The problem with July is that the summer holiday starts. Because who wants to leave the garden behind right after the first tomatoes started ripening? I don’t, not really, but being bound by holidays scheduled by the Dutch ministry of…
June is the best of times. The days are long and there’s enough daylight to go to the allotment even after dinner. There are extravagant peonies to pick for the vase and first strawberries to cherish. There are crisp lettuces…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Today was the 5th day of March. Today was the first day that felt like spring. It was the warmest 5th March ever recorded in the Netherlands. My son played outside the whole afternoon without a jacket. Today I properly…
At the end of February, the vegetable garden is still in a state of planning. Because for many of us space and time are limited and complete self-sufficiency is a distant dream, we have to somehow limit what we grow.…
At the moment, our garden is covered in snow and the ground is frozen. That means that not a whole lot can be done outside. At the beginning of the month when it wasn’t freezing and we were in the…