Category Archives: Growing herbs

A Witch’s Dozen – 365 day 192

365 Frankendael, Growing herbs, Poisonous herbs, Potions, Urban Herb Walks

Thank you to everyone who braved the autumnal weather and joined me this evening for the Witch’s Dozen herb walk through the woods of Park Frankendael and the gathering afterwards in Merkelbach. Ten weatherproof women and two mini foragers, joined me for a seasonal walk through the woods as day turned to dusk then night. Merkelbach was a lovely place to end the full moon day.

Here’s my photo of the day, a little shaky and wet after the Witch’s dozen walk. I hope it gives the idea anyway.

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Flying ointment recipes were mentioned. I found many different recipes whilst researching for the walk but the one written here, seemed the best without being full of plants which we all know are highly toxic. Traditional recipes seem to have included herbs such as belladonna, datura, mandrake, opium poppy, water hemlock, monkshood, foxglove, Balm of Giliad (balsam of poplar trees), calamus root, cannabis, clary sage, dittany of Crete, mugwort, tansy, wormwood, and yarrow.

If you’d like to seriously look into the magical tradition of flying then perhaps take a look at this blog entry by The Witch of Forest Grove. It is nicely detailed.

I’m not one for the seriously toxic ingredients so kept hunting until I found the following recipe. It was posted on the wisewomanforum by a woman called Lady Belladonna in 2004 and she seemed to have had fun with it. All the ingredients grow locally although vervain probably resides indoors at this time of year in Amsterdam. I can’t recall where she said that she got the recipe from or if she concocted it herself, so I’m calling it…

Lady Belladonna’s Flying Ointment

1/4 cup grated beeswax
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp. of each of the following herbs, dried:
cinquefoil
vervain
mugwort
thistle
1 tsp ash (recipe called for chimney soot – LB used her own mix of ash from a marijuana joint mixed with a dried leaf of Diviner’s Sage – “more fun getting this together than cleaning out a chimney!”)
1/2 tsp of benzoin powder
1/2 tsp of clove oil

Combine the beeswax and olive oil in a double boiler and melt over low heat. Finely powder the herbs in your mortar and pestle. When beeswax and oil is melted, add in the herbs, benzoin and clove oil. Stir clockwise, empowering with your intent or saying whatever charm or spell you wish. LB also added a couple drops of sandalwood oil for the fragrance. Simmer gently for about 10 minutes, strain through cheesecloth into a heatproof jar, and let cool.
Apply and Fly!

Urban Outsiders Exhibition at Huize Frankendael

365 Frankendael, Places, , , , ,

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I had an invitation to the launch evening, on Friday, of Urban Outsiders at Huize Frankendael. I managed a quick whizz around the exhibits just before the end of that event. It contains some really beautiful things, from a walk in Permaculture style caravan to illuminated flower pictures, to unusual herb photos to interesting branch sculpture. I’m far more earthy than arty but I thoroughly enjoyed it and will be back to have a slow look inside.

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I recommend anyone interested in the melding of art and nature to visit Urban Outsiders, at Huize Frankendael by the 4th November. The agenda shows when the exhibition is teamed with other interesting events – such as a breakfast, guided tour and meal.

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The three outside exhibits can be viewed for free but entry to the house (and I really enjoyed the chance to nose around in there!) is only €3.50 for adults (free for children).

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I don’t know if the lady in I spoke to in Merkelbach will ever read this but here is one of those Jerusalem artichokes (NL: Aardpeer)

Funded River of Herbs Course!

Growing herbs, River of Herbs, , , ,

The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation is currently offering a limited number of grants (vouchers) to environmental volunteers who want to follow workshops/trainings in the area of nature and landscape management. If you want to learn how to participate in the River of Herbs project then this could be you!

River of Herbs is an innovative urban green initiative which aims to:

Increase the amount of edible and medicinal herbs growing in urban spaces.
Fill dull spaces with beautiful flowering herbs
Help urban wildlife
Increase food security
Encourage community participation in the care of urban spaces.

I have put together a River of Herbs training course, which you can sign up for and if you apply quickly the package will be totally covered by the available grants. My training course (worth 125Euro per person) falls way below the 1000 Euro maximum voucher request per applicant. I want this project to make a positive impact on the city so I’d love as many people as possible to get involved.

