Herby walk on the marshes

On Saturday I went on a herb walk on the Walthamstow Marshes. This is a monthly walk through the growing season looking to see what herbs are there and their uses and lore.

Led by Rasheeqa, a Walthamstow-based herbalist. www.hedgeherbs.co.uk.

I meant to go last month, the first walk of the year, but waited to see what the weather was likely to be and the walk was full by the time I emailed to book.

Saturday was sunny, though chilly, so I was glad of my layers.

We walked from the community centre, The Mill, in the old library at one end of Coppermill Lane, down to cattle creep at the other end, stopping to look at herbs on the way. Then under the cattle creep to the marshes, to the Navigation, along a bit over the marshes, back along the path to the car park at the end of Coppermill Lane, and then back to The Mill to finish.

It was a gentle, interesting walk and I learnt a lot. I wrote a lot of notes, but carefully circled anything I was likely to use. I extracted these notes when I got home. I plan to get some vegetable suet to make some balms.

Although we found no lemon balm, the walk did make me go out into the garden and pick some lemon balm leaves to make a (rather boring) tea.

The first plant we saw was herb robert and I have quite a bit of that in my garden. It is astringent, so will wait tummy trouble to give it a go!

real live dead badger!

This is not a post about living green and country in the city, as I was in Surrey at the time being driven for a day out with friends at Wakehurst.

But we passed a badger on the verge - my first seen in the flesh, so worthy of note to me. Unfortunately it was dead, presumably the victim of a car.

First bindweed and first rhubarb

Sunny day today, though cooler than yesterday.

I was able to have several hours in the garden.

Weeding some of the vegetable beds - mainly violets.
Emptying one of the perennial weed compost bins into the vegetable bed where the tomatoes and courgettes will be
Repotted the watercress as its plastic pot had started to break-up (and also repotted 2 amaryllis I'd missed when I'd done the others, and put the 3 apple blossom geraniums into bigger pots.

I found a bindweed just over the boundary in my neighbour's garden. Didn't expect it this early - bindweed likes to lull you into a false sense of security, making you think you have finally got rid of it, when up it pops!

Also picked enough rhubarb for a small crumble, which is cooking now as I type this.