On Sunday, I took a large group of people around some cold, windy and weedy parts of Westerpark. Today a small group of us walked around the woods of park Frankendael in the sunshine and rain, before enjoying a warm drink in Restaurant Merkelbach.
Here are a few of the things we found and tasted on those walks…
Yellow deadnettle (NL:Gele dovenetel)
Urban Dandelion and Burdock honey (NL:Paardebloem en Grote Klis)
Today’s group had the same bread but with Rosemary and roasted sesame seeds, mixed into the oil.
Comfrey NL: Smeerwortel (Symphytum x uplandicum), with it’s purple flowers, distinctive cucumber scent and taste alongside those winged leaf-stem joints.
Wild garlic (Allium ursinum) NL:Daslook.
Catnip NL: Kattenkruid (as also found in huge quantities, planted along side some Amsterdam roads)
Here is Ground Elder (Aegopodium podograria) NL:Zevenblad.
Skullcap (Sculletaria longifolium) before flowering.
Here is a lovely post by Whispering Earth, all about the beautiful Hawthorn tree, which some of us tinctured blossom from today.
Both the recent groups also received a packet of River of Herb treepit seedmix. I hope that everyone will find a few moments to plant them in the weeks to come.
I won’t be leading any more walks until mid July but on Midsummer’s day (June 21st, 4.30pm) I am organizing a free Lime blossom (NL:Linden, Tilia sp.) harvest in park Frankendael. Do come along if you would like to meet some other Urban Herbies or simply to learn a little more about this magical tree.
