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)

Beautiful and useful Fumitory (Fumaria officinalis)

Found Wild garlic (Allium ursinum) yet again.

Comfrey (Symphytum uplanicum x)

Looked at Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna),

Munched on samples of Common Horehound (Marrubium vulgaris),

Sniffed the unmistakable scent of Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfare)

and ever so bitter Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca).

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

Ideas for balcony Moon Gardens.

And after our session I found Garlic Mustard.

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)

An apprenticeship meeting today and a nice walk in the woods of Frankendael, to find Wild garlic (Allium ursinum) and other plants popping up from beneath the snow.

What a beautiful winter’s day again today! I met with the apprentices again this morning and we took a fresh walk through a section of Park Frankendael before testing our marshmallow milk decoction back at home.

We found this stunning Witch hazel (NL: Tover hazelaar) in flower still, Ground ivy, plenty of woodland Geraniums still in good (if frozen) shape. We noticed that almost every Rosehip has been stripped from the bigger wild roses and that catkins are already fluttering in the wind from many trees. We harvested Willow withies from a huge pile laid down by the council gardeners, just enough to make a few drying racks. We found Yarrow, wilted Comfrey, lots of toxic Fools Parsley and still, not a single Sweet Cicely plant has emerged where we looked. Winter Jasmine is looking stunning against many homes and the flowers are edible it seems, if a little dull to taste. The evergreen herbs are looking striking, such as Yew (highly poisonous) and Juniper. The dried, frozen seed heads of perennial herbs such as Motherwort, stand proud and give away the locations where they should be found come late spring. Chickweed abounds still, as does Hairy Bittercress.

Later in the day I walked again with my little girl and we found this lovely Japonica, just coming into flower. Chaenomeles Japonica flowers are edible but they are such a welcome sight on winter days that I think it would be a pity to pick any. The full common name of this plant is Japanese Quince. Quinces are useful for jelly making and are certainly edible. This quince has tiny fruit but they are useful and should not be overlooked by the urban forager. Also this afternoon, a nice bank of geranium looking perky.

There are many herbs available at this time of year. Obviously only a small fraction of the bounty we should see come late spring and summer but nonetheless a useful set of herbs. It’s not a time to harvest in quantity, it’s a time to know what’s out there and to know how to utilize it in case you really have a need.

Today I took my apprenticeship group on a walk through parts of Park Frankendael. We found lots of life, from buds slowly developing on waterside Willow, to Geraniums looking almost as perky as in mid summer, to Potentilla populating the spaces that Ramsoms claim in spring, to Russian Comfrey still hanging on despite the cold weather, to Garlic mustard building strength from the last rays of sun, to Hoary Plantain looking strong and not at all endangered.

Here’s a Holly and Ivy photo taken today in the woods.

A pretty and edible pansy, close to my daughter’s favourite playground.

And a little Robin, hopping along beside our group as we looked at the dried out flower stems of Lyme’s disease beating Teasel.