short folk
... small-scale thoughtful after-school child-care
in Portland, Oregon..
In our efforts to complement Buckman Elementary School, we walk with Short Folk kids from the elementary school three blocks away, through the Buckman neighborhood, and to the Short Folk kid space, taking the opportunity to study urban wild edibles along the route. We highly encourage all parents to educate themselves on the subject of wild foods, and to take advantage of kid-friendly workshops offered by local wild food expert, John Kallas and his Wild Food Adventures (wildfoodadventures.com). We think it’s empowering to be able to take a walk in the neighborhood and come home with a salad. It’s also one of the healthiest forms of eating, and it’s free!
Of course, extreme care must be taken to teach proper wild food etiquette, and that’s why we insist that kids show each potential edible to a parent for verification before tasting.
We also utilize the Herb Fairies teaching system as developed by herbalist Kimberly Gallagher on her website (learningherbs.com). Between the 13 Herb Fairy books, coloring and identification pages, the Wildcraft! game (also by Kimberly Gallagher) and studying common wild edibles in real life, we hope to foster a life-long desire to appreciate nature and its gifts. The learning tools from Herb Fairies are available to all Short Folk families, and can be shared with others as well. These include digital versions of the Herb Fairy stories, the Magic Keeper journals, herbal recipe cards, Herbal Roots Zine access, coloring pages, posters, and access to the Herb Fairies private website.
At Short Folk, we take “REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE” to heart, and we are always trying to raise consciousness about waste and garbage streams. It is our desire to teach our children to close loops with concepts such as Eco Bricks, Cobb, Straw Bale, Earth Ships, Hempcrete and other sustainable building methods. We are always on the lookout to reduce waste and to turn garbage into treasure.
As a part of teaching kids about the importance of our environment, Short Folk encourages children to accept responsibility for tidying their neighborhood by teaching how to safely pick up and properly dispose of litter.
Buying bulk and washing out plastic bags may be extra work, but we’d rather do that than be responsible for one more plastic bag in our landfills and oceans. We also attempt to reduce the uses of plastic whenever possible in favor of more sustainable products like old silver, glass, bamboo, tin, cotton and cast iron. The laws of this land require access to disposable paper products, but at Short Folk we also supply single-use washable cotton hand towels, napkins, and cleaning rags, as regulations permit.
Coming Soon!