Category Archives: Projects

365 Frankendael day 83

365 Frankendael

It rained a lot today…

I went looking for poisonous Birthwort (NL: Pijpbloem, Aristolochia clematis) which earned a fatally flawed reputation as a remedy for women’s reproductive system ailments, due to the Doctrine of Signatures. Some still advocate its use for birth control and other uses but there is lots of evidence linking it to cancer of the urinary system, cancer of the liver and kidney failure or at least kidney damage. I steer well clear of this plant, it is quite striking in appearance and in the spring the leaves look very exotic. All parts are poisonous.

I also found Tansy (Tanacetum vulgaris) in bloom. Some cut leafy stems are drying in amongst my wardrobe clothes, to ward off moths.

Here is Comfrey (Symphytum uplandica). Still looking verdant and potent after flowering.

Edible Goat’s-beard (Tragopodon pratensis).

And lastly, Soapwort with pale pink flowers. Called Bouncing Bet in the US and Saponaria officinalis in Latin.

365 Frankendael day 81

365 Frankendael, , ,

Today’s photos are from the geveltuin and tree pit, I tend beneath our apartment. I wanted to share this beautiful Hollyhock and to mention some of the forgotten uses of the plant. It is a biennial, flowering in its second year after germinating and this plant arrived by luck two years ago. We have an extremely dry, south facing geveltuin (pavement garden) beneath a bay window. Very few weeds are able to set down their roots and survive amongst the Mediterranean herbs, I have planted there. But this lovely Hollyhock did find its feet and what beautiful flowers we have been treated to this summer! Hollyhock is a member of the Mallow family and can be made into an inflammation calming tea, to soothe sore thoats and bronchitis for instance, a poultice to soothe inset stings and is sometimes used in cosmetics to soften the skin. This Hollyhock serves its purpose by looking very pretty at my front door. Maybe in the next year or two I’ll try some Hollyhock remedies, if it throws down any seeds this summer.

Whilst outside taking the Hollyhock photo, I noticed that a little Tomato plant has sprung up next to yet another welcome guest – Wormwood. I planted the small Lady’s Mantle plant myself, it had self seeded into a roof pot some months ago and I transplanted it downstairs. How nice that Wormwood, a rare plant in the Netherlands, has made it self at home next to it. I don’t think the tomato play will be able to bear fruit this year but it’s very welcome none the less.

365 Frankendael day 80

365 Frankendael, Trees, , , ,

Just a quick post today – Chestnuts forming…

on a beautiful old Horse Chestnut tree.

In contrast to the Sweet Chestnut tree I showed yesterday, this tree yields very hard inedible nuts which, when carefully strung with a shoe lace (and further hardened if you are a real pro) serve as a fun autumn toy for children – Conkers!

Medicinally speaking, Horse Chestnut is widely reputed as an effective external treatment for varicose veins and broken capillaries (such as thread veins and hemorrhoids). The ointment is quite simple to make. You need to make infused oil using the leaves and/or conkers first of all. Then when your oil is ready, warm it up gently and blend in enough beeswax to make an ointment of acceptable consistency. I bought some once and it was almost rock hard, not handy for gently smoothing over delicate thread veins…

I’m going to be making a double tincture and double infused oil this year; adding the leaves to both vodka and oil in summer and then add the conkers to the same carriers come autumn. I’ll make my ointment from the oil, beeswax and a little tincture for added effectiveness. Of course varicose veins and hemorrhoids can be extremely serious conditions so this remedy, although trusted by many, shouldn’t be used without firstly checking that more radical treatments are not immediately necessary.

365 Frankendael day 79

365 Frankendael, Foraging, Trees

Today some photos of small pavement herbs growing in cracks and well trodden corners of the park. You’d have to be fairly desperate to want to harvest them but they are useful for identification purposes and if you suddenly need some Ribwort to stop a nettle rash our Yarrow to stem a noise bleed, it’s good to know that theses herbs really are everywhere…

Here is a mini Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla ). Despite growing in such a restricted little habitat, the flowers do smell great.

