On 14th September I sowed rows of hardy greens in our cold frame: rocket, purple mizuna, different kinds of leaf mustard, parsley. This was a week earlier than usual and with late sowings a week can make a big difference.…
Though it’s still more than a week till summer officially starts, you wouldn’t know it by looking at the thermometer. The days are hot interrupted by a few storms, a walk through the garden yields a handful of assorted ripe…
Last week we celebrated Esther’s 14th birthday. Which means that somehow, inexplicably and in a blink of an eye, our sweet baby with head full of hair, turned into an independent half-way grown-up human. The picture on the right…
The thing you should know about the Netherlands is, that most of the country is bellow sea level. Which means it would be under water, were it not for the ingenious dams holding the sea back. Therefore, if you live…
Broad beans (also known as fava beans) are the only hardy beans. That means that unlike other kinds of beans, they can be sown early. They can even be sown in November and left in the ground to overwinter, more…
We all know that pulses are good for us and that we should be eating more of them. Especially vegetarians and vegans should, because pulses are a great source of protein. The trouble is, pulses require a bit of planning:…
The Elfstedentocht was cancelled. We were this close! Even the date was set (last Sunday) and hundreds of volunteers were sweeping the snow off the ice and transplanting ice to places were it was not thick enough. And I imagine…
I don’t know about your winter, but ours is no winter at all. It feels rather like an unpleasantly wet autumn. We have hardly had any frost, let alone snow. Plenty of rain and wind though, that make cycling a…