Archive For The “Spring” Category
These days, it seems every season comes with a superlative: it is either “warmest” or “wettest” or “coldest” or “driest”on record. The current spring is very cold. I do mind as a person who would like to start wearing cute summer dresses, but as a gardener I don’t really mind that much. Despite the [...]
As mentioned before, we have lots of rhubarb on our new allotment. For the first time in my life I have enough of it to make all my old favorite rhubarb recipes and experiment with new ones. I pick an armful of rhubarb every time we go to the allotment. Rhubarb is a great plant [...]
It’s spring, we’re in the Netherlands and that means tulips! Tourists from all over the world flock to Keukenhof, the shop window of the Dutch bulb companies to admire the spring plantings. I’ve been to Keukenhof once and was a little disappointed at how old-fashioned it was – lots of ugly combinations of primary colors. [...]
One of the most fun and most rewarding projects I did last year was initiating a community garden. Every year we organize a neighborhood plant swap and plant sale, which is great, but I thought it would be nice to have something more permanent. A small vegetable garden that would show people from the [...]
As you might or might not know, the Netherlands is a monarchy, a constituent monarchy to be precise. That means the monarch is the head of the state but though he or she has to sign all laws, the parliament really makes them. Thus the role of the monarch is mostly representative (read: decorative). The [...]
On our new allotment, there are no nettles. I am sure I w ill be grateful for that in the long run, but right now, after the long winter largely devoid of fresh greens, nettles are my favorite vegetable. Luckily our neighbour’s allotment grows lots of nettles, in fact, there’s nothing but nettles. In the [...]
I have complained at length about our new allotment: it’s smaller, there’s too much shade, the soil is in a much worse state. But there’s actually one very good thing about it: the rhubarb plantation. Probably because a good part of the plot is too shady for annual vegetables, the previous owner planted it with [...]
When spring starts 3 weeks later than normal (though what is normal anymore?), mid-April will find the gardener very busy, busier than usual in this busiest gardening month. Throw in an unexpected (but very welcome) writing assignment with the usual work and it gets a little crazy. But I am not complaining – being able [...]
On Saturday I sowed the first seeds directly in the ground – finally!- and spinach was the very first vegetable I sowed. So no, this quiche was not homegrown, but hopefully will be in about six weeks. Because I am definitely making it again. This is not your good old spinach quiche (though I definitely [...]
Probably the best investment you can make if you have a vegetable garden is sowing a packet of asparagus seeds. Yes, you have to wait 3 years before the plants are strong enough to take regular picking, but after that you can cut spears every year, for about the next 20 years. And considering that [...]