Here are two sisters, narrow leaved Ribwort (Plantago lanceolata) and broad smooth-leaved Plantain (Plantago major), growing protected from strimmers, feet and digging claws beneath a small landscaping boulder.

Here’s Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) without flowers because it is constantly pressured by growing on a trampled pavement edge near the children’s playground. This plant is tiny in comparison to its neighbours in the long grassland.

This is part of a Beech hedge (Fagus sylvaticus) in the park. I’ve shown it before and just want to remind people of what tasty and plentiful foliage it has.

Here’s a young Sweet Chestnut tree (Castanea sativa). It’s really nice to see nut trees that have been deliberately planted in public places.

365 Frankendael day 78

365 Frankendael, Foraging, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

We filled our pockets with small, sour, fallen apples in the park today. We met an interesting lady with her dog, who told us about eating Walnut leaves, Hazelnut foragers and Honingclaver (literally Honey clover, Sweet Clover, Melilotus spp.). It’s fine to eat Sweet clover in small amounts but as you’ll read in the link above, it can interact with some blood thinning drugs and no one should eat too much of this plant.

Today’s photos:
Firstly, Ground elder (Aegopodium podograria) springing up in the rain soaked, just mowed outer verges of the park.  A welcome sight, I love eating this plant and much of it looks quite stale in the other areas of the park.

Next up, Burdock flowers. As mentioned before, the second year plants flower and are not useful really. But use this sight in the urban wild to help you find first year plants perhaps.

Next a beautiful Rose, growing next to Frankendael Huis. So beautiful ans so many ways to eat them.

Here’s fragrant, digestive system soother Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria). Please see the day 72 posting for further details and links.

Here’s a plant growing in the pond behind Frankendael huis which I spotted on the recent Greenpeace walks in Amsterdamse Bos. It is known as Gypsywort in Britaian and Bugelweed in the US (Lycopus europaeus). I still need to learn it’s uses but am pleased to have found it in Frankendael today.

Here is a very large, sprawling and Poisonous White Bryony (Bryonia alba), making itself at home over a big old Yew tree (Taxus baccata), also Poisonous and steeped in folklore, mainy to do with the dead.

Do you remeber that ploughed up strip of parkland, next to Restaurant de Kas?  Well this is how some of it looks today.  It seems to have been sewed with a wildflower mixture and it has begun to look quite beautiful.

365 Frankendael day 77

365 Frankendael, Foraging, , , , , , , , ,

Here is Wild Basil (Satureja vulgaris / Calamintha clinopodium). It doesn’t smell nearly as strongly as its cultivated cousins but it tastes good and is a useful culinary herb if you are lucky enough to find a favourable patch. There are reports on the internet of it being used as a heart tonic but I can’t find any real reference to this and know it more as a useful herb to sooth digestive complaints such as gassiness and indigestion, much as close relative mint can be used. It is easy to identify; a hairy labiate so having square stems, small pale purple labiate flowers positioned in rings around the stems above leaf bases. The increasing size of the flowers makes the leaves point increasingly downwards, as the season moves on. The leaf veins are quite distinctive, more pronounced beneath and depressed above than most similar plants. The leaves grow in pairs, opposite each other on the stem. It smells aromatic when the leaves are bruised but not hugely so. Not like cultivated basil which is very strongly aromatic. This plant has been flowering in Amsterdam for a few weeks now and should continue to do so until September. I find the name Wild Basil a little misleading and prefer to think of it as a Calamint (which it is).

Wild marjoram (Origanum vulgaris) is the next Frankendael herb today and another well known culinary name. I last photographed it on day 2 and since then it has thrived and flowered. The flowers grow at the top of the stems rather than those of Basil. Marjoram flowers are more pink than purple and the plant smell stronger than Wild basil. The stems are distinctly woody. As well as being tasty and easy to grow in a pot, Marjoram has many historic uses including releiving the pain of rheumatism, easing colic and headaches. There are modern reports of it having quite potent anti cancer properties. Marjoram is quite a strong herb, as well known culinary herbs go, and is one to avoid during pregnancy. I also know of Greek and Turkish women who went out for a hearty plateful of Marjoram flavored food, when their baby’s delivery date is overdue. I tried it and it didn’t work for me but the food tasted great and it cheered me up no end!

