River of Herbs

Barefoot path creation – Saturday 6th April

This event was originally planned to coincide with NL Doet 2024. We have switched to a more convenient date because we won’t be accepting the offered Oranjefonds funding this year. This is because we don’t have a required business bank account, because such accounts quietly drain any donations we may receive. So a change of date and a slight change of plan but the barefoot path is coming!

Join our small friendly international team of volunteers to help create a new barefoot path in one of the River of Herbs orchards.

9.30 – 10.30 Saturday 6th April 2024

River of Herbs Orchards, behind Huize Frankendael (Restaurant Merkelbach). Middenweg 72, Amsterdam.

We will do some clearing of the existing path surface, make the path edges and compartments with found fallen wood and then will infill the space with a selection of natural materials such as sand, moss, pine cones and scented herbs. The photos show how the barefoot path was created last time around. We will make simpler edging this time but the concept will be the same – 100% natural, locally found materials giving an interesting sensory experience.

Because we use only natural materials in the River of Herbs orchards, it gradually was reclaimed by the soil and wild creatures.

This spring we have relaid the woodchip paths in the four beautiful ecologically managed foraging orchards. We also did lots of sensitive tree maintenance during winter, with the help of Chris, the park gardener. And we created a simple seating area, within a dense patch of wild garlic.

The orchards look great and it is now time to recreate the barefoot section of one path.

If you can spare some time to help, please bring your own gardening gloves and a trowel (if you have one). Herb tea and biscuits provided. Wear decent footwear and contact us beforehand if you have any questions via riverofherbs@gmail.com or 0627596o30. It may take a few sessions to complete the task and you are welcome any week.

There is always space here for volunteers, either occasional or regular. No experience is needed, there is no waiting list and you don’t need to help every week. We do this all through the year and simply request that new volunteers love urban nature and want to help take good care of it.

Vaste zaterdag tuiniergroep

For English click here
De tuiniergroep RoH Orchards komt de meeste zaterdagen bijeen, van 09:30 – 10:30 uur, aan de River of Herbs Orchards achter Huize Frankendael / Restaurant Merkelbach in Park Frankendael. Dit gaan we door de seizoenen heen.

De groep is flexibel en iedereen is welkom, incidenteel of regelmatig. Onze tuiniersessies zijn kort, plezierig, meestal vrij licht werk, effectief en gezellig. Wij vinden ze een heerlijk begin van het weekend!

Bramble leaf buds
Far more to these plants than thorns and berries

In slechts een uur tuinieren kunnen we ons concentreren op een of meer van de vier boomgaarden, waar wilde kruiden groeien onder oude fruitbomen. We werken een uur en pauzeren dan voor een kruidenthee en een praatje, zittend op de boomgaardpaden of op bankjes. Dan verder met onze weekenden. Typische taken:

het opruimen van de paden
overtollige brandnetels verwijderen (en mee naar huis nemen voor soep en thee)
boomzaailingen verwijderen uit kruidenbedden (bijv. esdoorn)
herplanten van boomzaailingen (bijv. meidoorn, eik)
snoeien van bomen en gebruik van de kruiden (bijv. laurierblaadjes, wilde kersenschors, vlier)
het verminderen van braamstruiken en het oogsten van de zachte toppen
kruiden oogsten tijdens het beheer van de planten (bijv. Calendula, Lievevrouwebedstro, Daslook, Geranium)
bewegende kruidenzaailingen die opkomen in de houtsnipperpaden (bijv. wilde geranium, bosaardbei, daslook)
opfrissen van het blotevoetenpad met dennenappels etc.
dichte kruiden uitdunnen en gebruiken (bijv. Kruipende smeerwortel)

Vorige week waren we bezig met het opruimen van stormschade; een grote es verloor een tak of twee boven een van de boomgaarden, dus sneden we hem om en ruimden hem op, terwijl we zaden bewaarden als thee en voedsel.

Dit is heel eenvoudig, zachtaardig, op de natuur gericht tuinieren; genoeg om je op te warmen maar je niet te vermoeien! Het is een kans om kennis van de lokale wilde kruiden te leren en te delen – hoe ze te herkennen, te kweken en te gebruiken. De boomgaarden worden losjes beheerd volgens de principes van permacultuur. Ze zijn biologisch; een soort voedselbos, waarin je licht betreedt, waar dieren in het wild de baas zijn en wij tuiniers werken om de dingen zo natuurlijk en divers mogelijk te houden.

Max, in the Enchanter’s nightshade (Max in Heksenkruid). Summer 2023

Hier is een korte video die vandaag is gemaakt in een van de boomgaarden. De resolutie is niet zo goed, maar je zou een idee moeten krijgen van de eenvoud van de plek.

