The Stokes Croft Herbarium

2009-07-12T02:35:00.001-07:00

2009-07-12T02:34:00.001-07:00

The Artwork

Exhibit 21
'Forest Carcass'
Digital image printed on water-colour paper. 2009
Chris Cavetroll Drury

Exhibit 24
'Memento Vivere'
Waxes, resin, wood and paper. 2007
Nicky Cornwell

Exhibit 25
'Untitled'
Waxes and resin. 2009
Nicky Cornwell

Exhibit 27
'Phytoremediation'
Spraypaint and paint-marker on wall. 2009
Tim Floyd

Phytoremediation is the name given to the process of removing man-made contaminants from the environment through the use of living plants or trees grown in situ.
An example of phytoremediation (illustrated here) is planting poplar trees to extract heavy metal contamination from the soil.

Exhibit 31
'Untitled'
Waxes and resin. 2009
Nicky Cornwell

Exhibit 34
'Stegacactus'
Spraypain/paint on wall. 2009
Andy Council

Exhibit 36
'New Growth (Version 1)'
Brambles, Bramble roots, found natural materials, mixed media. 2009
Tim Floyd

Exhibit 38
'Adelaide Place'
Installation. 2009
Evie Wonder

Evie Wonder's 'Adelaide Place' installation maps the site of an old motor mechanics garage (which has been demolished and subsequently colonised by plants) using photography, sound, text, found objects, plants and cooking demonstrations.

2009-07-12T02:32:00.001-07:00

The Plants

Exhibit 1
'Gorse'
Gorse's edible flowers taste like beans and smell like sun-tan lotion.

Exhibit 2
'Aloe Vera'
The clear gel inside it's fleshy leaves can cool a sun-reddened face.

Exhibit 3
A trinity of 'Easter Ledgers'
In northern England Bistort leaves were traditionally an ingredient of a bitter pudding, called Easter Ledger Pudding, that was eaten at Lent.

Exhibit 4
'Caraway'
Freshens the breath and soothes the digestion. The roots can be cooked like (small) parsnips.

Exhibit 5
'Stevia'
The dried sweet tasting leaves of Stevia are between 18 and 45 times sweeter than sugar.

Exhibit 6
'Sweet Cicely'
A european sweet leaved plant.

Exhibit 7
'Lambs Ears'
Soft to stroke.

Exhibit 8
'St. Johns Wort'
Considered to be a cure for the blues.

Exhibit 9
'Rhubarb'
Simmer the poisonous leaves in water to make an insecticide. Simmer the edible stems with sugar and serve with custard.

Exhibit 10
'Broom'
The branches can be used to make baskets, brushes, brooms and besoms and are sometimes used for thatching roofs.

Exhibit 11
'Land Cress (of some sort)'
Quick to spring up on disturbed soil. The leaves have a hot, spicy watercress flavour.

Exhibit 12
'Ice Plant'
Liked by Honeybees.

Exhibit 13
'Rock Samphire'
This cliff-dwelling plant has a distinctive flavour that has been described on the Plants For a Future database as tasting like 'a mixture of celery and kerosine'. I think it tastes like how you would imagine lemon-fragrance washing-up liquid to taste.

Exhibit 14
'Honesty'
Seeds can be used as a mustard substitute. Seed casings can be used to make retro indoor flower arrangements.

Exhibit 15
'Khat'
Khat contains the alkaloid Cathinone, an amphetamine-like stimulant which is said to cause excitement, loss of appetite and euphoria.

Exhibit 16
'Stonecrop (C)Rockery'
Stonecrop is often used to provide roof coverings for 'green roofs'.

Exhibit 17
'Sea Kale'
Grows wild on beaches around the south coast and has edible fleshy leaves and broccoli-like florets .

Exhibit 18
'Wood Sorrel (Two cultivated varieties)'
Contains oxalic acid which gives the leaves and flowers a sour vinegar-like taste, refreshing to chew in small amounts but toxic in large quantities.

Exhibit 19
'Bugle'
Bugle used to be known as 'Carpenters Herb' due to its supposed ability to stem the bleeding from clumsy chisel lacerations.

Exhibit 20
'Clover'
Clovers occasionally have leaves with four leaflets, instead of the usual three. These, like other rarities, are considered lucky. Clovers can also have five, six, or more leaves, but these are more rare. The world record, according to Guinness, is 18.

Exhibit 22
'Teasel'
Oldendays use: Teasing the fibres from sheep's wool. Latterday use: Art teachers favorite still life subject.

Exhibit 23
'The BRISTOL Onion'
Bristol has its own onion 'Allium Sphaerocephalon' which is unique to the Avon Gorge.

Exhibit 26
'Mugwort'
Used by the ancient Brits to flavour their beer.

Exhibit 28
'Common Houseplants'
Both the Umbrella-plant and the Spider-plant can help to reduce indoor air pollution.

NASA tested popular plants for their ability to create oxygen and filter common toxins like trichloroethylene (found in varnishes, paints and adhesives), formaldehyde (present in carpets, furniture and foam insulation), and benzene (found in plastics, synthetic fibres and detergents) to purify the air astronauts breath.

