Category Archives: 365 Frankendael

365 day 69 Green Peace Walks

365 Frankendael, Foraging

I’ve given myself a day away from Park Frankendael. I led three Herb walks in Amsterdamse Bos, for staff of Green Peace and wanted to share a photo of a plant from that location instead. Around 60 members of the staff joined me to look at some herbs found there and in central Amsterdam.  As ever I learned some interesting uses for plants from those attending, such as rubbing nettles on sore muscles, to increase the local circulation. Also that burned Chicory is still sometimes used to bulk up coffee before trading it internationally and how baking powder makes a good vegetable cleaner. Very interesting people. Thank you all for a lovely day!

So here’s my urban herb photo of the day, a lovely patch of Enchanters Nightshade (Circaea lutetiana) does grow plentifully in Frankendael and I identified it there yesterday but here’s some in de Bos. I hope you don’t mind the venue switch for today…

I found a lovely clump of Gypsy wort, growing on the edge of the canoe lake and am intrigued to know more about it’s uses and name. That plant also grows thoughout the city so I’ll have a hunt for it very soon.

365 Frankendael day 68

365 Frankendael,

The battery in my camera was flat today so I picked a sprig of this plant to help me identify it at home. I’ve been seeing lots of it in shady areas recently, I find it very pretty but it doesn’t small familiar when picked and it reminds me of poisonous Dog’s Mercury (Mercurialis perennis), whenever I see it.

I identified it using three field guides as an edible wound herb called Enchanter’s Nightshade (Circaea lutetiana), known a Groot Heksenkruid (large witches herb) in Dutch. It is in the plant family containing Evening Primrose and Rosebay Willowherb, which are also edible and available at present. The Latin name arises from the Ancient Greek witch/enchantress Circe, who is said to have used the herb frequently in her potions. A nice tale. If this side of the plant’s history interests you, perhaps scroll through this link for further details. The common English name is somewhat confusing, this plant is not related to the poison containing Nightshade (Solanaceae) family.

I need to find out more about it but this evening, will be sampling a tiny amount of Enchanter’s Nightshade, well cooked in a pasta based potion, to check I react favourably to the herb. Hopefully all will go well and I’ll be able to point it out on the Green Peace walks tomorrow.

365 Frankendael day 67

365 Frankendael, Foraging, Trees, Wild herbs,

Today I cycled along the Lime tree lined route from home to Amstel Station. So many of the tree canopies along that road are within grabbing height from my bike. Some of the trees are still preparing to open their delicious flowers, others are in full, fresh bloom and still others are setting seed and thus carry fading blooms. These should be avoided by foragers as they are past their best tastewise and may even cause ill health. They also are not stable for drying and I wouldn’t want to preserve them by tincturing or other methods.

The photo above shows a just-fading cluster of Lime tree (Tilia sp.) flowers. Notice the colour of the stamens, stigmas and petals. Fresh, bursting-with-sweet-glutinous-goodness Lime flowers are a crisp, pale cream colour. Those past their best are at first pink/beige then brown. You should be able to see all of these in the photo. If you want to forage Tilia flowers, choose only those in clean locations (well, as clean as possible) which are either about to pop open or are recently open and very fresh looking and tasting.

Here is a link to Linden Schnaaps (basically a very quick tincture).

365 Frankendael day 66

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Here is beautiful and extremely poisonous native climber called White Bryony (Bryonia alba), which I noticed today in a shady Frankendael hedgerow, growing over some Stinging Nettles. This is a new place for me to spot the plant. It also luxuriates throughout the woodland quarter of the park, where I see it a lot. It grows all around the city and thrives with something to scramble up and over, so it is often found against fences, hedges and shrubs. At the moment, whilst in flower it is even easier to identify.


Above is Yarrow (Achillia millefolium), flowering all over the city at present. A very useful and tasty herb. Known as Nosebleed in some parts, it has the ability to staunch or start bleeding. Not one for pregnancy or infancy. A prized women’s herb.

