I used to think all trees looked like identical green blobs.

It turned out I was nearsighted and needed glasses, but even then they’d have still looked pretty much the same without 4-H Forestry Field Day.

River birch, red maple, and redbud would have been all the same difference to me back then.

Over years of 4-H forestry practices I learned to identify 74 trees common to Georgia.

OK, I admit, maybe I didn’t quite learn all 74 — I still mix up all those hickory trees, and pines can be tricky for me, too.

We also learned about forestry insects and diseases, how to estimate the amount of timber you could produce from a stand of loblolly pines, and all about compass and pacing.

It’s actually a lot of fun, and a good excuse to get out during the summer in search of trees.

You don’t have to join the 4-H Forestry Field Day team to practice trees, but for youth ages 9-19 it might be a great way to test their skills at the September competition.

Making a leaf collection is a great family project to get your kids outside and paying attention to the world around them this summer.

If you’re considering the 4-H forestry team, e-mail me for the official list of trees and details on practices.

Then, you can use any tree identification book or there are two great online resources to try.

The Georgia Forestry Commission’s website has a printable publication called "Native Trees of Georgia" which prints well in black and white and includes 92 trees. You can find it at http://www.gatrees.org/Education/nativetrees.cfm.

A nice full-color guide to trees can be found by a link at the bottom of the GFC website or by Googling "Virginia Tech Tree Fact Sheets."

I suggest that 4-H’ers prepare a 3-ring notebook with page protectors and cardstock for each leaf they’d like to collect.

You can print a small description for each of the leaves at one of the sites listed above, and affix it in the corner of the page.

Then, head outside! The best part of this project is that leaves are free, and they’re everywhere.

Check your yard, the park, parking lots, playgrounds, trails, ball parks, you’ll find a great variety of trees right here in Newton County.

You may want to note where you found each tree just in case you need to go back to collect more leaves in the future, or if you want to tell someone else where to find a new leaf for their collection.

The important part of leaf collection is being sure you got the entire leaf — don’t mistakenly just pick off a few leaflets.

For instance, look up a pecan tree in the guide — it has a compound leaf made up of 9 to 15 leaflets. So when you collect pecan leaves, be sure to get the entire thing.

Sometimes this means your leaves will be too big for your book, but you can get creative by cutting it in half to affix to two facing pages.

Also, some trees have more than one shape leaf. Both the sassafras and red mulberry have single, double and triple lobed leaves. You may want to collect a sample of each for your book.

You can purchase or build a leaf press, or just put each leaf between wax paper and slip it inside a book. Put weights on the book to press the leaves as they dry.

Most leaves will be OK after 5 days or so, but the longer you press them the nicer they’ll look in your collection.

By the way, don’t mention this to your kids, but learning terms like "simple," "compound" and "plant classification" might also help in school and on tests next year.

Also, you could kick off your leaf collection with those trees around the Six Flags parking lot.

We have the best prices in town on Six Flags tickets in the 4-H office at only $28 for a day pass and $53 for season passes.

These prices are available 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. in our office with cash or money orders only