There's a thing that I really would love to do: getting to know the names of every tree I see during my walkings in the woods, learn to identify plants and flowers.
Does anybody know if there is something like guided tours in the woods? I live in Basel area, but would be willing to move everywhere for this.

thank you

PS: any other suggestions is welcome (books, private or university courses...)

your best bet would be to talk to the local forrester (Förster) and he may well be up to take you on a round, at least ours here does and the kids also get regular tours.

The forest is my persoanl place of power where i can regenerate and I took great care to teach my kids as much as i can, some from my own knowledge and some from a really good ( albeit german) book that we took with us on our exploration trips.

The book is called

Mein farbiger Naturführer, from Markus Würmli printed in Vehling verlag, I think it has been discontiued but you may be able to find a copy in thrift shops or book antiquaries or online on ebay/ricardo. Unfortunately there is no ISBN number in the book


One thing that shocked me, was when i accompanied the class of my youngest daughter to a field trip into the forest with our forrester, and he held up a leaf of a maple tree asking who knew what tree this came from, not only was my gal the ONLY one of about 16 kids who knew it. One of her female peers asked completely shocked: 'What ???? Do you man all trees have different names in the forest??..........

thank you for the tips! I would like to contact the local forrester, but my big problem is the language! I'm learning german, but it's going very slowly... I'll try to find out the book, in any case, thanks again.
My son is only two years old, but I'd love to teach him all I can, as you do with yours...

PS: is that marc bolan in your avatar?

Yes of course it is Marc I am a one crazy Bolanite and apparently the only born and bred Swiss fan left worldwide ( british expats who move here don't count LOLOLOL). I also attend fan conventions in England sad really eh but i have a super time when being with my Boley family and was honoured to be asked to have speech at the rosebush in presence of his family members last year!

but back to the forest:

I have bought for my lasses several books in BROCKENSTUBEN ( 2nd hand shops/charity shops) there you find lots of them issued from SILVA,MONDO and NSB printing houses

One is called DAS GROSSE BUCH DER NATUR was issued from Ex Libris,its a terribly big book,with loads of images and good explanaiotns, albeit in geman!

Weltbildverlag also have god range of books on this topic

We got one called 'Im Wald' ( from the series, Pflanzen und Tiere entdecken/Jahreszeiten erleben) it comes with a cd with animal sounds

http://www.weltbild.ch/3/13664938-1/...-audio-cd.html


My real first nam means ' the girl from the woods'.......and for me it fits like a t

O my, Eastenders, I can't believe it: my real name also means "girl from the woods", and I'm a huge glam fan! I attend fan conventions too, but on the "Bowie side"!
I'll look for those books, thank you a lot. But it's not easy to learn nature from the books... At least, not for me. I have a couple of books about trees, maybe they're not so well done, but when I see a tree I would like to understand what it is by the texture of its skin, the shape of the trunk... I spend time flipping the book and most of the times I give up. I also read about plants, flowers and birds on the Internet, but I always stay at a very poor level.
It would be wonderful to walk in the woods together with a person who knows them, and who, like in a museum, can tell you all the secrets.
I'll ask the local forrester, anyway, I didn't know about it. Maybe I'm lucky and he can speak English or Italian....

You knew that the two B's were very close friends at one time in their live

Sure, and I know the kind of vampire Bowie is... he has stolen a lot of "inspiration" from Bolan.

You'll need to listen to this vital safety bulletin first...

http://www.imeem.com/people/DwSqG8/m...1920s-version/

Thank you, that's lovely

I have done two snow treks with these people, and can thoroughly recommend them. They also do nature tours in summer; they are listed in German but all three guides speak English. Worth asking if they can do something in English?

http://www.natur-agentur.ch/index.php?id=5