Tag Archives: Frankendael Park

365 Frankendael day 86 – Thank you!

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Here are some of today’s urban herb walkers, taking time for a freshly brewed herbal cuppa as we ended our walk, in Frankendael’s hidden herb garden.

All times of year offer special delights when herb walking but I think most would agree that mid July is a particularly interesting time. There are still plenty of flowers around, plenty of rich foliage and also plenty of seeds forming on plants. This is not the time for smart spring freshness, it’s the time for herbs that are so big they spill over paths and mix right in amongst each other. This is a time of hedonistic herbal plenty.

We looked at too many herbs to mention here (most are on the walk handout) but a few, which I want to give links to, are as follows:

Birthwort (very poisonous) (Aristolochia clematis). See day 83 for a few details.

Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca), my thrice daily tincture tipple, for combatting stress and far more.

Hedge Woundwort (Stachys sylvatica) which we found smelling interesting amongst a patch of another edible wound herb called Enchanter’s nightshade (Circaea lutiana)

Meadowsweet (Filpendula ulmaria), Please see day 14 for details.

Thank you again, to everyone who joined me for today’s walk. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting you and I hope that your herbal adventures are filled with fun, health and good flavours!

For forthcoming herb walks and gatherings, please see my Events page.

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365 Frankendael day 29

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Hop (Humulus lupulus – what a latin name!) is entwined about a meter up last year’s dead stems today and looks far healthier and more vigorous than any cultivated Hop plant I have seen. I am really looking forward to seeing whether or not its flowers are as impressive.

Mugwort is growing beautifully on wasteland near a Frankendael bus stop. It is helpfully showing the silver underside of a few leaves in the breeze.

This member of the Hawthorn species reminds us clearly that Hawthorns are members of the Rose family.

Valerian officinale is almost ready to flower in wetter areas of the park.


And Agrimony plants are making themselves more obvious is some drier sunny areas.

Also today, towering Pink Purslane (Montia sibirica) is in flower. It looks similar in structure to Winter purslane (Montia perfoliata, which is low growing and currently growing like crazy along the Centuurbaan fence of Sarphatipark. Often called Miner’s Lettuce it tastes great!) However, Pink Purslane is said to have a nasty acrid aftertaste and should be avoided by foragers. It’s such a beautiful flower at this time of year that it’s good to know it tastes bad!

May 21st – Urban Herbology Herb Walk

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I’m pleased to announce another (and long overdue) Urban Herbology Wild Herb Walk in Amsterdam.  I’ll be running it on Monday 21st May 2012, from the main gates of Frankendael Park.  The walk will start at 11am and every one interested in finding out about wild herbs, which can be found in central Amsterdam, is welcome.

My previous walks have been great fun to organise and very well received.  We will take a relaxed look at the bounty of early summer herbs to be found in and around the park. The walk will last about 90 minutes and will probably end at the lovely cafe/restaurant Merkelbach, situated just inside the main entrance of the park. Cost per participant will be €8. Previous walks have been oversubscribed, it is essential that those wishing to join me book ahead. Please email Lynn.Shore@gmail.com or call me on 0627 596930.

During the walk I’ll share with you will…
Receive a useful handout, to refer to after the walk
Learn how to find and identify some safe, useful, local herbs,
Learn how to harvest with respect for the environment,
Learn how to use herbs safely in several different ways,
Receive some tastey Urban Herbal recipes.

And of course you will get the chance to meet other folk who like to know a little more about what’s growing beneath and above them!  If it sound interesting to you then please contact me.

Hallowe’en in the Park

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I took a walk through Frankendael Park’s woodland today, to connect with nature a little more this Hallowe’en.  What a breathtakingly beautiful day it turned out to be and how delighted I was to find so many reminders of what Hallowe’en or Samhain is really about.

Samhain marks the time in the pagan calendar when the “veil between the worlds” is said to be thinnest.  Meaning that it’s the time when it is thought that the dead and the living are most able to communicate with each other.  Hence the spooky associations most people have with Hallowe’en.  I prefer to think of this date as a time to say goodbye to those who have departed during the previous year, remember those from years gone by and to look at how the old and new live alongside each other, learning from each other and leaning on each other.

So my sunny Samhain walk in Frankendael helped me reflect on this as I took in some of the sounds, smells, tastes, images and feelings aroused by the plants and animals.

Here are a few photos of herbs which stood out today, old and new, living and dead, cohabiting and helping each other…

By the way, I am turning off all comment options for my posts.  Spammers are an interesting group and they are overwhelming my email account with nonsense.  So if you have genuine comments please find my email address and send me a message 🙂

Sunday Midsummer Herb Walk, 26th June 2011

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Today’s Midsummer Herb walk in Frankendael was super.  The sun came out, so did many beautiful flowers and also 9 other lovely Urban Herbologists.  As several other people contacted me, asking for a weekend walk, I am going to offer the Midsummer walk again this coming Sunday, at 10am.  So…

Join me for another Urban Herbology Wild Herb Walk on Sunday 26th June 2011 at 10:00.

The walk will be in Frankendael Park, Amsterdam, starting at the main (old) gate.  I shall wait just inside the entrance, by the bike racks (entrance in this photo..)

Handouts, including photos, notes and recipes, will be provided.

We will…
Take a relaxed look at useful wild herbs which are plentiful at this time of year.
Share ideas about how to use them in food.
Consider some of the herbal medicine uses.
Talk about some interesting herbal folklore.
Meet others who are interested in herb foraging in Amsterdam.

The walk itself will last for at least an hour and previously we have continued chatting over cups of herb tea and cake in Merkelbach restaurant, which sits within the park.  This Sunday is the monthly organic market called Pure Markt, so perhaps you would prefer to go there afterwards to buy some tasty organic food and drink.

The cost for the walk is €5 per person.
Places are limited to 15 so please do contact me via email if you would like to attend.  The Urban Herbology www.meetup.com group can also be used to sign up for this.

I am really looking forward to seeing everyone this Sunday and having a relaxed look at some of the herbs which are currently available in this beautiful park.