Sunday in the garden
A butterfly on the ground
Little almonds
.. and some more almonds
Chervil and purslane (postelein)
Chervil flower
Comfrey flower
Potato growing
A bean or pea, not sure
Categories for Gardening
A full day in the garden
Today, Eastern Sunday, there were five people in the garden. One was a bit sick. But we worked so hard! I only just got home, around 20:15.
We did start out with coffee and some Eastern chocolate eggs. I showed Daniël the nasturtium seeds i bought yesterday. He made a plan for the day. Seed the carrots, weed and then seed pumpkins. Daniël pruned some hedges around. He also put one pole for the new greenhouse in the ground and planted the remainder of the broad beans in the other side of the garden. Farouk dug out the rest of the ground for the greenhouse. Me and Ben did the carrots. Five rows. First we made the clumps of clay a little bit smaller. Than i dug out the five rows. Ben put some compost in the rows. I mixed the seeds with the compost, so it would be easier to seeds everything. Then Ben followed after me putting a bit more compost over the seeded rows.
I walked to the Rotte to fill all the water cans i could find. I took Daniël’s cargo bike. After watering all the new seeded plants Rombout came by too. We divided all the new tomato plants we got a week ago and put those into little pots, two by two. The rest we put in the larger pot back again.
And then Julien had some couscous salad with him! I was really hungry. We all were. So that felt like a small party around the garden table.
And now i’m really tired. So i’m typing this, i will add the photos i made and then i go sit on the couch and watch the rest of La La Land, which i started seeing yesterday. Hopefully i will fall asleep easy this evening. I feel my entire body, so fingers crossed!
Ooh, and the nasturtium seeds i took back home. I will seed these in small pots and plant them out when they are around ten centimeters tall. Will do that tomorrow.
Winter carrots in the middle, smaller summer carrots on either side in two rows
The pumpkin bed
The potatoes are already coming up
Spinach
The start of the new greenhouse
Strawberries
The carrot bed, from the other side
Melde, spinach and lettuce on the bed next to the carrots
A walk along the Essenburgsingel
A walk along the Essenburgsingel. Essentially the same i made August 2016. This time i walked into the Spoortuin from the start of the Essenburgsingel. I could hear some boys playing up above the path between the trees. I met two people walking their dogs. And in the vegetable garden area i met Mark, who was watering his plants. I surprised him with my knowledge of the plants standing around. Wilma walked by and she and Mark had along conversation about medicines, Dutch healthcare, man, children, my slight chubby figure, my age ( a big surprise to Mark, who said he thought i was 36 🙂 ) until i checked out fatigued with the two voices talking to each the whole time. Phew! 🙂
On i walked to the Educatieve Tuin Essenburgsingel. Luckily it was open this time. Some people were working in there. A woman was planting broad beans. One of the gardeners did know about the fire which destroyed our greenhouse. I picked a few wild garlic leaves.
On towards home. Two and a half hours later. A quick visit to the supermarket and then home again. Just in time for Escape to the Country. I had bought myself some chocolate. I couldn’t resist.
Then at 17:50 hours it was time for the program Geloof en een Hoop Liefde. In which there was a 8 minute piece about our garden. Yes!
Published on April 13, 2017 at 6:00 by Ellen
A lovely garden day
A rather normal day of working in the garden
Down
Fire
Last night the greenhouse of the Peace Garden burned down.
Someone on facebook told me about it on one of my latest posts about the garden. This morning, around half past nine, i walked up there to check. My first reaction was actually relieve. I had imagined the whole garden burned down. Luckily it was only the greenhouse. Then my reaction was sadness. And then anger. And then sadness once more.
I walked back home to get my iPhone. I did call the two maintainers then and told them both in their voice mail. Then i told the whole group in our whatsapp group. After a few initial reactions i walked back to make some photos to post in the whatsapp group. (I don’t have internet on my iPhone. I can only connect back home with my wifi.) Back home once more there were many reactions in the group. And even more after i posted the photos.
I made some tea and went back with it.
I could see the center of the fire was towards the back of the greenhouse. At the back stood the water tanks, which were melted. The inside of the greenhouse was burned and cracked, the plastic molten away, the iron fences bent and deformed.
Soon other people came by, Jorinde and Andreas. We were all shocked. But also thinking about what might have caused this, what to do next, what sort of greenhouse to make next, what of the chicken run, what of the seedlings we should be sowing again in the next two weeks. Questions tumbling over each other.
