It’s a while since we’ve had such a lovely start to April, the sun shone brightly on the old stone stile as we gathered to begin our monthly herb walk.
This was to be a walk of two halves. First, a stroll around the carpark behind Slimbridge Village Hall. Then up the hill to seek out wild garlic, along with the other woodland plants that enjoy the early season dappled shade and cool damp soils.
It’s always fascinating to see how many ‘purposeful plants’ you can find in a municipal area such as a carpark. Coming and going in our busy lives, we rarely stop to look at the abundance around us. One of our group remarked on how, by taking an interest in one plant, you then start looking with more curiosity at the others too, wanting to find more, it opens your eyes.
Nettle
Our first plant of interest was nettle (Urtica diocia). It’s scattered throughout the area but there is a particularly impressive bank-full right by the village hall. As you approach you can catch the fortifying, earthy scent of the nettles in the air. This is similar to the flavour of a nettle infusion, made by leaving nettle leaves (fresh or dried) in water overnight – pour boiling water over them before going to bed and it will be cool and ready to strain in the morning. Nettle infusion makes a wonderful health tonic to sip through the morning, bringing energy and boosting immunity. To learn more about nettle, take a look at our blog. If you received our April newsletter, you’ll know it was our plant of the month, we are very happy to shout about such a fantastic plant. To get our monthly newsletter, sign up here – just one herby newsletter a month, no spam.
Dead nettle
Within the nettle patch there were some sprigs of dead nettle (Lamium album) – identifiable by its white flowers. There’s also a dead nettle (Lamium purpureaum) that has purple flowers.
Dead nettle gets its name because its leaves look like nettle, but they don’t sting. This mimicry has given it reputation as a ‘devilish’ plant; contradicting this, it is sometimes known in folk lore as ‘white archangel’ and dedicated to Archangel Michael (who’s saint day is 8th May, when this is typically in flower). It is actually a completely different species from nettle, being part of the Lamiaceae (mint) family. It is often found growing alongside or within nettle patches, which provide protection for it. I see nettles as the protectors of the hedgerows – many a juicy fruit has been left for the birds because a barrier of nettles puts it out of reach for a forager.
Dead nettles are edible (white and purple) so not to worry if you gather a few among the nettles by mistake, they might be added to a frittata, used in soup or scattered over a salad.
As one of our earliest flowering plants, dead nettle is important for pollinators, bees prefer it over dandelions – find a quiet spot and see if you can watch the bees seek out their favourites.
Blackthorn
The carpark is edged with a classic hedge dominated by blackthorn and hawthorn. This is a good time of year for spotting the difference between the two as blackthorn flowers before the leaves come out; while hawthorn is currently a shower of pretty green leaves, its white flowers will follow in May. I recommend taking note of where you see the bare branches of blackthorn, when they’re easy to identify now with their covering of white flowers – these are the spots to return to in autumn to seek out sloes for infusing in gin.
These thorny plants are specially selected to create stockproof hedges, but the thorns can be somewhat of a menace to those having to maintain the hedge. Blackthorn has by far the larger thorns (another way to tell it apart from hawthorn), which increase its potential to damage skin. When thorns penetrate the skin, they can leave residual matter which causes swelling, stiffness and pain, known as ‘blackthorn arthritis’ (although a puncture wound from any thorny plant can cause ‘plant thorn arthritis’). As well as affecting humans, it is a particular danger to horses.
Blackthorn flowers and leaves contain prussic acid, which is poisonous if consumed in large amounts (the fruits, ‘sloes’ are not poisonous). If you hear talk of blackthorn being used to poison arrow heads, this is likely a conflation of the old hedgers’ fear of our native blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) with a native African practice of prepping arrows with deadly beetle larvae and plant-based poisons, including a different plant also known as blackthorn (Acacia mellifera).
Rosebay willow herb
At the base of the hedge the pointed, red-tinged leaves of rose bay willow herb are beginning to shoot up. These will put on a lot of height in coming months and through July and August we’ll be able to watch the bright pink flowers opening in ascending order up the stems. Relatively unknown a hundred years ago (as evidenced by confusion in naming it in the Frampton Flora), this invasive plant is somewhat taking over, dominating the cow parsleys and others more characteristic of an English hedgerow. Once the flowers arrive, these can be gathered and made into a fun syrup which holds their bright pink colour so is good for cocktails, or pouring over pancakes or ice cream.
Over the stile
For the second part of our walk we crossed the road and took the path uphill into the woods.
A sedge greeted us at the foot of the path. There are many types of sedge, often associated with marshy conditions. This one is of interest for it’s ‘W’ cross-section of the leaf. It’s also fascinating to feel how the leaf is rough if stroked in one direction, and smooth in the other direction. But do be careful because the edge of the leaf can give a sharp cut, like a paper cut. Later in the year it’s tall stems will have drooping seed heads, these seeds can be gathered, dried and added to bread mixes or sprinkled on porridge.
Bluebells are just starting to appear. Our native bluebells are delicate and often follow on from the more robust Spanish bluebell. Once in flower you can identify the Spanish interloper by the ‘ruffled’ end of her bells, which remind me of a flamenco dancer’s skirt.
A little treat along the way was what looked potentially like a wild raspberry plant. It has the characteristic rounded leaves of our bush fruits, like currants, gooseberries and raspberries. We’ll have to return later in the year to see it fruiting and be able to identify it more confidently. As discussed on our walk, getting to know plants is a gradual thing, returning to them through the seasons, living alongside them year-round. If we observe, they will teach.
Woodland spring plants
Within the woods we found harts tongue ferns, lords-and-ladies, wild violets, herb robert, wood anemones and dogs’ mercury but the most plentiful herb, as expected, was wild garlic. Small clusters edged the lower parts of the path but as we got higher and further into the woods these expanded into awesome carpets of delicious smelling green. These are the stretches from which glossy leaves can be gathered in abundance for pesto-making, ravioli-stuffing, scone-flavouring or whatever experimental cooking you desire. The season is short, so the opportunity is gone long before I tire of trying different recipes. Dive into the pungent world of wild garlic in our blog here.
Yet again, in very few steps, we’ve found a wealth of purposeful plants right on our doorstep, there waiting for anyone keen enough to observe them.
Thirty in thirty
If you want to do your own exploring, here’s a list of 30 plants you can spot in a 30 minute amble around Stinchcombe Village Hall.
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