Musk Mallow (Malva moschata). Here’s an interesting link in Dutch, for some information about uses of this beautiful plant and also two similar looking ones, Marsh Mallow and Hollyhock.

365 Frankendael day 76

365 Frankendael, Wild herbs, , , , , ,


Firstly today is Yarrow, NL: Duizendblad (Achillea millefolium) growing in a protected and well fertilized spot, next to a lamppost on Hugo de Vrieslaan. I use it mainly as a wound herb, I rub the juices gently on lightly wounded skin as an antisptic and to stem bleeding and as a fast remedy to nosebleeds. There are a great many uses for this herb. It is definitely one that far more people should know about and learn how to use. My daughter loves to nibble on this plant, perhaps because she can easily recognize it and pick the leaves from my roof pots but it shouldn’t really be ingested by under 5 year olds due to the strength of its blood regulating action. This plant grows all over the place, very easily and there are coloured flowered varieties which also have the same medicinal effects. I have a red flowered one on the roof. It makes an interesting addition to salads, just a leaf or two chopped up a little is all that’s needed. Be aware that it will bring on bleeding so not for pregnant women. Having said that it also helps to normalize mentrual cycles in some women. A very useful herb.


Above is the uniquely “fragranced” Field Woundwort (Stachys arvensis). Another wound herb, not as potent as Yarrow and not bitter tasting but very aromatic. Its a member of the Labiates and tastes a little of mint, but its quite different aswell. Good as a tea now and then, also a herb with many historic uses. See day 52 for some more information and links about this prolific urban waterside herb – why it’s called field woundwort, I’m not sure, I always find it beside water.

Above is Rosebay Willowherb (Epilibium angustifolium). Edible and medicinal (some use it for treating puss filled boils) not one I’ve really used, just eaten the odd flower and young shoot. Apparently it’s popular in several countries as a spring vegetable. Patrick Whitefield taught me about it some years ago, on a permaculture course. It often grows profusely on wasteland. I remember a lot of it growing on freshly cleared building plots, near my home as a child. It is a pioneer species, giving it the common name in North America of Fireweed.

365 Frankendael day 75

365 Frankendael, Evergreen herbs, Foraging, Poisonous herbs, Seed saving, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I went for an earlier walk in the park today and was rewarded by finding the freshest and most delicious Lime (Tilia) flowers that I have ever harvested.  Here’s the tree they came from.  I turned them into a tea and shared it with the painters and my little girl.  Lime tea is especially good on a warm summer day like today. It is cooling and refreshing.

Here’s a neighbouring Tilia tree in the park. It must be a different variety as everything about it is a little smaller than most Tilia in the park and the the leaves are a little darker.  The flowers are also placed slightly differently on the twigs. I don’t know so much about the different varieties but I do know that Tilia tastes good and is very beneficial.

Next is a harmonious grassland combination of Plantain, Yarrow and Red clover in bloom.  I set off today hoping to find enough Yarrow to make a tick-deterring tincture. I got rather side tracked by other herbs and in the end, didn’t notice enough to harvest. So instead of tincturing, two flower stalks are brightening up a small vase on my dining table.  It’s good to remember just how many ways there are to benefit from flowers.

Here are two of my favourite things, my little girl and a huge Brassica plant.  As with most naturalised and wild brassicas, all parts are edible and quite strong tasting. Just a carefully picked leaf or two should liven up a meal.  (Thanks Jennie for correcting me on this one, I thought it was Wild Cabbage but that only grows near the coasts on chalky soil). This one may be Rapseed (Brassica napus). My friend Jennie Akse is running a herb walk focused on edible yellow flowering plants, around in Amsterdam at present.  Have a look at the Meetup group for details.

Here is a herb that I find quite wondrous, Dark Mullein (Verbascum nigrum). Useful for many disorders, such as lung weakness and infection and most popular, I think, as an ear infection remedy.

