OK, so runner beans are not herbs but this is my first real attempt at surreptitious gardening in Amsterdam. I bought a huge bag of runner beans in a country store, whilst visiting my parents. I used what was required at home and school and thought the rest would look good adorning some Amsterdam trees, hedges and wire fences. I also think there should be more food plants in cities, so this was a start.

I wanted to get them off to a good start so I sprouted them in a bowl, over a few days. They got going quickly so I appealed for help from the urbanherbology meetup.com group and twitter.

Thursday was a bit of a miserable day weatherwise so in the end it was me, my little girl, Sameena and her neighbour who did the planting. I chose Oosterpark because it’s easy to access and could use a little positive energy in parts. It’s also somehow possible to blend in with a trowel in your hand.

Oosterpark is quite a traditional old park, complete with bandstand, children’s paddling pool, some beautiful sculptures and lots of wrought iron fencing. We chose a few locations with good fencing and planted out all of the seeds. Hopefully they will grow well and even if they don’t produce a good crop of beans, perhaps they’ll provide a splash of colour against those railings.

Many thanks to Sameena & Amber for their help. Next time, perhaps I’ll be more daring in my planting location and we’ll get a few more helpers along.