The deadline for applications to the Ministry is November 9th. But if you are interested in this you should contact me immediately so I can group you with others and make the application.

River of Herbs Training Package:
5 practical meetings (each 2 hours and on Sundays, in Amsterdam) covering the following topics, each time we meet. This training will give you the skills you need to confidently set up Urban Herb Meadows, keep them going, use them safely and involve others in the project too.

1. Ethical Urban Seed Collection and Storage
2. Identifying Spaces (tiny and large) for Urban Herb Meadows
3. Preparing, Planting & Caring for Urban Herb Meadows
4. Community Involvement with River of Herbs (sharing, helping, sharing)
5. Harvesting and Safely Using Plant Material from Urban Herb Meadows
6. Internet Mapping of Urban herb Meadow Locations and Blogging
7. Being run by Lynn Shore, each session will also include:
– an Urban Herb Walk
– printed info about the medicinal and edible properties of suitable herbs for the project
– the opportunity to stay in touch via my Urban Herbology Facebook group – a slice of cake now and then!

Please let me know straight away if this is interesting to you. lynn.shore@gmail.com

Dates for the training to be fixed in the next few days but all will be on Sundays, starting in January, to give more people the chance to participate and get this project really flowing through the city!!

Workshop: Growing Exotic Herbs

Exotic herbs, Growing herbs, ,

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I’m running a workshop with Suzanne of City Plot (an urban farming collective), this October. Well show you how to cheaply spice up your house plant collection with unusual, tasty and useful exotic herbs such as Ginger, Papaya and Tamarind. What better way to increase your homegrown herb supplies, create a talking point and cut down on food miles!

Suzanne will teach you how to grow the plants from scratch and how to maintain them whilst I’ll show you how to use the exotics to make home remedies and tasty food items.

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Join us:
Sunday October 14th,
11.00am-1.00pm
Proef restaurant
(garden/inside depending on weather),
Westerpark, Amsterdam.
Cost (including all materials) €25
Max 10 places

Currently 4 places left.

You are welcome to book with me directly, with
Cityplot directly or via the Meetup group.

We’ve chosen this venue because the organic restaurant garden is planted and maintained by Cityplot. It’s a very interesting and inspiring place for city gardeners!

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Booking requires pre payment which is totally refundable if you cancel up to 24 hours before the event. If you cancel later than that and we find a replacement, you’ll also receive a full refund.

We very much hope to see you there!

365 Frankendael day 131

365 Frankendael, Foraging, Growing herbs, , , , ,

Today I looked at small herbs, growing along the Middenweg, which could easily be”weeded” out and replanted in locations where they could be allowed to grow unhindered and provide food…

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Here’s a little Hazel, coppiced by repeated strimmings and strong.

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Lavender. Smells great, tastes interesting but more useful for remedies and use in the home. Consider adding a handful of the flowers or fresh seeds to a small jar of honey, infuse for anything from a few days and use on minor burns.

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Hollyhock, seeds. Now’s the time to collect them and help new plants grow where you’d like them.

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Olive, with little Olives! We lost our roof top Olive last winter, during the drop freeze, but they can do just fine here, if protected in mid winter. No need to wait for the fruit, the leaves are also useful.

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A very well trodden Plantain. These look great in a put and are so useful.They do well in tree pits, are evergreen and can look quite attractive.

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Chickweed, one if my favorites for food and remedies, even in the winter. grown in a put they can make a thick yet delicate edible herbal carpet.

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Dandelion. So useful and so bitterly tasty! Encourage strong roots by digging the soil before transplanting to your chosen location.

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Lastly today, Rosebay willowherb. Such pretty and tasty flowers.

365 Frankendael Day 129

365 Frankendael, Growing herbs

I am now back in Amsterdam but too late to visit park Frankendael today, so here is a twilight photo of the tree pit which I care for outside of my house.

It has faired very well over the summer. The self seeded Artemisia absinthium (Wormwood) is looking very strong, self seeded Geraniums also like the spot and a few other plants too. These include a Curry plant ( Also a type of Artemisia I think), Lavender, Calendula from seed, Mint, Ivy (that has less of a good time in the warm months) and Goldenrod.