15th July 2023 – Cherry Orchard – River of Herbs – Park Frankendael

Tuinders in de boomgaarden wordt geadviseerd stevige schoenen, lange broeken en mouwen te dragen om zich te beschermen tegen steken, stenen en doornen. Probeer uw eigen tuinhandschoenen mee te nemen. We hebben er een paar om uit te lenen, maar het is het beste om er zelf een te kopen (misschien bij Action, Lidl of iets dergelijks als ze ze voor een euro of zo verkopen). Sanitaire voorzieningen bevinden zich binnen in Huize Frankendael. Helaas zijn de toegangspaden helemaal niet rolstoelvriendelijk, ze zijn grind, of bodem of houtsnippers.

Calendula patch – New in 2023 – The path around it is soil with Comfrey laid as mulch

Lijkt het je leuk om mee te gaan, graag! Voorkom teleurstelling door te checken of sommigen van ons aanwezig zullen zijn op de datum dat je mee wilt:
Neem contact op met Lynn Shore:
e-mail riverofherbs@gmail.com
of What’s app / Sms 0627596930.

Regular Saturday Gardening Group

Voor Nederlands klik hier
The Orchards gardening group is now meeting most Saturdays, 09:30 – 10:30am, at the River of Herbs Orchards behind of Huize Frankendael / Restaurant Merkelbach in Park Frankendael and will continue to throughout the seasons.

The group is flexible and everyone is welcome, either occasionally or regularly. Our gardening sessions are short, enjoyable, usually quite light work, effective and sociable. We find them a great start to the weekend!

In just an hour of gardening, we are able to focus on one or more of the four orchards, where wild herbs grow beneath old fruit trees. We do the following kind of tasks for an hour, then break for a herb tea and a chat, whilst sitting on the orchard paths or benches.

tidying the paths
removing excess stinging nettles (and taking home for soup and tea)
removing tree seedlings from herb beds (e.g. Sycamore)
replanting tree seedlings (e.g. Hawthorn, Oak)
tree pruning and utilising the herbs (e.g. Bay leaves, Wild cherry bark, Elder)
reducing brambles and harvesting the soft tips
herb harvesting whilst managing the plants (e.g. Calendula, Sweet woodruff, Wild garlic, Geranium)
moving herb seedlings which spring up in the woodchip paths (e.g. Wild geranium, Wild strawberry, Wild garlic)
refreshing the barefoot path with pinecones etc.
thinning out dense herbs and using them (e.g. Creeping comfrey)

Last week, we were clearing storm damage; a large Ash tree lost a branch or two over one of the orchards, so we cut it up and cleared it, whilst saving seeds as a tea and food.

This is very simple, gentle, nature focussed gardening; enough to warm you up but not tire you out! It is a chance to learn and share knowledge of the local wild herbs – how to spot them, grow them and use them. The orchards are managed loosely according to Permaculture principles. They are organic; a kind of food forest, in which to tred lightly, where wildlife is in charge and we gardeners work to keep things as natural and diverse as possible.

Here is a short video taken today, in one of the orchards. The resolution is not so good but you should get an idea of the simplicity of the place.

15th July 2023 – Cherry Orchard – River of Herbs – Park Frankendael

Gardeners at the orchards should wear sturdy shoes, long trousers and sleeves to stay safe from stings, stones and thorns. Please try to bring your own gardening gloves. We have some to lend but best to get your own (perhaps from Action, Lidl or somewhere similar when they sell them for a Euro or so). Toilet facilities are inside of Huize Frankendael. Sadly, the access paths are not at all wheelchair freindly, they are gravel or woodchip.

If you would like to come along, please do! Avoid disappointment by checking that some of us will be there on the date you want to come along:
Contact Lynn Shore – email riverofherbs@gmail.com
or What’s app / SMS 0627596930.

Uurtje tuinieren

(For English click here)
De volgende keer, voor vrijwilligerstuinieren, aan de River of Herbs boomgaarden in Park Frankendael, is zaterdag 3 juni 2023, 09:30 – 10:30.
Iedereen welkom en geen ervaring vereist!

Dit is de tijd van het jaar waarin de planten erg snel groeien in de kruidenrijk boomgaarden; de paden kunnen verstopt raken met smeerwortel, brandnetels, geranium en lievevrouwebedstro, en er zijn veel planten die hij kan oogsten voor voedsel en kruiden. Een uurtje licht groepstuinieren hier en daar helpt echt om de boomgaarden er netjes uit te laten zien.

