You know how many people feel an inexplicable attraction towards a certain country and its language? I know someone who spends every vacation in Ireland, a woman who learns Spanish for no particular reason and I even heard of a…
Garden Connect is a project that we’re participating in this year where gardeners from around the world grow identical 2 by 6 foot (60 x 180 cm) gardens, compare and share growing methods. Here’s an update of what’s happening in…
Yes, that’s right, there’s rhubarb and beer in the title of this recipe. I think this jam would be worth making just for the fun of pouring beer over rhubarb or the looks you get when you serve it to…
Hengelo, the fairly small Dutch city where we live, boasts one restaurant awarded 1 Michelin star. The restaurant, as is customary these days, claims to be using seasonal, locally sourced ingredients in their menu. Almost exactly one year ago, when…
When I was growing up, just about the only flowers you could buy were ugly, stiff, red or white carnations, which, as I have learned since, where also treated with chemicals to keep them “fresh” for months. Now I live…
We were not planning to travel anywhere this month even though the kids have a two week vacation. But then one evening about ten days ago we were sitting on the couch and “we’re not going away but if we…
This post is a part of a series about the things I usually do/sow/harvest in my garden in a given month. I post at the beginning of each month and at the end of each month I check in to…
Do you grow chard? We do, lots of it. It is such a dependable vegetable, at least in our climate. The funny thing is, you never see it at grocery stores, only health food stores usually sell it. But it…
Sometimes it’s really good to look back. I looked up the pictures of our allotment in April last year and when I put them side to side with this month’s pics…wow! We’ve come a long way! At this point we…
If you’ve been around since last year, you might have read my post about the abdication of queen Beatrix and her son Willem Alexander succeeding to the throne. The post also includes a picture of our whole family (my parents…
In the March post I mentioned the Garden Connect project that we’re participating in this year where gardeners from around the world grow identical 2 by 6 foot (60 x 180 cm) gardens, compare and share growing methods. Here’s an…
Easter means eggs, there’s no way around it. But to me it also means eating as many wild herbs as possible. It is what our bodies need after the month of mostly eating vegetables from storage. These “weeds” have all…
This post is a part of a new series about the things I usually do/sow/harvest in my garden in a given month. I post at the beginning of each month as inspiration for other (aspiring) gardeners. At the end of…
Whenever chatting with gardeners in spring, you are likely to hear things like: “The weather is two weeks ahead.” Or behind. Or whatever. It makes me wonder what spring ever became the ideal that every subsequent spring is measured against?…
If nettles are not touted as the next miraculous superfood, it is probably just because it is a little hard to successfully market a common weed. If they were difficult to grow and could only be imported from distant countries,…