Category Archives: Blog

365 Frankendael day 364

365 Frankendael,

I can’t believe I’ve been doing this for a day less than a year, today.  Hard to look at any plants without thinking of how to use them. I think that there are worse things to get hooked on though!

Today, Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), small leaves at the moment but plenty of it around.

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Also Geranium species are getting stronger everywhere. They are evergreen in this climate but the energy is definitely stirring in them at the moment – meaning they taste better and have more potency.

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Also, new beautiful and incredibly useful Plantain (Plantago major) plants everywhere, if you look carefully.

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And lastly today Dandelion (Taraxacum officinalis agg). Bitter, tasty, medicinal, everywhere, free!

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365 Frankendael day 363

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Garlic Mustard seems to be everywhere at the moment, and Stinging Nettle and Ground Ivy! I didn’t take very many photos today but here is a pavement crack full of minty, flowering Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacae):

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I picked a small handful to make tea, from a lovely clean woodland edge.

And here is a very windy photo of Cleavers (Gallium aparine), which is also everywhere I look at present, on the ground at least. Soon it will start to scale up shrubs and wire fences, becoming very visible to everyone.
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I didn’t take any Nettle photos today – was to busy picking them. Plenty of them are ready for making infusions, pasta and whatever else you fancy.

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Here above is Burdock (Artica lappa, NL: Klit). An extremely useful herb. Well worth learning what you can do with it. I’m not one for harvesting roots in the city but all parts of the plant are useful to some degree. Here’s a useful Burdock link.

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And lastly, Dock (Rumex sp). Where I come from, everyone knows that rubbing Dock on a Nettle sting, takes the firey pain away. But there are far more users for this edible plant. At this time of year, and if you don’t suffer from Gout, Rheumatism or other uric acid related ailments, you may fancy cooking a dock leaf or three as a sour tasting vegetable. It contains oxalic acid, as in sorrel and rhubarb. So it tastes sour and shouldn’t be consumed too often.

365 Frankendael day 362

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Very pretty Maple tree, in flower close to Amstel Station.

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And I was really happy to find a tree pit full of Winter Purslane / Miner’s Lettuce (perfolium) along side the park today.

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See how similar the Miner’s lettuce looks to this other plant at first glance. Both were growing in the same patch of dirt. But the leaves are a little different and crucially, the flowers all have a different number of petals. This third plant today is a Speedwell ( Veronica) species.

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365 Frankendael day 360

365 Frankendael, Apprenticeship

In five days time, I’ll have been charting the edible and medicinal herbs of this little corner of Amsterdam, for one year. It has been eye opening to me and has brought me lots of unexpected gifts.

One of these is my apprenticeship programme. Today the first group meet for the seventh time. We took cuttings of the medicine chest Elder shrub (Sambucus nigra),

Cleavers (Gallium aparine)

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Beautiful and useful Fumitory (Fumaria officinalis)
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Found Wild garlic (Allium ursinum) yet again.

Comfrey (Symphytum uplanicum x)

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Looked at Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna),

Munched on samples of Common Horehound (Marrubium vulgaris),
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Sniffed the unmistakable scent of Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfare)

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and ever so bitter Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca).

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We looked at simple to make Ivy (Hedera helix) shapes.

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Ideas for balcony Moon Gardens.

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And after our session I found Garlic Mustard.

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365 Frankendael day 359

365 Frankendael

I visited Delft today and was pleased to notice just the same useful “weeds”there that I am used to finding here in Amsterdam.

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This tree planter arrangement caught my eye. It uses wire mesh and small additional lips pod garden wire, to hold pot plants against a street tree. I’m not sure how the mesh was originally attached to the tree but it now seems to cut into the bark in places which is not at all healthy for the tree. The planted hybrid Primroses could easily be substituted for non hybrid varieties of numerous herbs.

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And here is one of my herbal plant pots. This is a healthy and useful Ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea), growing beside my front door.

365 Frankendael day 358

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We had a lovely walk to Jeugdland in Oost Amsterdam today and founds lots of wonderful herbs along the way and at the playground.

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Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) NL: Bijvoet.
This is the first I have found this year and as it’s a regular part of my diet I am delighted that I’ll be able to eat it fresh (rather than dried our in vinegar) from now until the autumn. This plant is a little too small to harvest from but it won’t be long until the leaves are well established. This one was especially easy to identify because some of lasts years dried stems and give away foliage were still attached to the plant.

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Elder (Sambucus nigra) NL: Vlier. Here it us growing out from beneath a bridge.

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Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfare) in flower.

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And Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) NL: Douzendblad. Thousands of succulent, medicinal and edible (for some, in moderation) leaves, along Valentijnkade. I suspect they are enjoying the warmth of the brick walk beside the old Jewish cemetery. These are the biggest and best looking I’ve seen since last year.

365 Frankendael day 356

365 Frankendael

What a beautiful colour this plant is! It’s a type of Sow Thistle and here it is growing against a house on the Middenweg. It’s an edible plant but very bitter.

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Also today, my favourite clump of edible and medicinal Hollyhock (Alcea rosae). It’s nice to watch one plant change through the year, a lot can be learned that way, little by little. I’ve enjoyed charting the progress of this one.

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And lastly a quick photo of my close to home treepit/boomspeigel, with it’s springtime look. No herbs for the pot, it’s far too accessible to dogs and cats, but very useful to me and local insects none the less.

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In the pit you may be able to spot Wormwood, Primrose, Pansy, Wild garlic, Ivy, Curry plant, Chickweed, Lemonbalm, Grape hyacinth. All are edible (in the right spot) and medicinal.

Herbal Moon Gardens

Growing herbs

Last month, I asked my apprentices to think about planting a herbal moon garden, in whatever space they can find. I finally got around to making my own last night.

The idea of a moon garden, for me at least, is to welcome the moonlight into a peaceful outdoor space. Moon gardens catch the moonlight with plants and reflective objects. They are spaces to meditate or just sit at night whilst able to see and smell beautiful herbs. I like to know where the Moon is in its monthly cycle and creating a space to contemplate the moon is a good way to keep that connection. Here’s a link to previous UH information about gardening by the moon.

Colours
Most gardens are planted with daylight in mind, this is of course understandable. I still needed to consider the amount of sunlight in my chosen location but when selecting plants, I looked for colours that linger as the sun goes down. Silver and white flowers and foliage are generally the last ones you will see as the sun sets completely. Blues and violets are the next colours to fade and are associated with spirituality and intuition.

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Location
Choose somewhere safe and accessible to you at night and where plants will grow! Preferably select someplace where you can see the moon as it charts its path across the sky. This is not always possible of course. Try your best for a moon view but above all aim for somewhere that is relaxing in the evening and nighttime. I chose the sheltered upstairs balcony of my home. I can always get to it, plants grow there, it often provides a glimpse of the moon and is a little further away from barbecuing neighbours and signs of active daily life. My balcony gets some sun but faces North-East. It becomes quite windy up there, especially in the winter so I’ll try to provide extra protection for the plants as the year moves on. All of my plants are in pots, due to my home being an above ground apartment, so I must also be able to water and feed the plants.

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Moon Garden Herbs
I tried to find herbs with silvery leaves as well as white, purple or violet coloured flowers. But my main aim was for a succession of flowers and of course I wanted only edible and medicinal plants. The herbs I chose should provide a succession of colour from March to September. Later in the year, I’ll see how the plants have managed, will move some away and add others to fill gaps in the flowering year.

Crystals, Light, Shapes
I have added a few crystals to the balcony, to catch the moon light. Also a couple of pretty candle holders to produce extra light when I want it. The shapes I have added remind me of the moon. So far I have a woven willow ball, a little star decoration, some amethyst and quartz crystals. I’ll add more as time goes on but for now I am pleased to have created an edible and medicinal herbal moon garden which I enjoy glimpsing during the day and sitting in at the night.

Now I know that not all of you will be limited to creating a moon garden in a pot, balcony or other small space. I also know that you may be far more creative than me! So he are a few links which may inspire you to get out your gardening tools and get planting a moon garden…

Images of moon gardens
Plants that give scent at night
Moon garden herbs