15 years and 10 days ago, my beautiful star-eyed daughter Esther was born. At that time I was already practically living with my husband in the Netherlands but getting a residence permit turned out to be a very lengthy and…
Buchty, sweet Czech buns
Seasonal Salad – March
Last Friday I was invited as a guest teacher to the Permaculture Design Course in Deventer to answer the participants’ questions related to vegetable growing, edible forest design, mulching, improving soil fertility and anything else they wondered about. Since the…
A week of eating from the garden/ winter
As the winter is slowly coming to an end, the homegrown provisions are running low and it becomes impossible to harvest enough for a full week of meals. We are digging up the last parsnips, cooking the last homegrown dried…
Apple, goat cheese and caramelized onions pizza
Back in October when we hosted our apple harvest dinner (four dishes each featuring a different apple variety), finding a vegetarian main course with apples turned out to be the biggest problem. Esther, as the true child of the 21st…
Season 2014 in the vegetable garden
February is a difficult month. I know I should be making plans and ordering seeds, but the garden looks rather barren and no matter how long I’ve been gardening, it is difficult to believe that with a bit of input…
Nearly candied quince
The general rule for pruning fruit trees is that it’s best done when the trees are dormant, during a cold and dry spell. That, for those of us living in the Netherlands, constitutes a problem. The winters are often not…