Category Archives: Foraging

365 Frankendael day 41

365 Frankendael, Blog, Foraging, Trees, Wild herbs, , , , , , , , ,


Today a lovely scene, if you like tended gardens, of the old partitioned garden at the back of Frankendael Huis. I really appreciate how the gardeners allow the plants to spill out here and there and especially so with the stunning Valerian officinalis which is shown here. Valerian medicine is traditionally focused on the roots but the flowers are also useful and have more subtle effects than the other parts of the plant. I have a big Valerian plant on my roof and this weekend, harvested every third flower cluster, for drying. Doing so leaves the beautiful appearance and special scent almost intact, for everyone else to enjoy.


Here is a photo Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), NL: Brandnetel, in bloom. Now is not at all the time to harvest this wonderful tonic herb but I took the photo to illustrate the difference between the plant and other look a likes, such as Lamium alba, White Dead Nettle, shown yesterday.


Here is a photo of a plant that I want to learn more about, creeping along the ground rather like a Strawberry with similar leaves and runners. Growing amongst it, with purple flowers, is familiar Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacaea) which is edible, useful and tastes minty. I have been watching the Strawberry look a like, in several shady parts of the park, for several weeks. Today it is coming into flower, yellow flowers, so I now remember that the plant a little better. It is a member of the Cinquefoil (Potentilla) family, I’ll have a closer look tomorrow to find out which. I brought a sample home but my cat ate it in seconds – maybe that should tell me something!? Strawberries are members of the Fragaria family.


Not one to eat until next Spring, here is an update of how Ramsons (Wild garlic, NL: Daslook) look at the moment. Not very tasty but the seed heads are developing well.


Next, and again for future reference, the closest Sweet Chestnut tree to my home. Totally unrelated to Horse Chestnut, far more tasty but possibly less interesting for herbalists.


Lastly today, an enormous Dandelion(Taraxacum officinale), two 50 cm long leaves of which, are destined for my plate this evening…

365 Frankendael day 40

365 Frankendael, Foraging, Wild herbs, , , , , , ,
Burdock (Arctium lappa)

Today, many Burdock plants (Arctium lappa) are easily identified because their flower heads, or burs (which give the plant it’s common English name) are developing at the top of the plants. I’ve not really noticed them at this stage, before this year. They look very stately at the moment because the stems are growing fast so the large leaves are clearly separated. Burdock is a biennial plant, flowing during its second year. The roots are the part of interest to herbalists and those are only useful when harvested from first year Burdock plants. So although harvesting of Burdock roots should occur in the autumn, now is a great time to identify Burdock which is not flowering, is in its first year and may be of interest. Here’s a link to a Susun Weed article about Dandelion and Burdock.

Elder (Sambucus nigra)

Here is a little Elder (Sambucus nigra) shrub, growing at the base of a tall park side tree, on the Middenweg. Not a great location for harvesting the flowers. At this height you may also better understand why Ground Elder (shown yesterday in flower) is so named. Fortunately, although both are edible (at least in part), the flowers look quite different, one is a shrub and the other is clearly not.

White Dead Nettle (Lamium album)


Next, a lovely White Dead Nettle (Lamium album). This member of the mint family, which looks very like Stinging Nettle but is totoally unrelated, is still in flower and yielding a tiny sip of sweet nectar, if you pluck a flower and suck its base. This can also be done with Honeysuckle. However the Honeysuckle species is seen as poisonous and White Dead Nettle is edible. The whole plant may be enjoyed and benefitted from. This plant is good cooked like spinach.Here’s a nice recipe from a lovely blog about wild food called Eat Weeds.

Cleavers (Gallium aparine)

Lastly today, Cleavers (Galium aparine) with flower buds clearly developing. It may still be used a tonic herb when freshly juiced or made into a tincture.

365 Fraendael day 38

365 Frankendael, Foraging, Perennial herbs, Poisonous herbs, Shrubs, Wild herbs, , , ,

The weather is unusually warm again today, which has causes Chickweed to shrivel up and die and Poppies (not edible, but poisonous, a historically useful medicinal herb) to flower.

