Paper pot maker

For my birthday this year, I asked for nothing more from my parents than a nice outing some time this spring/summer and for them to come by for some cake and coffee (all Dutch people know this ritual). But since my mom is the sweetest, she brought a present anyway.

My parents are getting used to my plant obsession and mom bought the perfect gift to start my growing season off: a paper pot maker!

Increasing raspberries

My raspberry plant

At the end of winter, my raspberry looks like a set of dead twigs in a jar. I always find myself worrying at this stage. The first jets of sunshine are hitting my garden, the birds are singing, and my precious plants look dead. All but the grass between the tiles as you can see....

Rhubarb

This sour Asian plant is one of my favorites in my garden. He lasts through the winter without special care and starts producing vibrant red stalks as soon as spring arrives.
Today I will share with you my tips on maintaining and multiplying a rhubarb plant!

How to grow awesome strawberries

 In my little garden I have a square meter raised bed which I filled with some of my favorite summer fruit; strawberries! Oh the joy of a fresh picked strawberry on a warm summer day. And strawberry jam. And strawberry tart. And strawberries for desert. Yes I love strawberries.

I bought some strawberries at the start of spring last year, and didn’t get any strawberries of them. I was so sad and blamed my poor gardening skills, until I learned that strawberries usually need a year to settle.

In my ‘oh why art thou not growing’ quest I found some more very useful tips. I am sharing my top 5 with you today.

Finally getting started

After a visit to my local gardening store I was very impatient to start up some seeds and get the growing action started. 

 

My list of mandatory vegetables

My master plan is finally unfolding (insert evil laughter). My garden plan is ready! I took all the mandatory vegetables listed in Practical Self sufficiency and made a scheme to remind me when to sow, when to plant and when to harvest. The list is as follows:

Books for planning my garden

So the last couple of days I have been planning my garden. I've had a lot of help from my gardening books:

Growing more happiness

In my quest to a more wholesome happy life I have set some goals for myself. One of those is growing my own food. I have been growing some food for the last two years and I would love to eventually grow all my own vegetables and fruits.

I have a lot of reasons for this wish. The most important reasons are: