This is an article written by Kirk Starratt about our chapter, AVYNC, back in September 2012, Connecting with Nature.

it was published in the Advertiser.

Several children and parents braved rainy conditions as the Annapolis Valley Young Naturalists Club visited Singing Nettles Herbal Clinic in Burlington Sept. 22. 

Eight-year-old Hayley Hennigar of Sheffield Mills said she has fun on young naturalist field trips like the one to the herbal clinic and thinks other children would enjoy taking part in club activities. She learned a lot about how useful some common plants can be.

Clinical herbalist Amanda Dainow, owner of Singing Nettles Herbal Clinic, thinks it’s important for everyone to learn about the medicinal and edible qualities of plants…

“Kids have a natural curiosity,” she said. “They love touching, tasting and smelling.”

… Members tend to be in the range of five to 12 years old and anywhere from 15 to 30 members turn out for presentations and field trips, although it depends largely on the weather and on individual interests. They recently visited Blue Beach to look for fossils, had a presentation about stars and constellations at the K.C. Irving Centre and planted red spruce as part of a lesson on the Acadian forest.