Wil je helpen? U bent van harte welkom en het is echt een aangename groene plek om tijd door te brengen en de planten en de grond in handen te krijgen.

We hebben wat handgereedschap en wat tuinhandschoenen, als je die niet hebt. Er zijn genoeg brandnetels in de buurt en teken zijn in deze tijd van het jaar in Amsterdam, dus we raden je aan een lange broek, lange mouwen en gesloten schoeisel te dragen.

Bel of What’s app Lynn Shore op 0627596930 als u de boomgaarden niet kunt vinden en u vandaag of op een ander moment wilt helpen.

Gardening Hour

(Voor Nederlands klik hier)
The next group gardening time, at the River of Herbs Orchards in Park Frankendael, will be Saturday 3rd June, 2023, 09:30 – 10:30.
All welcome and no experience required!

This is the time of year when the plants grow very quickly in the orchards; the paths can become become blocked with comfrey, nettles, geranium and sweet woodruff, and there are many plants which can he harvested for food and herbal crafting. An hour of light group-gardening here and there, really helps to keep the orchards looking tidy.
Would you like to help out? You would be very welcome and it is a really pleasant green place to spend time and get your hands on the plants and soil.

We have some hand tools and some gardening gloves, if you do not have your own. There are plenty of stinging nettles around, and ticks are in Amsterdam at this time of year, so we recommend that you wear long trousers, long sleeves and closed footwear.

Call or What’s app Lynn Shore on 0627596930 if you cannot find the orchards and want to help today, or at another time.

April – May Orchard Tasks

This morning five of us spent a couple of beautiful hours in the Geranium and Nettle orchards sprucing them up. The plant growth is so rapid at this time of year; A mile a minute, it seems! So much to see, smell, taste and do.

I’ll be there again next Thursday morning, 9.30 – 11.00 with tools, gloves and some herb tea. No experience needed – Come join me if you would like to! Call or WhatsApp me (Lynn Shore) on 0627596930 if needed.

For those of you who enjoy gardening and foraging at the River of Herbs Orchards on your own, you are always welcome. Here are the important tasks for the next few weeks:

Path clearing of weeds – and if the weeds from the paths are edible or medicinal, feel free to take them home. Otherwise into the large willow woven compost bin (in the shady mushroom orchard).
Edge trimming of stinging nettles – nipping them down enough, so people walking the orchard paths don’t sting that legs.
Tree seedling removal – from where they can be reached without trampling the other plants and underground animal nests.
Removal of wild garlic flower and seedhead spikes, from adjacent to the paths. To reduce the amount of seedlings in the paths resulting from falling mature seeds.

Please avoid piling wood in any of the plant borders. Today we found a neat but heavy pile of wood freshly ontop the main Sweet Cicely plant in the nettle orchard, near the circle and comfrey. Surely placed there with good intent but the wood from the storm needs to be outside of the orchards. Also please avoid stepping into the borders. Loads of wildlife lives in and on the soil. Stepping on it also upsets the amazing soil structure. We try only step in there when essential. Thanks for your understanding and support.

Thursday morning gardening

This week (Thursday 21st April) about four of us plan to meet at 9.30 – 11.00 and will be pruning some of the elder trees, harvesting stinging nettle tops and generally keeping things looking good. It’s not difficult gardening, it’s easy to learn and it’s a great way to learn about the virtues of herbs and get to know how to use them.

You are very welcome to join and find out what’s going on and how to get involved!

These days, it’s only really possible for me to work in the Frankendael orchards on Thursdays so I am building up a group of people who are keen to get involved and can help out on some Thursdays. I am advertising the dates on Meetup, so if you would like a notification when a date is set, sign up at https://www.meetup.com/Urban-Herbology-Meetup.

I can’t be there every Thursday but those who’ve found out how the gardening works in the orchards, are very welcome to go the as much as they like.

This week (Thursday 21st April) about four of us plan to meet at 9.30 – 11.00 and will be pruning some of the elder trees, harvesting stinging nettle tops and generally keeping things looking good. It’s not difficult gardening, it’s easy to learn and it’s a great way to learn about the virtues of herbs and get to know how to use them. You can also find out more about <a href="http://<!– wp:paragraph –> This week (Thursday 21st April) about four of us plan to meet at 9.30 – 11.00 and will be pruning some of the elder trees, harvesting stinging nettle tops and generally keeping things looking good. It's not difficult gardening, it's easy to learn and it's a great way to learn about the virtues of herbs and get to know how to use them. <!– /wp:paragraph –> <!– wp:paragraph –> You are very welcome to join and find out what's going on and how to get involved! Herbalists Without Borders Amsterdam, as a way to help those in need to access herbalism.

You are very welcome to join and find out what’s going on and how to get involved!

Call me, Lynn, on 0627596930 if you want to speak first.

NL Doet – Herb Spiral

On Friday 28th May, River of Herbs Orchards will be participating in NL Doet 2021. We advertised for 6 volunteers to join us to help with putting new plants in the four orchards, all to help provide for wildlife and people. The session will be from 17:00 – 18:30 and we have attracted all 6 volunteers that we requested, so the event is now full. We were also successful in attracting some Oranje Fonds funding for the event. This will really help to add some diversity to the nettle orchard and to help us attract more volunteers. The main intention of the evening is to create a herb spiral in the nettle orchard.

On Friday evening we will be doing the following:
1. Driving in a durable root barrier around the edge of the spiral. This is to prevent runners from an invasive raspberry to get into the eventual spiral.
2. Fill the base of the circle with gravel.
3. Layer reclaimed stone / tiles and soil inside the circle, to create a raised spiral effect.
4. Fill the available spaces with organic herb plants.

The idea of a herb spiral is to provide a varied ecological niches which will allow us to grow plants, not usually able to thrive in the orchards.
Here is a list of the plants that we are going to try to include in the project:

Agrimony
Alliums
Basil
Betony
Borage
Bronze fennel
Calamint
Calendula
Chamomile
Chervil
Chicory
Cowslip
Greater celandine
Juniper
Lady’s mantle
Licorice grass
Marjoram
Mint varieties
Oregano
Orpine
Pimpernels
Primula
Rosemary
Rue
Scrophularia
Shiso
Valerian
Violets
Wood avens
Yarrow

Some of these prefer to grow in sunnier environments than we can usually provide. Some prefer more shady or sheltered situations. This is the purpose of the spiral. Here are a few images of herb spirals, either completed or in construction and found on the internet, to give you an idea of what the group is trying to achieve, together..

Please let us know if you have a wish list of herbs to add to the spiral, or the Orchards as a whole. We want for all of the regular volunteers and supporters of the project to be able to see at least a couple of herbs in the spiral, which make them feel wonderful!

We are also going to be making a lovely bug hotel soon, from natural materials. If you are interested to get involved in that or any of the other activities at the orchards, please say.

Help is always welcome and no experience is needed. Everyone is welcome to get involved.
Email: riverofherbs@gmail.com

April – May in the orchards

A short summary of what the River of Herbs volunteers are doing at the moment in the Orchards behind Huize Frankendael / Restaurant Merkelbach, on Monday mornings:

The plants are growing incredibly well and spring has certainly sprung!

Daslook – Wild garlic – Allium ursinum, is being removed from the paths and from directly around some of the special herbs in the beds. Here, it was clogging up one of the Acanthus plants, so that one now has more space to grow.

And here is was clogging up the pretty Pulmonaria – Lungwort. So that also has some breathing space again.

If you come to pluck Daslook from the orchards, you can help by taking individual leaves or flower/seed spikes from close to the edge of the paths. This helps to stop the Daslook spreading seed all over the paths.

We took a lot of weeded-out Daslook home today ave I made a tasty batch of Daslook & walnut pesto.

Labels – We have been adding small name boards on metal spikes, at strategic points around the orchards. They show the scientific binomials, Dutch and English names of the plants. Not all of the plants are labelled as it would look too busy but you can find your way around more easily and build your local plant knowledge by reading the boards.

Esdoorn – Sycamore seedlings – These spring up all over the place at the moment and would become a Sycamore tree forest, if we didn’t take action. Whilst we are working in the gardens or visiting to forage herbs, we pull up any sycamore seedlings that we see. They are quite easy to spot at the moment. If in doubt, we leave the seedlings in place.

Esdoorn – Sycamore seedlings. Need to be removed.

New plants
Allium triquetrum – Three cornered garlic – Driekantig look. This is a spreading Allium which was donated by a volunteer. We are looking forward to the taste of this plant next year. It has been added to the Mint triangle.

We also asked Chris, the head gardener of Park Frankendael for a cutting of Guelderseroos – Cramp bark – Viburnum opulus. He generously helped and we are now nurturing a cutting in the Mushroom orchard, just inside the gate, near the Wormwood plants and the hedgehog stick-pile.

Herb spiral – We are working on a rustic herb spiral, in the nettle orchard. We plan to complete this project before the summer and need to:

Level the ground
Place slabs on the base
Build up the soil and stones in a spiral fashion
Plant with interesting herbs

Moving and placing the base slabs will take some strength so if you are willing and able, let us know!