I thought I’d take this photo today to show how easy it can be to confuse plants. It shows Pensylvannian Pellitory (Parietaria pensylvanica) my neighbours’ dog’s favourite, growing beside a seed-setting White Deadnettle ( Lamium alba). Both are edible and both are, amongst other things, both are diuretics. Do you know which is which?

Lastly today, here is a sure sign that the main Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petoilata) season is coming to an end. Today I spotted lots of very yellow looking plants, putting all their remaining energy into seed production, rather than those delicious leaves. So if you have a penchant for this plant, now is the time to harvest from the small, younger plants . Please remember to leave the plants with plenty of foliage and the seed pods intact. That way, hopefully we can all benefit from a good crop next year.

365 Frankendael day 65

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Today has been busy, with a brief Lime Blossom meetup and a poorly cat being taken to the emergency clinic, so just a very brief post today…
Above is a photo of Hedge Woundwort (Stachys sylvatica). A member if the compare family, with very strongly smelling foliage which I have mentioned previously. It makes quite a good tea and can act as a digestive, I use it now and again to help digest rich meals but am not a big fan of the pungent angel. It was historically a wound herb, as the English name suggests. It can be made into a poultice, historically with vinegar and used to help reduce inflammation and speed wound healing. This plant grows plentifully on the waters edge in various parts of Park Frankendael. However, due to today’s cat adventure, the photo was taken at the shaded edge of a children’s playground, two blocks from the park.

Secondly a photo of an magnificent Carrot family plant called Hogweed, taken through the Animal Clinic window on Isolaterweg. I’ve seen this amazing plant in many city locations recently and want to mention it briefly today. Obviously I was more interested in my cat when I spotted this one so didn’t measure it or get my field guide out but it is most likely either the toxic, irritating Giant Hogweed/Wild Rhubarb or the closely related Common Hogweed which some foragers, not myself, are rather fond of eating. River Cottage country living guru, Hugh Fernley Wittingstall, apparently loves eating the young tender shoots. Look on the River Cottage website and forum for lots of ideas, if this plant interests you.

365 Frankendael day 64

365 Frankendael, Foraging, Perennial herbs, Wild herbs,

Here is a spindly wild plant that needs a closer look to be appreciated. It is Chicory or Succory (Cichorium intybus). The Dutch nation seems to love to eat the leaf heads of a cultivated & blanched version of this plant, called Witloof. Wild Chicory is best known for its tasty bitter roots which can be roasted and ground to produce a useful though non medicinal, substitute (or addition to) coffee. The young leaves of Wild Chicory (scroll through link for photo) are very tasty, not dissimilar to Dandelion and favoured by some bitter-leaf connoisseurs, for their more delicate flavour. They are rich in bone strengthening Calcium and Magnesium and may be eaten raw in salads through most of the year, or gently cooked. The green leaves, grown in open light, are far more bitter than their blanched sisters. To blanch a plant such as this it must be grown in complete darkness for a season. It is also simple to make a vinegar from Chicory roots and leaves, please see Susun Weed but where I live, there is not enough of this plant to harvest any roots.

To harvest the root, the hardy perennial plant must die and that is not reasonable here but by pot-growing your own, on a balcony (or in your work locker as my friend Micheal used to do at De Hortus) you may be able to produce a tasty and unusual crop for personal use.

Apart from being something of a bitter delicacy, Chicory was historically prised as a non-irritatant laxative, suitable for children when prepared as a syrup or similar. It is also a diuretic and a tonic herb, rather like Dandelion. Being strongly bitter, it acts as a Liver strengthening tonic. The flowers were used historically to make an anti inflammatory eye wash. All parts of the plant are edible and generally seen as safe but historical texts point to over consumption causing unusual side effects such as congesting the blood supply of digestive organs and depleting the power of the retina. They also saw it as unsuitable for people with easily depleated energy. Some modern herbals also point out that Chicory root is an emmenagogue, so it is best avoided during pregnancy.

