison by plants in umpteen and a half years. To be honest, the list of
non-poisonous in some way or other plants, would be a lot shorter. It's a
matter of degree and most wisely, you've sought advice on what degree. ;-)
I suppose if we all think about it, we'd be pushed to remember the last time
"death of toddler by yew berries" hit the papers.

In article , sacha
writes
I'm pretty sure they'll tell you that nobody has died of
poison by plants in umpteen and a half years.

A rather adventurous friend of mine, when he recently dug up his french
beans, decided that french bean roots looked really appetising. He duly
scrubbed em and boiled em up and ate em. Said they tasted delicious.
Then he spent the next three or four days in a very sorry state. He
didn't die but he was extremely uncomfortable and very worried at
times!!!
--
Jane Ransom in Lancaster.
I won't respond to private emails that are on topic for urg
but if you need to email me for any other reason,
put jandg dot demon dot co dot uk where you see deadspam.com

in article , Jane Ransom at
wrote on 5/2/03 7:33 pm:

In article , sacha
writes
I'm pretty sure they'll tell you that nobody has died of
poison by plants in umpteen and a half years.

A rather adventurous friend of mine, when he recently dug up his french
beans, decided that french bean roots looked really appetising. He duly
scrubbed em and boiled em up and ate em. Said they tasted delicious.
Then he spent the next three or four days in a very sorry state. He
didn't die but he was extremely uncomfortable and very worried at
times!!!

I'm sure that in the past people have been tempted to eat rhubarb stalks and
use up the leaves......blurghhhh etc. etc.! If you don't respect nature, she
was a way of making you do so. That's why I think the original poster,
being a novice gardener was both wise and sensible to make enquiries. You
don't know until you know.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk

On Wed, 5 Feb 2003 19:33:40 +0000, Jane Ransom
wrote:

A rather adventurous friend of mine, when he recently dug up his french
beans, decided that french bean roots looked really appetising. He duly
scrubbed em and boiled em up and ate em. Said they tasted delicious.
Then he spent the next three or four days in a very sorry state. He
didn't die but he was extremely uncomfortable and very worried at
times!!!

Very interesting. Most beans have a toxic principle in them that
is only denatured by cooking, for at least ten minutes. I wonder
if the roots are especially full of the stuff?


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Always thought French Beans had fibrous roots.....now Runner beans form a
tuber and used to be lifted stored, then planted early to give a light crop
of early beans.

--
David Hill
Abacus Nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk