14 THE BIG PLAN

CHAPTER 14 THE BIG PLAN "MOOOM!" I shouted as I came through the back door with a frog on my head and a cat at my feet. Mom grinned as soon as she saw our happy, excited faces. "It worked!" "It totally did," I said. "Pip didn't even get grumpy. The grumplets got full on berries just as we ran out of them. It was a close call." Pip hopped over to my mom's shoulder and gave her a snuggle. "So now we need to find a big patch of strawberries in the forest, right?" Mom had him hop onto her hand so she could talk to him better. "Well, not exactly. We don't have any wild strawberries growing around here." "Oh," said Pip, thinking for a moment. "Then let's plant some blackberries!"

"Well," said Mom, "blackberries are actually invasive plants around here." "Invas-a-what?" asked Pip. "Invasive means that it grows too much in a place it's not supposed to," I chimed in. "Then there's no room for the native plants—the plants that are supposed to be here." Pip flopped down on my mom's palm. "Well then, that's it. We're DOOMED." Mom and I laughed. "Don't give up yet, Pip!" Mom lifted his chin with her finger. "I found a local reforestation group that's doing some native plantings a few miles away in a nearby forest." "YESSS!" I pumped my fist. "Berries too?" "They are planting a bunch of different things," Mom said. "Some are trees, some are bushes, and some are definitely berries. They said they had several black-capped raspberries, huckleberries, and thimbleberries that need to be planted." My tummy rumbled, and Mom and I laughed. "I love forest berries," I told Pip. "A lot."

"I signed us up for the planting this Saturday," Mom said. "It's summer, so the berry plants we're planting should be producing berries right now. But…" "We have to find a way to get the grumplets over to the new patch of berries after we plant them," I finished. "Exactly," said Mom. My shoulders dropped. "There's no way Pip could yell about how tasty the berries are from miles

away." "That's true." Pip grinned. "But you know someone who is loud enough." He held out his hand, waiting for me to figure it out. I knew someone who could yell from miles away? But to be that loud they'd have to be seriously HUGE. "OH!" I gasped. Mom raised her eyebrows at me. She still hadn't guessed. "Tiny!" I cheered.