| Banshee
Join Date: May 2007 Location: Gotham
Posts: 51,216
Hogwarts RPG Name:
TBD
Gryffindor
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Zara H. Bunbury-Foster
Slytherin Fifth Year |  ohey, i have a few of these IN MY KITCHEN *proud* Professor Pink | Mrs. Bruce Wayne | I'm on a Goat | Glitterpuff | Dumbledore's Defense Squad | BHB
SPOILER!!: Tegz!Quotz Quote:
Originally Posted by Tegz  "Alright, you all seem to have gathered that the Three Druidic Elements can be applied to the life cycle of the plants, but we can map these elements very literally to a garden with a spiral design. Nwyfre is represented by the spiral shape as a whole, as well as the care and conscious planning we put into the design of the garden, and our enjoyment of its beauty; calas is represented by the materials used to build the spiral, and by the soil, and also by the plants themselves taking root; and gwyar is represented by the flow of water from the top of the spiral to the bottom, as well as the growth patterns and appropriate placement of the plants within the spiral form. The Three Druidic Elements are interdependent on one another, and apply to any type of garden of course, but the spiral design embodies these concepts in a very substantial way." Professor Beryl said. "I'd like you to keep those things in the back of your mind as we move on, because now I have a little activity for you all." No gardening yet though.
"The herbs and plants you see here on this central table, regardless of if they are a magical plant or a more mundane plant, all have one thing in common: they all have medicinal uses. Some are used in muggle herbal tradition, some are used only by witch and wizardkind, either in their raw form or as ingredients in potions." Professor Beryl began to introduce their task.
"Medicinal herbs and plants are not necessarily safe in their natural form. They can have negative effects if inappropriately handled or ingested," OR, licked. Here's looking at you, Phoebe James. "For instance, some may produce oils on their leaves that could be toxic to the touch, some might have roots that are safe to eat but the berries they produce could put an elephant to sleep, but then there are some that just smell lovely and you can use in your cooking if you like as they won't harm you one bit unless you happen to have an allergy of some kind. Also consider that there are dangerous magical plants which like to disguise themselves as more mundane, safer plants, so you need to be able to identify the differences between them." though no, there was no devils snare masquerading as flitterbloom here today.
"This means that unless you know exactly what a plant is, and how to handle it, you should NOT touch it. As we begin this next activity, nobody should be touching any of the plants. You may smell them, and you may look at them, but unless I tell you directly, you do not touch." And that was a standing rule as well as common sense. And it went for the ones that everyone knew were safe, too.
"So, consider the shapes of the leaves, the colours, the textures you can see, any flowers or fruits, the scents that you can smell. I would like all of you to identify at least ten of the herbs on the table and make notes on how you know what they are. You can use your textbooks to help sleuth out the answers. You can get up and move around now, and then return to your seats when you are done. You can discuss amongst yourselves and work together if you like, or you may work on your own. You've got fifteen minutes." ooc: This is our mini activity! Under the spoiler cut are the herbs and plants that are definitely on the table (this list is OOC, your character doesn't know!). Your character is tasked with identifying ten of them (they don't have to identify them all!) Note that some of the listed plants are magical/fantastical so you won't find much information for identifying them by googling. Where known I've included the fancy pants Latin names. As the students are allowed to use their textbooks as references, feel free to use teh internets to find information that might help them out. Beyond that, their success (or lack of it!) is up to you. You have approximately 48 hours, but depending how activity is I might add on another day. Any questions feel free to PM me, and you are welcome to address Professor Beryl in your posts too. There's no minimum number of posts - if you want to do the whole lot in one, that's fine, its up to what your preference is.
As an aside, given there's the option of working with others, If you decide you want to work with others, please be mindful and check if anyone is asking for someone to work with before you make a post expecting someone to approach your character - I don't want to see a bunch of posts in a row asking for someone to work with your character! If someone has already asked, have your kid go and work with theirs!
Heavens! So many herbs! Bernadette was TERRIBLY lost in this class so far. Her understanding of gardening pretty much related to the edibles things her mum put in soups and sauces; she had NO CLUE what druid elements were; and she was trying to write as many things as she could on the handouts the professor provided, but she was certain she was going to have to join a study group to make heads (or tails) of this class.
Thankfully, if she failed everything else, she was at least always willing to pull weeds. So, onto the practical portion of class...
"That's lavender," Bernadette announced, doodling a rough sketch of the plant she knew from sight (and smell). It wasn't her favorite, but it certainly was popular here in France. "And... there's... hang on..." She leaned closer to one to give it a sniff, "Yep, that's mint. PEPPERmint? Or spearmint? Well, it's mint." She continued narrating to herself, but wouldn't have minded if she were also helping someone.
Now, was there any basil here? Or... "Sage!" Bernie knew that one too! Her mum had that in her garden, and it was delicious when fried! And nearby it was... hold on, she had to check it... "Yep, lemon balm!" Yummy. She quite liked that with a bit of mint, basil, rosemary, and tomatoes on a salad dressed with olive oil. Oregano could also join the party, but she didn't see it here. Hmm. Was there rosemary here?
There it was! "Rosemary and butter on a steak, yummmmmmm." Bernie was making herself hungry, but she hurriedly added rosemary to list of recognizable herbs. She thought she saw some dittany too, but she wasn't 100% sure because it didn't relate to her main interest in herbs, which was, of course, their edibleness, and it wasn't native to Britain, was it....?
Oh, ginger was an herb? "I thought that was a root or something," she muttered under her breath, nonetheless drawing that one too. That was edible. Everyone should know what ginger looked like even if it didn't have red hair teeehehe.
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yeah, there's one thing about me that you should know________________________________
__________________________________________that I can't help from speaking my mind |