Thank you to the wonderful Urban Herbies who joined me in Frankendael this morning! Another lovely group joined me for a guided walk around some plant rich areas of the park. We found lots of beautiful herbs and raised an eyebrow or two as we picked Lime leaves from one of the trees lining the main walkway. This was the last guided walk I’ll be doing for a while. I plan to offer another on a Sunday in July and my forthcoming Mugwort field workshop (also at Frankendael), on Monday 18th June has a couple of spaces available. If you are interested please contact me and start collecting your pesto jars! Also on the 20th June, Midsummer’s Day, a group of us will be gathering Lime for lunch and a tea. Keep an eye on my Events page for further details.

The Lime tree (Tilia vulgaris) in this photo is just by the main entrance. I noticed this beginning of a leaf spur as I sat waiting for the walkers to arrive. Lime has a fascinating ability to send out such leaf spurs, directly from the truck. It is quite handy from a foraging point of view, these leaves are often within reach on trees with otherwise inaccessible leaf canopies.

Next, the developing seed pods and remaining flowers of Scullcap (Sculletaria altissima) How quickly this amazing woodland plant moves through its flowering process!

Next is a clear photo of developing Hawthorn berries (Crataegus monogyna). I have been learning more about ways to use these (when bright red and ripe) in cooking. The ripe berries will be mainly filled with seed but the fruit encompassing that is useful and quite tasty. A modern classic foraging recipe is to make hawthorn leather from the fruit. I have tried it before and found it imensely fussy and time consuming. I then forgot to eat the leather before it turned mouldy – so all in all a big waste of berries and time! This year thanks to Amalie Bang, who came on one of my recent walks, I’ll be trying to make Danish style Hawthorn juice which can then be used in different ways to make tasty foods. I can’t wait for this year’s harvest!

Many other herbs around today but it’s time to put my feet up and start thinking about the Mugwort workshop…