Next up today is another herbal harmony, Veronica‘s towering blue spires mixed with more Mullien, Mugwort and Agrimony.

Here are some striking and Poisonous Lilies, in the formal garden behind Frankendael Huis and Merkelbach.  I add this photo because yesterday I featured the very edible Daylily (Hemerocallis fulva), which can look very similar to the uninitiated.  All parts of Lily are toxic. I have never thought about eating this type of plant but I find the pollen, when trapped in a living room with it for instance, very irritating.

Here is Catnip (Nepta sp). A member of the mint family, it can be used in similar refreshing ways. I like to make a sinus blasting pesto with it sometimes. It has many uses and is quite easy to grow.  Many will already know about cat’s affinity to this herb.  Some love it and find it quite a turn on, others seem to lack receptivity to it and many show more of a loved-up reaction to Valerian.

Another minty wonder is shown below, the often overlooked and trampled Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea). The pretty purple flower spikes are gone from most of the plants now but just look at that rich foliage! Now is a good time to harvest and use it or dry it for the winter. But why bother when this ground covering  plant is around all year long?

Next is a delicious Garlic Mustard plant (Alliaria petiolata), showing different stages of seed pod development. This is a wonderfully tasty herb to add to all sorts of cooking.  It is also great used as a salad leaf or flower.  Looking at these seed pods reminds me of why it’s a pity to harvest the flowers of this super biennial.  Less flowers, less seeds, less plants next year.

Next is a large plant which I’ve been hunting for some time – a first year Burdock (Arctium lappa), ripe for root harvesting.  It seemed that all the Burdock in Amsterdam were second years, in bloom and not very nutritious or medicinal.  Now that the council have mowed some patches of the park, some first year Burdock have been kindly left to develop.  I won’t be digging this plant up but it’s good to see it and be reassured that a first year plant is easy to identify.

Lastly today, a type of Hyssop (Hyssopus sp.).  I used this plant quite a lot last year, it is very aromatic and makes good tea. I’ll have a careful look at this one again soon to identify it fully.

365 Frankendael day 74

365 Frankendael, Foraging, Wild herbs, , , ,


Lots of edibles but not much time to photograph them today. Here’s a photo of a smart young Tilia, Lime or Linden tree growing on the edge of the park. I just wanted to mention that the trees are still very much in flower and the flowers are very tasty and easy to dry for later use. Tilia is nothing to do with citrus Lime, although many find it a very refreshing herb. Here’s my previous post about Lime and it’s uses.


Next is Daylilies (Hemerocallis fulva) a flowering plant that looks too dramatic to be wild or edible and yet it is quite a forager’s favourite. Please be aware that regular lilies are definately not edible. Day lilies are different. I haven’t yet tried them and hope to later this week. Here are a few links which you may like to peruse if you have mind to harvest and eat some…

Susun Weed, Lily family article
Dining on Daylilies
Eat the weeds article

365 Frankendael day 73

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

I caught the bus to work this morning and was able to check out my usual Fat Hen (Lamb’s Quarters, Chenopodium album) and Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) collection spot. Here it is, a few days post council mowing. Fortunately there are lots of intact Mugwort plants in adjacent unmowed areas but the Fat Hen is no more. I’ll keep my eyes open for another patch of them as I really enjoy their flavour.

Here is poisonous White Bryony (Bryonia alba), flowering faintly as it grows over a hearty looking Bramble. I didn’t have much time for photos today so thought I’d look up the uses of White Bryony in one of my favorite old herbals – Mrs M. Grieve’s Modern Herbal. The link above is from a useful online version of that book. It was used historically as a purgative for people, cattle and horses. It is a powerful irritant and cathartic, i.e. it makes people throw up very violently and is not a plant to be dabbled with. I love the reference in the book to scoundrels of old, digging up the roots and placing them in moulds to allow them to grow into imitation Mandrake roots. If only their modern day counterparts had that much skill with plants! I really like the look of this plant and if I didn’t have a child or cat in my home I’d probably harvest some and use it in some way, but certainly not internally. All parts of the plant are poisonous.