This Frankendael plant is preparing to flower at the moment and what beautiful blue flowers they will be! I hope to save some of it’s seeds, if the plant is left undisturbed long enough for them to ripen and sow then next spring.

365 Frankendael day 63

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I went hunting for a specific herb in the park today, for my neighbours’ dog. Parietaria officinalis, Pellitory-of-the-wall (NL: Groot glaskruid) or something extremely closely related to it, seems to be a favorite walk-time snack for young Tobias and we are all wondering what it is about this particular plant that he enjoys and needs. To identify the plant, I had to find it growing and take a close look. Here’s a link to some historical information about Pellitory of the wall and it’s uses. It is still revered by some herbalists as a urinary system tonic which is safe for children and adults (unless they suffer from hayfever and allergies). It is also used to treat urinary system complaints, when they arise, such as cystitis. Historically many more trusted it’s ability to treat cystitis, prostratitis, kidney and bladder stones, nephritis, urine retention and dropsy, more effectively than any other herb. It is a diuretic, emollient and sedative. It is commonly used today as an emollient in products such as baby creams and lotions. There are also those who use it as a wound herb, as a window and copper cleanser and to sooth burns and scalds. Here’s an interesting link for more information on these less well documented uses.

The plant is a non-stinging member of the Stinging Nettle family, Urticaceae. Its upper leaf surfaces are smooth and the lower suface veins are tufted with hairs. The flowers are discrete and clustered around the base of the leaves. The diuretic action of the plant is due to it containing very high levels of Potassium nitrate (KNO3).

The plant which grows in the park has a crucial difference, it has green stems rather than the red stems which are indicitive of P. officinalis. Also it is softly hairy all over, whereas P. officinalis is hairy on the stems and lower leaf sides. It seems to be Parietaria pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Pellitory, which is known to be naturalized in Europe. It smells very pleasantly like stinging nettles and tastes similar to nettle but lighter and more fresh almost like a cucumber, when chewed. It is sometimes called Pensylvania Cucumber plant and I am looking forward to developing some nice recipes for this plant. All members of the Parietaria Genus seem to share the same high pollen allergy properties and I have found a few US accounts of it being used as a food and medicine plant to help urinary tract problems, in just the same way as P. officinalis. Here’s an interesting link about using the Genus. Please note that one Parietaria species, with red stems, is known as Asthma weed in Australia. It produces pollen which a great number of people are allergic to.

So, Tobias seems to know what he’s looking for. Parietaria pensylvanica grows very well in several parts of Frankendael, all of which are dry, shady woodland habitats. Now I know more about this genus of plants, I can’t wait to get out my scissors, jam jar and vodka to make a Parietaria pensylvanica tincture. The well documented herb Pellitory of the wall, is also effective as an infusion, juice and decoction. Perhaps my neighbours may like to try adding a drop of Pensylvania cucumber plant tincture to Tobias’ water bowl each day, to see if that helps satisfy his need for the chemicals found inside the plant?

365 Frankendael day 62

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


Some common “weed” plants have the most subtely beautiful flowers and I think that Ribwort (Plantago lanceolata)  is one such plant.  Many of you already know of the merits of this wonderful first aid herb and I hope that more appreciate how pretty the flowers are.  I think they ar quite incredible creations and couldn’t resist another Ribwort photo today on an outer edge of the park.  There are many Plantago species growing here. Another notable one which has settled in my roof pots is Plantago major. It has broad leaves and it not as highly prized for it’s medicinal qualities but it none the useful.  Douzens of seedlings have taken root in my pots and they are very useful for first aid. Yesterday I was harvesting rooftop Gooseberries and Blackcurrants with my daughter and we chewed on and a leaf or two before gently rubbing the sap onto her berry bush scratches.  It worked a treat and was much quicker to apply and work physically (and mentally) than any remedy I have inside of the house.

If Ribwort and making remedies at home interests, you may like to join me for a small workshop near the next New Moon.


