More snow in Amsterdam today so a pleasant but chilly walk in park Frankendael, to collect a few Wild Garlic (Allium ursinum) leaves.
I gathered nine leaves, that’s enough to see my family through the week, with a garlicy meal a day. I preserved them in a tiny jam jar of olive oil, after chopping the leaves finely. Storing them in this way, at room temperature, makes using Ramsons in cooking as simple a possible.
Dandelion in a pavement crack today.
See how their teeth point downwards? That’s a useful way to help identify the plant.
Today a photo of a plant that takes me right back to my childhood on the outskirts of Bristol.
This is Aubretia and soon it will form cascading blue carpets of flowers on walls and plant pots throughout the UK. I see it far less in the Netherlands but wonder if it’s edible or not. It is a member of the Brassica family, which are generally edible plants. I’m going to try a flower or two when they form this spring. It could be a useful plant, if it is edible. It I’d already known to provide excellent ground cover and grows quite easily.
I visited the design studios at Spike Island in Bristol today and found some tree pits and earthy spaces which would benefit from herbs,
And others which already host the usual wintery urban suspects; dandelion, chickweed, hairy bitter cress and more.
It would be great to create some sort of living weed art around this centre.
This is hairless native Lesser Periwinkle (Vinca minor), growing in another shaded habitat. Its a useful plant, primarily for assisting with circulatory issues.
A few photos from the Forest of Dean today. We visited a magical place called Puzzle Wood today, it is near Coleford. It has been the setting for several magical tales and we really enjoyed walking through the labyrinth of woodland paths. I was hoping to find Ramsons but that didn’t happen. Instead we found lots of moss, trees, mud, ivy, holly, Speedwell…
Willow,
Beautiful inedible crocuses.
Ivy, lots of Ivy!
This was Frankendael park, Amsterdam as I set off for the UK this morning…
This is Butterbur, growing in a hedgerow opposite my parent’s Welsh home this afternoon…
This flower smells intoxicatingly of vanilla or almonds. I love the smell, it reminds me of home and the exciting arrival of spring. The leaves of the plant are said to have been used to wrap up butter in times gone by. It is a sure sign for me that the seasons in this part of Wales are a little ahead of Amsterdam. Butterbur (Pestites vulgaris) has several historical uses, including being a diuretic, helping alleviate migraines and as a useful treatment for wheezing.
Ramsons, Daslook, Wild garlic, Allium ursinum… Yum!
I’ve been making different types of soft cheese at home and this weekend and wanted to share this incredibly simple recipe. The soft cheese is made from yoghurt and then is infused with wild garlic leaves, fresh from the local park.
All that you need is:
A cup or two of good quality yoghurt (no added thickners etc, goats or cows is fine),
Cheesecloth, very clean and just scalded (by dunking in boiling hot water for a few seconds),
Olive oil
2 wild garlic leaves, finely chopped (other fresh herbs can be substituted)
To make the yoghurt cheese simply…
1. Pour the yoghurt into the centre of the cheesecloth and pull up the four cloth corners to prevent the yoghurt spilling out.
2. Use a rubber band/clean string etc to tie up the cheesecloth somewhere convenient.
3. Hang it up somewhere clean for about 24 hours, over a bowl so that the drips are collected.
4. After that time you should have a cream cheese consistency, with a milder taste than yoghurt – soft cheese!
5. Scoop out teaspoons of the cheese and form into small balls with your hands.
6. Place in a clean container along with enough olive oil to cover the balls and of course, the chopped wild garlic.
7. You can eat it straight away but after a half a day or so, the cheese will become deliciously infused with the wild garlic flavour.
8. If you manage not to use it all up before hand, it should keep well in the fridge for a week.
Ivy, growing up around the trunk of a street tree. The council gardening team will catch up with this one sometime soon and will trim the ivy back. So a good idea to do it yourself, if you have a climber such as this.
Urban Herbology 