Here is Ribwort (Plantago lanceolata), discretely in flower amongst long grass.

Poisonous White Bryony, looking as though it fancies strangling the Juniper bush.

Motherwort flourishing, still at a useful stage for harvesting and tincturing.

Hedge bedstraw. Looking similar to Cleavers.

Angelica archangelica, with it’s out-of-this-world flower heads, towing over the other pond plants.

Watermint, or at least a mint species growing in water, will decide which soon. Low growing still, building its strength in readiness to flower.

Thank you! 365 Frankendael day 37

365 Frankendael, Foraging, Urban Herb Walks, Wild herbs


A big thank you to all the lovely people who walked from Amstel Station to Park Frankendael, with me today, looking at Urban Herbs along the way. The Sun shone, Elder bloomed, Garlic Mustard lingered, Mugwort shimmered and Poison Hemlock (NL: Gevlekte scheerling) stood guard over the park.

At the end of the walk, two of our group ran off to help a man who had fallen from his bicycle. He had a bleeding nose and a graze. Lynne and Olga hunted for Plantain and Yarrow and sorted him out – What quick learners!

I’m looking forward to learning more about Aloe vera & egg shampoo, Danish Hawthorn recipes and more, from some of the walkers.

The photo (courtesy of Frank de Graaf) shows us gathered at the end of the walk, near useful Willow (Salix), Meadowsweet (Filependula ulmaria) and Poisonous Euphorbia.

I hope that everyone has fun, safely foraging for herbs and making good use of them. I also hope that we will have the chance to meet again, perhaps to take a more leisurely look in the woodland area of Frankendael.

The next Urban Herbology Walk will be in Frankendael Park and a very small stretch of the street beside it, rather than a roadside walk, it will be on Friday 8th June 2012.

Here are links to some information about wild carrot and wild parsnip for those who were asking about those plants.

8th June 2012 Urbanherbology Walk – Park Frankendael

Foraging, Urban Herb Walks, Wild herbs, , , , , , ,


There is a lot of interest in wild plants at the moment. Perhaps because there is so much green around us, here in the city. To help more people appreciate some of the edible, medicinal and interesting herbs, growing within the city, I’m offering another Urban Herbology Walk, on Friday 8th May 2012, from the main gates of Frankendael Park.

The walk will start at 11am and every one interested in finding out about wild herbs, which can be found in central Amsterdam, is welcome to subscribe.

My previous walks have been great fun to organise and very well received.  We will take a relaxed look at the bounty of midsummer herbs to be found in and around the park. The walk will last about 90 minutes and will probably end at the lovely cafe/restaurant Merkelbach, situated just inside the main entrance of the park.

Cost per participant will be €8. Maximum 10 places. Previous walks have been oversubscribed, it is essential that those wishing to join me book ahead. Please email Lynn.Shore@gmail.com or call me on 0627 596930.

During the walk you will…
Receive a useful handout, to refer to after the walk
Learn how to find and identify some safe, useful, local herbs,
Learn how to harvest with respect for the environment,
Learn how to use herbs safely in several different ways,
Receive some tasty Urban Herbal recipes.

And of course you will get the chance to meet other folk who like to know a little more about what’s growing beneath and above them!  If it sounds interesting to you then please contact me.

365 Frankendael day 36

365 Frankendael, Foraging, Trees, Wild herbs, , , ,

Today again, is quite hot so the translucent and spiky Teasel (Dipsacus spp.) foliage does not have pools of water at the leaf bases.  Teasel shouldn’t be harvested at all, due to it’s wildlife benefits. But the pools of water which accumulate within them can be useful.

Here is a Burdock (Arctium lappa) plant preparing to flower.

Restaurant De Kas has a lovely herb and vegetable garden wrapped around it, within park Frankendael. Obviously it’s not for public harvesting but the fresh young leaves on the Copper Beech hedge around that garden, may look quite tasty to some.

Here’s the Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum) on the outside edge of the park, which I found some time ago. It now towers above my bike and it’s flowers are almost ready to open. Quite an imposing sight, close up.