Thanks ever so much to the people who sent me photos of edible plants in Amsterdam, whilst I was away. It was great to see what the plants were doing and also to be able to add an entry to this project every day.

I’m really looking forward to visiting the park tomorrow.

Golfball Hailstones in the Morvan

Growing herbs,

There are so many beautiful plants here in the Morvan, stunning landscapes and sometimes dramatic weather – as we discovered yesterday.

Here are a few supersized hailstones from one of the storms that reined down on us yesterday evening in France. It was quite an experience, I imagine similar to being trapped infront of a tennis ball practise machine that has been loaded with golfballs and turned on the fastest, hardest setting. Protected behind double glazing and shutters during such a storm was quite entertaining but our car did not fair well. It now sports hundreds of substantial dents and drew incredulous glances as we cruised by a local market today.

Many trees lost boughs and branches. Many smaller plants have been snapped in two or punctured cleanly by the hail. It did taste very refreshing though and in a way was welcome relief from the soaring temperatures.

I heard that recent weather has been quite disastrous for wine producers of the Burgany region. Now I can empathise when I hear of “hail” spoiling crops.

Elder and Sugar Plant Cuttings

Growing herbs, Wild herbs,

How are you’re Elder babies getting on? Did they survive the dark wet weather and then the recent heat wave? It’s almost a month, since we snipped them from their parent bushes on Hugo de Vrieslaan and I know some have had a tough time. But be confident and don’t give them up for dead, even if they look lifeless. Just water when they or the soil seems to need it, they don’t like having soggy feet but they don’t like drying out either. Elder (Sambucus nigra) is once of the easiest cuttings to grow, they stand a very good chance.

Mine are in a quiet north facing balcony corner, with a large plastic bag at their base. I loosly pull it up when I feel it’s too windy for them, or too sunny. I pull it down at other times, when I remember. One cutting lost it’s leaves quite soon but now has fresh green buds. The other two have kept hold of their leaves and show new growth. I’m very pleased.

Here is a cutting I took from Youko’s Sugar plant. This is not Stevia and it’s clearly not Sugarcane or anything similar but it does taste of sugar – a lot! Youko, could you tell me the real name when you have a chance? I thought it died on the way home, it looked so limp for a couple of weeks, but it didn’t dry up so I kept faith and just monitored the soil wetness. Not too wet, not too dry, as with the Elder. I kept it in a similar location to where Youko has hers. Yesterday it seemed to gain energy (probably from roots!). It now looks positively perky and sports new leaves! I think it is now through the most tricky cutting phase so hopefully I’ll have a nice healthy plant for some time to come.

I’d love to hear how your Elder cuttings are getting on, and other plants you are trying to proliferate. Likewise, whilst I can’t take photos of herbs in Frankendael, I’d really love to receive any photos of plants you think may be edible or medicinal, in Amsterdam.

Hollyhock Seeds & Fraunhofferstraat

River of Herbs, Seed saving,

Here are some Hollyhock seed heads from the plant which found its way to my geveltuin last year. I harvested one really dry, ripe seed head today and collected the seeds from within. They are beautifully arranged in a wheel-like pattern and are big enough for kids to deal with.

Hollyhock is a biennial, is quite beautiful and can be used to soothe inflammation for such things as cystitis and sore throats and offers a remedy for several chest complaints such as persistent coughs and bronchitis. It is a close relative of Marsh Mallow. Obviously Hollyhocks won’t make a suitable remedy for everyone with a bad chest but it’s a good enough reason for me to want to proliferate them in the city.

I’ll be sewing some of these seeds in nearby tree pits this week and saving others to plant later, just I case the first batch fail.

Since I wrote about the untended tree pits close to my home, on Fraunhofferstraat, they have magically been tidied up! I don’t know when it happened or who did it but every single tree pit now looks really tidy, seems to have been hoed and is ready for seeding or planting! Thank you whoever it was!! I began with sewing some poppy seeds at the weekend and will move a few useful pretty herbs in there, which I find in pavement cracks etc.