After years of being on the waiting list, on 4 June 2011 I finally got a garden allotment (known as volkstuin in Dutch). It's just a 15-minute bike ride from home, at the back of an old Dutch dike - and has a little house and a greenhouse. And lots of trees and bushes and weeds....
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| Gardenophobia Apr 11, 2012 | ||
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I just changed my profile on YourGardenShow.com. Instead of claiming that I have been gardening since 1974 (a one-time failed veg patch with my mom - I killed the peas with too much pesticide), I admit the truth. I just got my first real garden last year. And it's scaring me to death! |
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| What a crock of sauerkraut! Feb 17, 2012 | ||
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Every year, for the past 15 years or more, my friend Ivan and I have planned to make our own sauerkraut, the way he and his family had done for generations in backyards of Croatia and on balconies in Belgrade. My Amsterdam balcony was the ideal spot, he said, we just needed a container with a spigot at the bottom so we could... ...see more |
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I have always enjoyed kraut, kielbasa and dumplins! Unfortunate for me, using pork the traditional way, provides me with a migraine, as well as marinating certain foods. I would love to make my own kraut... more » |
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Thank you for sharing this story! I LOVE "real" sauerkraut, it is nothing like the Americanized stuff you find at the grocery store. We tried to make some last year but our container wasn't airtight so...w... more » |
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Hi Everyone: I have been experimenting with home made Kim Chee which is an Asian (and spicier) version of sauerkraut. I use both regular cabbage but also like to use Napa or Chinese cabbage whi... more » |
| Mulching my garden with Joe Dec 04, 2011 | ||
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I have never grown vegetables, but I have been planning a veg plot, and after thinking and dreaming for a few months, I decided to grow American things I really love to eat, but can’t get here in Holland. Like winter squashes and good corn on the cob. I had planned on buying heirloom seeds during my annual Thanksgiving trip... ...see more |
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I'm sorry for your loss. Your story is so beautiful. I hope your garden grows plentiful and the memories of your brother are always with you. |
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Claire, What a wonderful writer you are! I also lost my brother and your story made me remember the good times we had. He was so handsome and funny! It is good to remember t... more » |
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In the end, I did bring back some of my brother's ashes and had hoped to plant a crepe myrtle in his honor (one of my favorite Florida bushes), but after considering how cold it gets here, I opted for a do... more » |
| Killer newspaper mulch Oct 30, 2011 | ||
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I have always been slightly obsessed with newspapers. The comics as a kid, my school newspaper in high school, anything on newsprint when I was getting my journalism degree at BU, the Sunday Times, Holland's Saturday Volkskrant/Parool/NRC trio that keeps me on the sofa until Monday morning. And now as mulch. |
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Claire, I'm holding my breath until Spring. Horsetail is a nightmare perennial especially in wet spots (which Holland has in abundance). It spreads fast, roots deeply, out-competes almost every garden plan... more » |
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I will patiently await ...... I have blackberry bushes that I can't get rid of. We put down PLASTIC (wrap that the local lumber co gave us..free) in areas covered with woodchips....it followed the pl... more » |
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I don't know if it still does, but used to be that newsprint had something that bugs hated or it killed them or something (per my mama), so I used it for shelf paper, and also in between the rows i... more » |
| The women and the willow Sep 25, 2011 | ||
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My garden’s willow tree had been so haphazardly pruned over the years, limbs shot up high and long into the red beech on one side – and there was nothing but butts of missing limbs on the other side. I felt sorry for the beech, it needed space to breathe. And the willow needed drastic intervention. |
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Lots of folks feel somehow cruel when they prune for the first time. Happily, we all learn soon enough that shrubs and trees have a will to grow and re-grow. Like you Claire, I feel a connection with this, a kind of partnership, or kindred share of Life. |
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Which reminds me of pollarded street trees in Europe (and San Francisco). They're often sycamores and pruned every year by city specialist. Would you have any photos? |
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If I had anything at all to fence in I would invite you over! (I would do that without the fencing as well). I love your ongoing story... |
| Please fence me in Sep 17, 2011 | ||
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My garden neighbor, Angie, and I had talked a lot about making a fence between our gardens – I wrote about that a while back. The boundary is 16 meters long. So now with all the end-of-summer sales going on, it was time to go shopping. I found the best prices at Tuincentrum Osdorp, something like 50% off all kinds of fencing.... ...see more |
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Do others have fencing like yours? You wrote that you followed all the rules.... I'm curios if you are just being "picked on" because you're a newbie. For the record, I think the fence looks nice! |