Barefoot path – It’s time for us to tidy the edges and refill this steps! If you have any pinecones hanging around, feel free to drop them off at the barefoot path, in the Geranium orchard, or at one of the orchard gates. We will use other materials to full the steps. Previously they have been filled with chamomile plants, sand and other interesting materials.

Membership – We are hugely grateful to everyone who has joined our new membership scheme. After only two days, we have seven paying members and have raised enough funds to buy a new spade and other essential tools! We are looking forward to the first members only event! For information about how to become a Member and supporter of the River of Herbs, please see this page.

Volunteers welcome – We are a friendly group of Dutch and international gardeners. We meet at the orchards, behind Resataurant Merkelbach (Middenweg 72, Amsterdam), on Monday mornings (11am is a good time to find us) and we work with permaculture principles. If you would like to join us or find out more, please come along one Monday morning or email riverofherbs@gmail.com

RoH membership

River of Herbs is about creating and maintaining green urban spaces for the benefit of people, plants and wildlife. We garden in a way that hugely minimises costs but maximises benefits for the people and other creatures who enjoy and use the spaces. RoH was established and registered in 2012 as a way to bring free food and the ability to learn about herbs to whoever needs to learn. Our main focus since 2014 has been managing the Frankendael Orchards as a nature-centred permaculture foraging garden.

Why membership?
We are a very resourceful group of volunteers from all around the globe. Throughout the year, we gather weekly in Park Frankendael to manage the public space. We use our own tools, make tea and snacks from the plants we weed out. We share, borrow, and sometimes even make our own tools, but there are some costs involved in keeping the River of Herbs spaces looking so beautiful.

Funds are needed for the occasional replacement of tools and the purchase of special plants or other specific materials. An example: we have begun labelling the edible and medicinal herbs in the Orchards. In this way, visitors gain more from their visits. We have chosen a low cost and pretty stylish option but we are paying for the labels from our own pockets. Another example: we are building a beautiful herb spiral and need to transport the necessary stones across town. Such actions cost money, and as much as we do this for love and from a belief that this is the right thing to do, we have decided that it is time to ask for your help.

A place to rest – Bench crafted by a RoH volunteer, from a tree that fell next to the orchards.

Affordable Membership
To help us move onward and have a greater impact, we have decided to open up membership to the River of Herbs. We aim to generate a regular trickle of income for the group’s activities.

Annual River of Herbs Membership costs just €5 and all funds go to running the River of Herbs Orchards in Park Frankendael. And, when funds permit, other similar spaces will be established and run by the River of Herbs group.

Wormwood – New plants to learn from -Planted in 2020

Where are the River of Herbs Orchards?
If you don’t yet know the River of Herbs Orchards, they are a wildlife haven and foraging mecca for ecologically-minded city people, in Amsterdam Oost. Situated behind Huize Frankendael and Restaurant Merkelbach, near the main old entrance of the park. The orchards are open to the public 24/7 and are a part of the park. They are neatly hedged and have wooden gates so that dogs do not enter. Mentioned in articles and interviews as the secret gardens of Amsterdam East, many foragers from Amsterdam and far afield visit to harvest and learn about local plants in a quiet, friendly space.

Member Benefits

Exclusive Events
Quarterly Newsletter
Consultation about New Project Ideas

We will add more incentives as time goes on but from the start:
As an RoH member, you will be invited each year to sign up for exclusive events, such as an Orchard tour, to learn the secrets and tastes of the gardens.

Additionally, you will be kept informed of new developments, via a quarterly newsletter. So you will be kept up to date on what is happening in the Orchards and other River of Herbs projects. As a RoH member, you will also be consulted about potential projects for River of Herbs to get involved with.

What else can we offer you as a thank you for supporting the project financially? Please let us know what you would value, as we are new to this and really want our supporters to feel appreciated as part of the project. Please email riverofherbs@gmail.com with your ideas.

Join Us Now
To become a member of the River of Herbs, please complete this short form and transfer your payment via Bank transfer (NL67 ABNA 0469 1075 53 – LM SHORE). Membership costs €5 per year (1 year membership, starting on the date you make your payment). You are very welcome to gift more to the project if you would like to or to gift membership to a friend. Please mention this on the form, if so.

The information which you complete on the form will be connected with your payment, when it is received. We will not share it with anyone else or any other party. We will send you a “River of Herbs: Thank you and Welcome!” email when we process your payment. Please allow 7 days for this process to happen. If you don’t hear from us by then, please email riverofherbs@gmail.com or call Lynn on 0627596930.