Category Archives: 365 Frankendael

365 Frankendael day 39

365 Frankendael, Perennial herbs, Poisonous herbs, Wild herbs, , , , ,

Today some photos without much comment or translations…
Firstly the flowers of that Poison Hemlock on the Middenweg. It’s carrot family flowers opening to the sun today.

Next, some lovely Meadowsweet foliage.

Next Ground elder, just coming into flower. Another member of the carrot family but with completely different and easily recognisable leaves.

Here is Red clover. Perfect for harvesting, if you can find it growing in a clean spot.

Lastly today, a sign that tasty berries are not too far away; A Bramble (NL: Bramen) just opening it’s first flowers of the year.

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.

365 Frankendael day 36

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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 34

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Thank you so much Claud Biemans for joining me on my daily walk this morning and for helping to identify some of the lovely plants which have been perplexing me for ages. Claud also shared some lovely food ideas for wild plants and was as pleased as me to see the Hoary plantain.

Here’s Claud standing next to a stately Wild Angelica (Angelica archangelica).

I’ve been watching this following herb for weeks now. It looked to me like it must be a Labiate due to the square stem cross section but which one! It smells absolutely amazing. When you brush the leaves or stem lightly, they release the aroma of just burned spices in a lightly oiled pan, ready to pop into a good Indian curry. There are so many Labiates but none I read about fitted this plant exactly. Claud knew it instantly as she has one which planted itself, into a terrace pot at home.

It is called Helmkruid in Dutch, Scrophularia nodosa in Latin and Common Figwort in English. I am still none the wiser as to what to do with it, if anything but now I’ll be finding out from a more informed position.

Also today, Pijpbloem, (Aristoloctia clematis), Birthwort in English. A very exotic looking plant which I’ll be researching. A photo another day, today I have found it is poisonous, used historically medicinally and can cause kidney failure when eaten.

Glaswort in Dutch, Parietarias officinalis in Latin and Pellitory of the wall, in English. It is plentiful in this part of the park and I hadn’t realised that this was the plant i see every day. It is a renowned medicinal herb. More later on this one, the Wiki link will give some useful information. Please see day 63 for corrected ID and details.

Veldhondstong in Dutch,
Cynoglossum officinale in Latin and Houndstongue in English.
This is a beautiful plant, again a new one to me which seems from it’s Latin name to be a plant of historic uses.

We also looked at a member of the bedstraw family, Hedge bedstraw, Wild Sage and Teasel. I’ll take photos of those another day.

365 Frankendael day 33

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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.

365 Frankendael day 32

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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.

365 Frankendael day 31

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What lovely people I met today, on my first guided herb walk of this year. We looked at lots of lovely and useful herbs. I’ll post a few photos taken by the others when they reach me.

In the meantime here’s a Frankendael Lime leaf photo which I took yesterday, for those who didn’t get to pick one to keep with their handouts. This is a perfect time to harvest a few healthy, non sticky leaves and enjoy them between slices of bread.

After the walk today, I also spotted Salad Burnet (Sanguisorba minor NL: Kleine pimpernel), poking it’s flower stalk up in a grassland area of the park. In my photograph there is also a ribwort to the left, with a completely different flower stalk. Salad burnet is a useful but endangered plant in the Netherlands so completely out of bounds to foragers and herbalists alike. I feel very priveledged to have seen it today. I hope to be able to take a better photograph of this plant soon. I mentioned to some people to day, the useful website called Bioimages.Org.uk where you can search for images of plants and animals to help with identification. Here’s a link to their photos of Salad Burnet. It seems like a good resource but of course never forget your field guide!

Also plenty of healing Ribwort, in the same area, with it’s long slender leaves and unusual dull coloured flower at the end of a long stalk.

Here’s a pretty tree pit from the same patch, full of a tiny flowered Cranesbill, Ribwort, Horsetail and a non edible Chrysanthemum, all mixed together by fortunate chance.

365 Frankendael day 30

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In just a 1 meter square patch of land, on the outer edge of park Frankendael, I found all these useful herbs today…

Medicinal Comfrey (Symphytum uplandica):

Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) and Ground Elder (Aegopodium podograria) growing amongst each other:

Also, Burdock (Arctium lappa)

Poisonous member of the Carrot family, Hemlock (Conium maculatum):

Notice how similar it looks to Chervil. It has a smooth stem and leaves. It smells a little unpleasant and has notable purple staining on the stem. This is not a plant to be handled or foraged at all! This plant was used in ancient Geek executions, including that of Socrates. The Latin name means to whirl, pertaining to one of the symptoms of hemlock poisoning, vertigo. This plant is deadly poisonous and I show it here as so many foragers are keen to find plants such as wild carrot. It is very easy to confuse members of the family, especially those with finely divided leaves such a hemlock, carrot and sweet cicely
.
Lastly another beauty which is not helpful to foragers. A Labrador delivering a little fertilizer to that interesting 1m square patch of park edge!