August Urban Herbology - Foraging in Amsterdam

Discover Edible & Medicinal Plants in Amsterdam

Have you ever wondered which wild plants around you are safe to eat, medicinal, or best left alone? Would you like to learn how to recognise nutritious, free plants growing right now — and how to use them confidently at home?

Join this gentle, informative foraging walk through Park Frankendael and discover how urban nature can support your health, diet, and connection to the land.

On this walk, you’ll learn how to:

• Recognise edible and medicinal plants growing locally this season
• Harvest wild plants safely, ethically, and sustainably
• Avoid common poisonous lookalikes
• Use wild plants for food, simple remedies, and everyday wellbeing

Along the way, you’ll enjoy a cup of freshly brewed herbal tea made from wild plants, and you’ll receive a handout to help you remember what you’ve learned and continue exploring on your own.

This walk is suitable for beginners to experienced, and the naturally curious — no prior knowledge needed.

Practical Details

Start & End Point: Bike racks near Huize Frankendael / Restaurant Merkelbach

Terrain & Pace: Easy, relaxed walking on natural paths (woodchip, soil, grass, woodland edges, water edges, and the foraging gardens)

Weather: The walk goes ahead in all weather except storms

What to Bring: A small paper or cotton bag if you’d like to gather some herbs or seeds. This is peak foraging season so you will certainly be able to take home enough to cook with. 

Facilities: Public toilets available in the park

Language: The walk is in English (Dutch also spoken)

Your Guide

Your walk is led by Lynn Shore, a medical herbalist and urban foraging educator with over 30 years’ working with plants. She helps people rediscover the edible landscape around them. Lynn runs the River of Herbs foraging garden and works with community groups, environmental organisations, chefs, and eco-restaurants.

She combines practical plant knowledge with a public-health perspective on food, wellbeing, and urban nature. In 2025, she took part in the WildBiome project, living on wild local foods for a month to explore their effects on the body — insights that inform her teaching today. She will do this again in 2026.

Lynn is also the author of The Green City Witch.

Cancellation Policy

• Full refund for cancellations made at least 24 hours before the event
• Cancellations within 24 hours can be refunded only if your place is filled