Lastly today, two plants which I underuse from wild Amsterdam. If you have access to clean sources of Chickweed or Dandelion, they may be useful to you. There are many look a likes for both plants. Those for Chickweed are generally edible to but those for Dandelion are mostly not and some are poisonous.

Chickweed (Stellaria media) has a line of tiny fine hairs running down the medial line of the stems. Dandelion leaf teeth point downwards, but you need to have your guide book with you for this as any other edible plant, until you are totally secure about it’s identity. Here’s a nice link if you are interested in Chickweed and Dandelion in particular.

365 Frankendael day 35

365 Frankendael, Foraging, Perennial herbs, Shrubs, Trees, Wild herbs, , , , , , , , ,

Today a very speedy look around the park, in the late afternoon sunshine…

Roses are opening up all over the city. Perfect weather for them to bloom. This is one of my favorites in the park, Rosa arvensis, the Field Rose. Very pretty now and produces excellent hips in autumn.

Birthwort, NL: Pijpbloem (Aristotolochia clematis) highly poisonous, with some historic uses (and recent infamy from causing kidney failure when accidentally incorporated into ground wheat flour). I am looking forward to finding out what the Latin name is all about.

Lime leaves (Tilia) are mostly covered in something sweet & sticky at the moment. Either excrement from the masses of insects seeking out nectar from the new flowers, or the nectar itself dripping down onto lower leaves. I’m not too sure which it is but at the moment this sticky stuff is clear, but visible and certainly delicious. Wash it off or not, the leaves taste great and many blossoms are already present so let the harvest begin! In a short while the sticky covering will thicken and blacken. Then it needs a good scrub and or soak in clean water to get it all off. The leaves do stand up well to such treatment and can then be dried thoroughly for storage or used directly.

Sage, (Salvia officinalis). Beautiful and so tasty! Beware the power of Sage if taken in higher than culinary doses and stay away for it during the few few months of pregnancy. Not a tonic herb but a very useful one for the body and mind.

365 Frankendael day 33

365 Frankendael, Foraging, Wild herbs, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I don’t think a real Herbology session would be complete without at least a mention of frogs or toads and today I had great fun listening to mating frogs in a pond within Park Frankendael. No uses for these as they look and sound so great where they are, alive, kicking and trying so hard to make tadpoles, in the water.

Endangered Hoary plantain (Plantago media) in flower. I am so pleased to see this plant in the same location, a year on from first noticing it in the park. This year there are two plants instead of just one. I really hope it will reproduce unhindered this summer. Seeing it up close and in the proximity of Plantago major and Plantago lanceolata makes it easy to see why it was named P. media. The leaves are really about midway between the widths of the other two species.

Bistort is a herb I dont use much but I found this plant which looks very similar in the park. There are several patches growing well, near Frankendael Huis and it is in the labelled herb garden. Will have to do some more investigation to check the identiy.

I also found a huge patch of well hidden nettles in a shady place which doesn’t get as many visitors as other quarters of the park. Probably a good spot for harvesting the tops.

Chickweed (Stellaria media) worth a mention today for its array of self help medicinal uses and high vitamin and mineral content. It is neglected by many (including myself) through the summer months as there is so much edible plant life to choose from. But come midwinter most foragers will be pleased to add this to a plate. At midsummer chickweed won’t be visible anymore. It will then return after the hight of summer, when this season’s seeds start to germinate. Chickweed is big and delicious at this time of year. I’ll try to take a better photo of it tomorrow.

Lovely Pelargonium foliage.

Walnut foliage. Perhaps there is a tree near you. Have a look at Boskoi or similar apps and maps perhaps.

Cats Tail (Typha spp.) Not Bull rushes but yes, edible. I mentioned these a while ago when I spotted them on another edge of the park on day 17. All parts can help make a feast but why bother when you don’t know the water quality and they do look so stunning for everyone in town to enjoy.

Lastly, a statue close to the old Frankendael house. Beautiful flowering carrot family flowers and stinging nettles at its feet.

I’m looking forward to Claud Biemans joining me in the park tomorrow. She’s going to help me identify a couple of herbs which I have no clue about, but which smell amazing and are surely worthy of some attention.