NASA recommends having 15 to 18 good-sized houseplants in an 1,800 square-foot home.

Exhibit 29
'Burdock'
The inspiration for Velcro.

After taking his dog for a walk one day in the early 1940's, George de Mestral, a Swiss inventor, became curious about the seeds of the Burdock plant that had attached themselves to his clothes and to the dog's fur. Under a microscope, he looked closely at the hook-and-loop system that the seeds use to hitchhike on passing animals aiding seed dispersal, and he realised that the same approach could be used to join other things together. The result was Velcro.

Exhibit 30
'Primitive Plants'

Exhibit 35
'Prickly Pear'
When stripped of their prickles the pads and fruit of this cactus can be eaten.

Exhibit 37
'Hazel'
A native tree/shrub which can produce straight poles and edible nuts.

Exhibit 39
'Stinging Nettle fibre'
A little bundle of soft fibres obtained from nettles.

Exhibit 40
'An assortment of uncategorised plants'

2009-07-12T02:18:00.000-07:00

Miscellaneous

Exhibit 32
'Map of community allotments and community gardens in Bristol'
Map and information

"Community allotments give people the opportunity to learn how to grow food in a sociable, supportive and beautiful setting."

Beth Astle -Volunteer co-ordinator, Easton Community Allotment

Exhibit 33
'Library'
The 'library' consisted of small selection of plant-themed books to browse through, a sofa to recline on and a barrel of Nettle beer to sample.

2009-05-19T04:42:00.000-07:00

Foraged Food Preparation

As part of her 'Adelade Place' installation Evie Wonder conducted four cooking demonstrations using varieties of edible wild plants that she'd observed growing at the Adelade Place site. She used twigs and sticks collected from the site as fuel for the wood burning 'rocket stove' that she cooked on.

Foodstuffs/beverages prepared by Evie and consumed by visitors to the exhibition included: Battered and deep fried Dandelion flowers on Monday, spiced Nettles and potatoes on Tuesday, pasta with Hairy Bittercress pesto on Wednesday and a 'purifying Cleavers tonic' on Thursday.

(Gathering Cleavers from the Bristol to Bath cycle-path on Wednesday night to be used to make Thursdays purifying tonic.)

2009-05-11T14:07:00.000-07:00

Urban Wild Food walk

(Photo: A decrepit Dandelion growing next to a Hillgrove Street kerbstone.)

On Saturday 18th April Mr. B. Green led an urban 'wild food walk' around Stokes Croft pointing out edible and medicinal plants. A handful of us plodded around Hillgrove street, Jamaica Street, Dove Street South and finnished up in King Square. Lots of species with edible potential were spotted. Whether you'd ever want to eat anything growing in these locations is a different matter.

The following snaps show some of the edible/medicinal wild plants we found and links to their 'Plants for a Future Database' entries:

Ivy-leaved Toadflax. Cymbalaria muralis

Sow thistle. Sonchus oleraceus

Shepherd's Purse. Capsella bursa-pastoris

Plantain. Plantago major

and Yarrow. Achillea millefolium

Stinging Nettle. Urtica dioica

Cleavers. Galium aparine

and Dandelion. Taraxacum officinale

Daisy. Bellis perennis

Hairy Bittercress. Cardamine hirsuta

Clover. Trifolium repens

and Crow Garlic. Allium vineale

Black Medick. Medicago lupulina

This next set of photos show some of the edible municipal planting we saw on our walk.

Mahonia. Mahonia pinnata

Berberis. Berberis vulgaris

Dog Rose. Rosa canina

Purple Plum. Prunus nigra

Common Lime. Tilia x europaea

Many thanks to Mr. Green for this entertaining and informative walk.

2009-03-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

What's on/when?

Exhibition opening times:

11am-6pm daily from 11th-18th April.

Events and so on:
(All events are free and will take place in or start from the Emporium)

Tues 7th April: Live illustration. -11am til 3pm

A few days before the show opens Andy Council and Tim Floyd will be doodling/painting directly onto one of the Emporium's inside walls. The door will be open and inquisitive types are welcome to wander in and watch the images taking shape.

(Good) Friday 10th April: Opening night -7pm-9pm

There'll be home-made nettle beer, a box or two of plonk and a bit of music at the exhibition's preview.

(Easter) Sunday 12th April: Screening of the Global Gardener documentaries. 7pm-9pm

Four half-hour films presented by Bill Mollison that show how wastelands in various bioregions have been resurected and turned into productive food forests using permaculture principles.

Mon 13th/Tues 14th/Weds 15th/Thurs 16th April: Foraged food preparation. -1pm-2pm

Evie Wonder will be using common wild plants and a wood burning 'rocket stove' to prepare snacks and herbal brews for visitors to munch/sup on.
With Dandelions on Monday,
Stinging Nettles Tuesday,
Wild Cress Wednesday,
and Cleavers Thursday.

Saturday 18th April: Urban wild walk. -4pm-5.30pm

Mr B. Green will lead a circular walk around Stokes Croft pointing out edible, medicinal and useful plants along the way.

2009-03-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

Where's it to?

The Stokes Croft Herbarium will be bursting forth from The Emporium, 37 Stokes Croft, Bristol.