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Good news! The building committee totally approves of what we did, they were just a bunch of nice guys who wanted to chat and come by for a visit. They also checked out ... more » |
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Congratulations! So much for all my speculation about Dutch fussiness. The guys on the committee sound agreeable. |
| Tall-as-me stinging nettles Jul 29, 2011 | ||
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Nettles here in Holland just don’t look like the ones I knew growing up in Florida. The bull nettles there are small tough bastards with spikey leaves covered in mini-hypodermic needles filled with burning histamines and acetylcholine. Just looking at photos of them makes me cringe with memories of childhood tears. On the other... ...see more |
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Hilarious Claire - I got a good hearty laugh from your post! |
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this is fun to read, thanks for sharing . I miss nettles somehow while in TX, In Russia there is a lot of it and its great for soup. |
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I have been pulling out stinging nettle from my garden and yard too....OMG that stuff burns and swells. I feel for you. I also have poison ivy, I was pulling it out for 3 days un... more » |
| my neighbor wants a privacy fence Jul 16, 2011 | ||
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My garden neighbor bought her garden with some other people, and they all want a fence. I don't blame them, the only barrier between them and us is wobbly knee-high chicken wire and a field of towering weeds. |
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| my first community workday Jul 09, 2011 | ||
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Part of my responsibility as a 'people's gardener' is community work. When I signed the contract for the garden back in June, they handed me a yellow card with some random dates on it. Those are my work days. |
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This sounds like a wonderful day! I look forward to reading this glog! |
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BEES! I so wanted bees. I'm jealous! The again I have built in manure factories...by the way should you need any come autumn/winter you know where to find me. I'm very curious to follow your experiences as... more » |
| My goldenrod smells like dog poo Jul 04, 2011 | ||
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I inherited weeds. A wall of weeds that blocked me from a good quarter of the garden. My childhood Floridian fear of snakes kept me from plunging into the heart of the tangle of ragweed and horsetail and god knows what else lurking in the 5 foot tall jungle between the weedy veg plot and the greenhouse. |
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I am with you as for not wanting to get close to a snake zone! I hope that you didn't encounter any in your taming of your garden jungle. We have lots of bindweed in the community garden here..... more » |
| the old man and the tree Jul 03, 2011 | ||
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We'd gotten an email from the allotment complex's 'garden inspection committee', telling us how they'd be coming around soon, but I didn't think anything more about it until I decided to look in our rotten old mailbox (and only because I was planning on replacing it: having a mailbox is a committee requirement). Inside was our... ...see more |
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Digging out roots - back braking! Can't wait to find a free moment and come visit! |
| the indoor v. outdoor division of labor Jun 30, 2011 | ||
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I spent a lot of time at the garden this past weekend, and I can feel my hand muscles getting stronger thanks to all the weeds I've been pulling. |
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Weeding.....a never ending chore no matter where your garden is!! |
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Hi Claire, for future reference 1,5 meters is me without a head or neck ;)! Have a great time on the dijk! When you're in business let me know I'll come by with the prosecco! |
| New media added Jun 27, 2011 | |
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That is quite the instrument. Don't recognize it. The patches of what you must be finding must delight. |
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I'll be there in the spring with my bucket for tadpoles! Actually that dovenetel to your left, could you dig it up? It's the only thing goats won't eat and there is a bare patch near their pen I'm dying to green up a bit... |
| mom's old tools & a few new ones Jun 25, 2011 | ||
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We just inherited my mother-in-law's old gardening tools. Martha passed away a bit more than 10 years ago. She was a lovely woman, and loved her garden - which I have been trying to maintain for her husband. And all these years, I never really used anything more than clippers, because you just can't maintain a garden if you are... ...see more |
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Martha would certainly have been very excited about your new garden! xo, J |
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And even though she is no longer here, she is with you in your new garden. When my dad died, I made a little memorial garden for him. My mom gave me some poppy seeds and I sprinkled them throug... more » |
| tempted by chocolate cosmos Jun 19, 2011 | ||
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Just a little color, that's all I wanted, so I went to our local garden center, Intratuin, to shop. I go there a lot, sometimes just to wander around, like I used to do with my mom when I still lived with the family. |
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Sometimes, I go with a list; but I much prefer the plants that "speak" to me. The plants you picked sound lovely. |
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