This huge pile of useful Willow withies caught my eye today. It’s in Park Frankendael and just a couple made their way home with me, to be turned into round holders for colourful children’s steamers.
And these two photos were taken on my roof. Firstly Soapwort…
And Valerian.
Walking home from work today, I found some stunning catkin laden branches, lying beneath a street tree. The male catkins of this tree are very long and very colourful. I decided to take some of the fallen branches home. I then removed most of the catkins (to preserve the energy expenditure of the branch) and split it up into manageable pieces. Some of the lower bark from each branchlet needed to be scraped back and then each was placed in a vase of water. I have hopes that a few of the small branches will send out roots and become new plants.
The street tree that these branches came from is an Italian Alder (Alnus cordata), apparently a popular street tree due to the catkins, its overall beauty and vigour.
It’s possible to find beautiful cones, inconspicuous female flowers and the enormous male catkins, as well as large leaf buds, all at the same time. I was pleased to see that today. Alder is the only deciduous tree to bear cones.
Alder is linked to much folklore and tradition. It’s a wonderful tree with many uses. Look up Glennie Kindred, particularly her Earth Wisdom book, for lots of information about this tree (and others). It produces several beautiful dyes. The leaves are usefully made into a cooling, soothing poultice or compress for swellings. Much like Plantain (Plantago sp), the leaves can cool and soothe the weary feet of travelers, by simply placing them inside of footwear.
Today was Forest school again and I finally identified this tree in Beatrix park by nipping of a leaf bud and chewing it very gently and thoughtfully! The taste was unmistakable – Lime tree (Tilia sp).
The taste itself was mild for a tree bud but more importantly upon prolonged chewing it released a large amount of gooey unctuous mucilage – as does fresh Lime blossom. It also tasted exactly the same as those midsummer blossoms. I was very pleased to find this as I have a real fondness of Lime and it’s lovely to now know a tree with low hanging branches and hence flowers in midsummer.
Today was the sixth meeting of my first apprenticeship group. It was a very cold day! We did find lots of herbal variety in the park however. Here are a few of our finds…
This strong scented Labiate, which I don’t recognise but looks less like a Figwort than when I found it last week!
Primula vulgaris, not for picking in this area as the plants are scarce. Pretty and useful though.
Wild garlic, still abundant but a little bartered by the recent cold weather.
And lastly, Woodland Geranium.
Just a quick photo today, of an edible and reputedly medicinal plant which takes a lot of work to remove from a garden!
These are the tiny but unmistakable early leaves of Ground elder (Aegopodium podograria, NL: Zevenblad). I really enjoy eating this plant through the spring and early summer. If the soil it grows in, is unpolluted then eating it certainly beats fighting it, in my book anyway. The plant is part of the Carrot family and has a distinct parsley flavour. It goes well with lots of foods (steamed fish being my favourite) and is easy to prepare and cook (simply clean it, finely chop it and sprinkle over the cooking food for ten minutes cooking).
My second apprenticeship group gathered for the first time today and headed for the woods of Park Frankendael.
What a pleasure it was to meet these lovely women, even if on a rainy day!
We found several beautiful and useful plants on our walk. My hands seized-up with the cold, part way round so I couldn’t take many photos but here’s a list of our main seasonal herbal finds…
Primrose ( Primula vulgaris )
Not for picking, in any shape or form due to the scarcity but a valued remedy of old.
Pestites japonica (Fuki). In resplendant bloom!
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Nose bleed is an old name for this feminine, feathery wound herb with a fascinating ability to regulate blood flow.
Wild garlic (Allium ursinum), is everywhere at present. It is developing at different rates in different locations, even within the same woods.
Violet (Viola ….)
Heartsease, literally.
A pink/red flowering Pestasites, soon to be found sporting gigantic kidney shaped leaves.
Elder (Sambucus nigra). With snapable, soft pith-filled branches and almost year round leaves – if you look around carefully. The green parts contain a potent toxin which is metabolised to cyanide in the body. The ripe berries and flowers are great though! The leaves make a wonderful external remedy also.
Yellow archangel (Lamiastrum galeobdolon)
Hedgerow geranium (Geranium pyrenaicum)
Here is a sign of things to come…
Tiny Stinging nettle plants popping up in pavement cracks. There are perennial and annual nettles in Amsterdam. Both are useful but I find the perennials stronger and more potent. Both are rich sources of nutrients which can boost iron levels, energy levels and calcium levels – and a host of other useful things!
Just a quick photo today – Evergreen and ever tasty Rosemary, in an Amsterdam geveltuin.
I think that these are early leaves of Scrophularia nodosa (Common Figwort), the foliage smells like it but I haven’t noticed it this early in the year before. Time and flowers will tell.
Above, Lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis) again. This time with a mixture of pink and purple flowers. It really stands out at this time of year.
Here is pretty wild Dog Violet (Viola riviniana).
Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica). Rich in protein (10%!), vitamins and nourishing minerals. This one could be harvested now but I’ll wait for slightly larger plants, to allow leaves to be left on the plant, after I harvest tender tops.
And this spring beauty is Petasites japonica (Japanese butterbur). I think it’s an absolutely beautiful plant and feel very fortunate to have found this one in full bloom in good light today, and in a place I could actually reach! It grows in park Frankendael in just a few places along side three water, on the steepest banks where I guess most people don’t dare to tred, consequently it survives year on year. In Japan this spring growth causes excitement in markets where it is sold as delicacy. It is used as an astma and migraine medicine but contains alkaloids which are toxic to the liver and are strongly linked with some cancers. So consumption should be limited! I have been waiting for this day for a couple of years, since wondering if those massive kidney shaped leaves of late spring/summer, in pockets along the waterways of Amsterdam which so looked like Fuki (Japanese butterbur) really were the real deal. I’m quite happy this evening. Of course not all of the big summer Fuki-like leaves belong to this plant, some are completely unrelated and inedible to say the least. That’s one reason why identification with flowers and watching a plant for it’s whole lifecycle is so important.
Beautiful perennial Stinging nettle. This plant is becoming more verdent by the day.
Here is Ivy (Hedera helix) clambering gracefully up a woodland tree in Beatrix park.
Urban Herbology 