Wild Herb Pasta

Food, Foraging, Wild herbs, , , , , , ,


If you enjoy making fresh pasta and would like to inject some herbal magic into your creations, this recipe may interest you. Fresh herb leaves are blended through the pasta as it is repeatedly rolled in a pasta machine.

I heard about incorporating basil in this way from a colleague, who’d been to an Italian cooking workshop. I’ve made pasta with nettle juice before but find that quite a slow process so I thought I’d try it this way but incorporating some unusual foraged and pot grown herbs.

This method is very easy, it just takes a little more time than regular pasta making. I’ve no idea if this is how the Italian workshop prescribed it but this way certainly works and produces very herby pasta!

If you don’t know how to make pasta I recommend Jamie Oliver’s method. It’s very simple and works for me everytime:

A. Basically fork 4 eggs into 400g of tipo00 flour.
B. Do what you can with the fork then knead it thoroughly with your hands.
C. Wrap in clingfilm, or similar and refrigerate for 2 hours or so.

Whilst it settles in the fridge, get foraging! I used garlic mustard, basil, ground elder and parsley when I took these photos. Use what you have available. Curley Parsley was a challenge to incorporate but it eventually broke down well and tasted great. The other herbs broke down very quickly. Obviously, use herbs which are safe for you and your guests. Basil for instance is often avoided by pregnant women. A small quantity is unlikely to harm but be aware that even seemingly innocuous culinary herbs, can be very potent.

Now, how to incorporate the herbs…

1. As you progressively roll your pasta dough in the usual way, through a pasta machine, or by hand with a rolling pin, simply lay a few herb leaves down the middle of the pasta sheet.

2. Fold over the two sides to cover the herbs.

3. Continue running the dough through the increasingly narrow pasta machine. Each run through, will break down the herbs. Eventually tiny fragments will be distributed throughout the entire pasta sheet – it’s quite extraordinary to watch it happen!

4. Keep going until the pasta dough is as thin a you like and cut or process it as you wish.

I always make heaps of pasta (6 eggs, 600g flour), we then eat a hearty pasta meal and freeze the rest in portion sized containers, when still fresh and just dry enough to handle.

365 Frankendael day 32

365 Frankendael, Foraging, Shrubs, Wild herbs, , , , , ,


Today a lovely elderflower on the Hugo de Vrieslaan edge of the park. There are Elder shrubs all over the city and now is the time to covet those in the cleanest spots. Each day for the next couple of weeks elder blossoms will burst open, inviting local insects to do their thing and foragers and herbalists to get harvesting! You only need a flower head or two to make a great addition to a meal. As I have mentioned recently, only seven flower heads are required for a hearty quantity of Elderflower Champagne. So if you want to pick elder flower, be nice, thi about how many you really need and spread your harvest between healthy well flowered shrubs. In years gone by, Elderflower lovers would know which local Elders yielded the sweetest flowers. These days I think it’s more a matter of where there are healthy shrubs in the least polluted areas. I’ll certainly be out and about in clean spots, with my paper bag and scissors, over the next few weeks.

It is possible to confuse Elderblossom with other flowers (such as distastful and smelly Ash blossom). Look closely at the photo here (which is deliberately large) and others in good guide books. Notice the way the inner male parts (stamens loaded with pollen) of the tiny flowers protrude between the petals. Notice the colors of the parts of the flowers. Elder blossom is a creamy white, not a stark white. The flower heads are flat, aligning themselves to attract insects the best they can. Learn the shape of the shrub. It is often a messy shape, with areas where quite brittle branches have stapped off. Elder can be enormous, like those against buildings and at other times can hug the ground where they constantly fight their way back from repeated attempts to prune them to death. Be nice to Your local Elders this foraging season. Get to know This herbal medicine chest and in time, it may become a good friend. See the comment about Elder on 365 day 20 for several useful Elder links.

Here’s my favourite Frankendael bus stop clump of mugwort again; still growing, still no flowers, still dreaming.

And finally today, a pretty Green Alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens) plant. Also from the edge of the park. Green Alkanet is a lovely plant with many uses. It is edible and medicinal.