Here is Greater celandine, a wonderful plant with poisonous/potent orange sap, which can often help with unwelcome skin growths, such as warts and corns.  Today I noticed lots of Greater Celandine setting seed and I look forward to collecting some when the time comes.  Below is a lovely picture of the plant drawn and painted by Elodie some time ago. Sometimes paintings tell more about the spirit of a plant than photos ever can.  I need to make more time to sit and draw plants, maybe it’s something you would like to try too?  Drawing a plant requires that you sit with it for a while, that you and it breathe each other in and out and from that you can learn a lot.

Lastly today, a mixed salad in scrub-land beside the park.  I love this untended patch and I’m pleased it gets little maintenance as the wild edibles love it!  Here you may be able to see Chickweed and Ground ivy growing together with some Shepherd’s Purse.  All three, tasty and nutritious.  The main thing that worries me about harvesting from such locations is not really knowing what is in the soil. You can never really know for sure but some scrub-land such as this may be used for tipping unwelcome materials.  I keep that in mind when I choose to harvest or not.

365 Frankendael day 61

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


Today is the Summer Solstice, Midsummer’s Day and I am having a lovely time! Myself, Livvy, Isobel, Esther, Isobel and the two babies, harvested leaves and flowers from some of the Lime trees (Tilia sp.) Which form the main avenue in Frankendael Park. It was so pleasant to share the Midsummer harvest with other like minded people. We cleaned the honeydew from the leaves, in a bowl of fresh water, made tea in flasks of boiled water and sandwiches from the harvest and some Lime honey.

I’ll be doing this again on Sunday in a different location, but I think there is nothing quite like the burgeoning green energy of Midsummer’s Day. The plants seem to be about to pop with the amount of goodness within them and some of them have certainly sprung suddenly into flower today.

I found lots of Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) just in flower, today and harvested some for a tincture. Likewise, Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) is in perfect form for tincturing. These and Lime are the three summer herbs which I love the most so I spent time with them today.

I was also pleased to see that some of the Mullein plants in the park have quietly started to flower and patches of Feverfew close to Frankendael park are also standing out. The Plantain (Plantago major) leaves are currently enormous and I will be tincturing some of them and their flowers in the days to come along with Lime tree leaves and flowers.

If you tend to see Midsummer as the end of the lightness and you morn its passing, perhaps try and see it in a different way. More as a time to thank the Sun and light for all the transformation it has provided and welcome in the gradually approaching darkness. The darkness can teach us much about ourselves, it gives a chance to reflect inwardly on what has happened in the preceding time and encourages us to appreciate the light, when it returns.

365 Frankendael day 60

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Very early this morning I was out tasting dew that had collected in this Teasel’s “water cup”, the part of the leaf that joins the stem.  There had been a heavy morning mist over most of Amsterdam but by the time I got to the park it had been burned through by the midsummer Sun.  This Teasel (Dipsacus sp.) had quite a lot of water stored in it’s “cups” or “traps” this morning.  There are different ideas about why the plants are adapted in this way. Some think that the cup shaped leaf joints serve the purpose of trapping insects, perhaps to prevent them climbing the plant, perhaps which the Teasel then somehow digests and absorbs.  The trap/cup which I chose was high up, fresh and insect free. The water within it tasted delicious and set me up for the rest of my cycle.  Teasel is increasingly valued as a useful herb to help counter the effects of Lyme’s disease.


Next is the beautiful, if unextravegant, flower head of  a small Mugwort plant (Artemisia vulgaris).  This plant really is my Midsummer favourite.  So many uses, so common, so inconspicuous to most, so tasty and so much interesting associated folklore.  This plant grows as a welcome weed, beside a park planted tree.  Just notice the moon-like silvery grey undersides of the leaves.  A beautiful contrast to the dark green upper sides.


Lastly today is Brassica oleracea, Wild Cabbage.  Yes, it tastes of cabbage!  No need to harvest the whole plant though, this one is good as a cut and come again plant – cutt a leaf off now and again throughout it’s season.  Very tasty and convenient!