Leipzig and the herbs

In Leipzig these days we engage ourselves with different herbs. In order to raise the awareness about the beneficing and variety of European herbs, the team of wisamar recently is involved in different workshops pointing out the use of herbs in the past and in our days on the medical and cosmetic area as well as their heritage within folklore.

Two herbal workshops were already carried out in Leipzig. A third workshop is in preperation and will be followed by an "European plant and herb festival" next year.

22 April 2014 the first workshop took place in Leipzig. The first of the three public workshops in 2014 dealt with planting herbs in the garden or even at a balcony. In the backyard of the senior citizen center “Inge and Walter”, the herbalist Undine from Klosterbuch and the wisamar team therefore planted different herbs in a raised bed. Among the herbs were: parsley, chives, chervil, garden sorrel, savory, marjoram, balm, pimpinella, nasturtium and also Mediterranean herbs like sage, basil, thyme, citrus thyme and rosemary.

After welcome and an introduction into the project by the wisamar team, the workshop started and Undine explained the different herbs with their characteristics and possibilities for usage. Also the cultural background played a role and a poem from Joachim Ringelnatz about sorrel as well as a fairytale about basil, the “king´s herb” told by the storyteller Peggy was of greatest interest for the visitors. After the workshop the guests were invited to taste some of the home-made herb specialties, herb bread, strawberry cake with woodruff and balm, herb butter as well as bear´s garlic and parsley pesto.  By this they could experience in which ways herbs can be used in creative cuisine. Recipes from different countries were presented and given to the visitors as examples for imitation.

The second workshop took place 17 May 2014 at the community garden Querbeet in Leipzig. The oecotrophologist Kirsten informed about wild herbs that can be used in cooking. During a walk in the garden and its surroundings she showed different wild herbs and gave recommendations what to consider when harvesting ground-ivy, nettles, ground-elder, dandelion, plantain, yarrow and other wild herbs. After explaining the characteristics, the participants could choose herbs for a tea and besides taste some creams and relishes with wild herbs that Kirsten prepared for the group. Again, also recipes from all over Europe were distributed and the visitors got some insights into the use of one or the other herb in other countries.