John, our homeless person residing in the greenhouse came along. He told us it was another group of people who had done this, while he was away to work. Jealousy.
Murray, Daniel and Julien came along. We cleaned up a little bit.
Then Daniel treated us all to coffee and chocolate milk. And we talked a bit more, sitting on the benches outside the garden.
A week and a half ago i talked with Julien about my desire for someone special in my life. But i also said i didn’t want to date. Dating reminds me of bringing only the best parts of me. There is simply no way i will ever go in Tinder or some dating website and try to find someone there. It was hard to talk about this, to explain this feeling i had. I did say i was feeling happy. Really. Even though my money situation is extremely tight right now. I don’t worry about it. I’m not sure why. I know i should, really. I know a few years back i would be worried sick. But i am not worried right now. I trust myself, in who i am, in my work – this website. I know things could go wrong, but i feel they won’t. I don’t understand this, but this is a very strong feeling.
To me, this world we live in, the state of it, the way people live here in Western Europe, in Asia, in Africa, in the Middle East, in America. It just isn’t enough for me. There are so many people scared, worried sick, afraid for their lives. And here in the Netherlands people worry about the money they make. The money they set aside for their pension. The money they pay for their health insurance. The money they pay for their other insurances. The money they pay for their internet, and television, and phones.
Fucking hell.
I don’t want to live like this.
No
Way
Only now i slowly begin to realize how upset i am. How angry. Livid. Furious.
AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH
So yes, i would love to fall in love. Have a boyfriend. Someone to talk with, sleep with, kiss with, have sex with. Of course. A friend. A true friend. Of course. But he is not around. And i’m not going to let that stop me from living my life. Fight for what i believe is right. Hell no.
OK Ellen
…. breath ….
…. relax ….
…. 🙂 ….
—- Adrenaline was streaming through my body. Bit more average now. Better! —-
The plan is to work tomorrow, Thursday, to get the greenhouse cleared, the ground around it cleared.
And me, i am writing this post Fire now. After i read a bit more in my Gilbert & George books. I will make a post dedicated to them soon. I leave you with one of their works from 1984, Death Hope Life Fear. I do want to get my head clear about their work before though. So yes, reading, learning.
One of their largest and most ambitious pictures, the quadripartite DEATH HOPE LIFE FEAR tackles the central themes of human existence. Its powerful compositions and luminescent colours make this one of the high points of Gilbert & George’s art of the 1980s.
Together, DEATH and LIFE suggest an ongoing cycle of mortality and re-birth, with the figures of the artists simultaneously rising and falling, growing and shrinking. In DEATH, they are embraced by the petals of a rose and a daisy, while in LIFE giant leaves behind their shoulders resemble the wings of angels. In FEAR, the figures of young men are isolated from each other, dispersed at different levels. HOPE, by contrast, presents an image of unity and strength, with the youths arranged into definite groups in front of a landscape reminiscent of the white cliffs of Dover.
Seeding
My balcony before. An old wooden tray all curling up from the rain. Old plants in one of the rectangular planters on the railing. I'll get those out this week.
I cleaned up my balcony. The whole one square meter of it! First i wiped the whole area with a brush. Then i used water to scrub it clean.
I did some repotting and seeding. I started with my old laurel plant. I have it for around three or four years. I never repotted it before. So i am hoping the new, larger pot will give it a boost and new growth this year. In the earthenware pot i seeded catmint. I had already seeded it in the Peace Garden, but i'm pretty sure my cat Muis will love some catmint too. In the plastic pot i seeded rosemary.
In this planter i seeded basil. Lots of it.
Done. Apart from the fact my door couldn't close, so i moved some pots to the railing. Looks much better! Still to do: get more compost. Then seed a pot with rocket, a pot with thyme and a planter with coriander.
A sunny Sunday’s walk
Today it was the Open Day at the Gandhi Garden. First i went to the Groene Passage Festival Market. I took home some self made compost from the Spirit restaurant. Also some magazine’s from the ecological Velt collective.
After that i walked past my home and put on a warmer coat. On to the Gandhi Garden next.
It was busy! The Maja Fietsclub performed. The first time i saw them perform, I liked it. Wijnand and Andreas, who both work in the Peace Garden, are the singer and the drummer.
Walking back through De Savornin Lohmanlaan. There is a vegetable garden there. I found it!
Half past five i was home. The sun still shining. One hour later than a week ago. Yay!
Published on March 27, 2017 at 6:00 by Ellen
Spring buds
