vegiies

Veggie garden

As of Friday I’m the proud user of a piece of land where I can grow veggies. Now you’ll probably think ‘Wat’s the big deal?’ But out here in the Netherlands there is not much land left to plant your own veggies. We are a very small country and have lots and lots of people wanting and waiting to live here. The small patches of land are for farming and growing tulips, among other flowers. So to find any square meter to start your own veggie garden is nearly impossible.

Expensive

Also, I happen to live in the most expensive part of the Netherlands, right in the middle, where every inch is gold. Now there are some possibilities of growing a small garden, but there is a waiting list. I even found out at one plot there is a waiting list for 40 years! 40 Years, can you believe it? Now I’m not the most patient person to begin with, let alone when I have to wait until I’m 102 years old to grow my own zucchini.

Dream

But, as with every dream that finds its shape, I thought I’d spontaneously throw it out into the Universe. Be careful what you wish for and all that, but this time I was sort of ready. I had a dream and I wanted it to come true. My dream was to have a veggie garden, preferably with a small wooden cottage (think shed) where I could put my desk and write, whilst looking out the window at my beautiful harvest.

Easter Sunday

We were all together on Easter Sunday: our family gathered around. The kids were busy looking for Easter eggs, when I decided to just throw it on the table. In between the easter eggs there lay my dream, so to speak. Waiting and simmering. Who knows, right? The next day I got a call from my niece: ‘Now I can’t fulfill your whole dream, but I can make a good start for you, if you’re interested.’ She had talked it over with her husband, who has a huge veggie garden close by, if they could and wanted to spare a few square meters. The answer was Yes!

Ready

So now I’m getting ready to invest in my own veggie garden. Unfortunately my little wooden cottage will have to wait, ’cause there’s no building allowed on the plot. I want to bet you, though, that this will eventually happen as well. That’s how the Universe works, you know. For now I’m the happiest woman on earth. I am googling for organic seeds and tips on how to plant and where. So far I’ve made lists to make sure that I won’t put plants next to each other that argue. Who knew that some plants just can’t stand being next to other plants?

Peace

I want peace in my garden. I want plants to get along and help each other out. Gret and Dale from Windstar in a long ago past, where are you when I need you? I can use all the help on tips about organic gardening I can get my hands on. I will let you know how it goes. For now I will start seedlings indoors, for the weather is way too cold still to put my seeds in the cold ground.

Just wait

But just you wait! In May I will start growing my own food. Too bad we can’t have buildings on site. Wouldn’t a biodome be pretty wonderful? I know I’m getting way ahead of myself. But just wait, I will start with tomatoes and radishes. I read there’s not much I can mess up with those. As always I would love to hear from you. Any tips for a new gardener? Please let me know at:

redactiesophiamagazine@gmail.com