Can you feel it? The weather’s getting warmer and wetter. Winter’s on its last legs. Urban gardeners and foragers like myself are itching to go planting and plucking plants all around the town. Since many readers come to this blog precisely for info on edible plants, a topic we’ve neglected this winter, I’m celebrating March and the approaching spring with a series on edible plant resources. Read on for more!
Today’s resources: Elizabeth Westphal’s walks and writings on edible plants and mushrooms. Elizabeth is an activist and herbal nutritionist at Grüne Liga Berlin, an environmental coalition, and a fixture in the local food landscape. Most Berliners know the Thursday organic farmers’ market that she organizes on Kollwitzplatz.
For 16 years, Elizabeth has led the Grüne Liga’s Kräuterwanderungen (herb hikes), like the one shown here, which I attended in 2009. In the fall, there are Pilzwanderungen (mushroom hikes). The first walk of this season is on Saturday, March 24!
On the walks, Elizabeth leads groups through Berlin’s parks and forests, explaining edible plants in detail. You learn not only how to identify and harvest each plant, but also how to prepare and enjoy it. Nutritional and medicinal properties are also discussed. It’s fun to discover that some familiar “weeds” are actually delicious. For example, the vitamin-packed treat in the top photo? Stinging nettle! It loses its sting when sautéed or even just slightly wilted in vinaigrette.
But it’s also a treat to gather seasonal, regional specialties. In the photo below, you can see two of Germany’s most beloved and elusive spring treats. The whorls of six leaves are Waldmeister, or woodruff, for scenting sparkling wine and sodas. It can also be found or grown in other temperate regions. The broad leaves, however, are hard to find outside Germany. They belong to Bärlauch, ramsons or bear’s garlic, a strongly garlic-scented tender green in the onion family, perfect for pestos and soups (but use caution, Bärlauch strongly resembles two poisonous plants).
If I’ve whetted your appetite, join an upcoming plant walk! Here’s the first one:
First Kräuterwanderung of 2012
Saturday, 24 March 2012
2:00-5:00pm (14:00-17:00)
Meet at: Botanischer Volkspark Blankenfelde
Blankenfelder Chaussee 5, Berlin-Pankow
Price: 5 Euros / 4 Euros for kids and Grüne Liga members
Please sign up:
(030) 4433910
oekomarkt.kollwitzplatz@grueneliga.de
Or at the Grüne Liga table at the Thursday Kollwitzplatz farmer’s market.
If you’re not in Berlin, you can enjoy Elizabeth’s wild plant wisdom in book form, Wildkräuter (in German, 9 Euros), from the charmingly named Packpapierverlag (brown paper press):
For those outside Germany, perhaps you will find a similar foraging walk, or forager’s group, near you. Or perhaps you have one to recommend? In the coming weeks, I hope to introduce additional books and resources. So please let us know if you have a favorite book, website, or other tip to share. Happy gathering!
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I attended Elizabeth Westphal’s herb walk in June 2009. All photos were taken by me on that walk. More about the plants we sampled:
Berlin: Edible plant walk
Berlin: More tasty wild plants
urban plant research 
OMG, I can’t wait to move back to Berlin! One of the first things i’m going to be doing! Thanks.:)
Glad you liked the article! When will you be moving back? The walks go into early summer, I think, and then there’s mushroom walks in the fall!
OMG, mushroom walks, I CAN’T WAIT!! We’ll be there mid April. We were trying to forage in Australia, but found it a bit off putting as we don’t know a lot yet. Do you live in Berlin?
Hey, April will be perfect then! Elizabeth’s walks are wonderful (hope you speak German). Yes, I live here year-round, what about you?
Oh nevermind, I read on your blog that you used to live in Germany and are moving back. Well, good luck with the move! Do you guys have Freecycle where you live? Or an active Craigslist? I’ve had great luck giving away stuff (or selling at very generous prices) when moving, and getting free or cheap stuff when arriving in a new place. Have yet to freecycle plants but…
Yeah, we are definitely gonna give some stuff away and try to set ourselves up cheap and minimalist. We got a massive plant I hopefully can give to friends. It’s our baby!
[…] one of my blogging friends posted this link about Berlin foraging and mushroom walks in my comments the other day. I thought that was really […]
Hello, I like your site, after moving from the countryside to the city it is interesting to see both the restrictions and possibilities that the urban environment creates for plants.
I have just started a blog about foraging based on what I find in London. I also run wild food walks in the city, teaching people about all the wonderful things they can do with weeds: http://dittander.wordpress.com/