Newsletter,
October 2025
❝
Mila van der Linden ❞Autumn is the perfect season to prepare your garden (or balcony!) for a colourful spring. And we've noticed: flower bulbs and tubers are finding their way into your gardens at a rapid pace.
✽
060405 – Chayote ‘Smoothy’Imagine a fruit sprouting on your windowsill — that's what happens with the Chayote 'Smoothy' (Sechium edule). This special "naked germinator" sprouts within its own fruit, so keep it in a bright spot (but not too warm).
In February-March, you can plant the young plant in a pot (either lying down or partially buried so that the sprout is just below the soil). Water it as soon as the soil is dry, and let it acclimate outdoors in good weather. Once the frost has passed (usually in May), it can be planted in the ground.
In summer and autumn, the plant climbs or creeps vigorously, with vines full of fruit. The taste? Somewhat like a juicy potato — delicious for frying, boiling, or even eating raw with a little lemon and sea salt. And the best part: the entire plant is edible — flowers, shoots, leaves, and root tubers.
✽
Cleopatra's NeedleEremurus, also known as Foxtail Lily or Cleopatra's Needle, is an impressive perennial that blooms with tall, slender flower spikes. We currently have two special varieties in our assortment: a bright white one (EREMURUS himalaicus) and a soft salmon-coloured one (EREMURUS Ruiter Hybrid ‘Cleopatra’).
Both varieties prefer a sunny, well-drained location and bloom in late spring to early summer. Thanks to their transparent growth habit, they combine excellently with other perennials without blocking the view. Even after flowering, the seed pods retain their ornamental value.
A stylish choice for those looking for height, structure, and colour in the garden.
Cleopatra's Needle is part of our flower bulb assortment that we currently offer. These are bulbs, tubers or rhizomes that bloom in spring. Think of tulips, daffodils and many other cheerful eye-catchers. Feel free to take your time to browse through our offerings.
✽
Seeds in the spotlightNelumbo
The Indian lotus is a beautiful aquatic plant with large leaves and elegant flowers. All parts of the plant are edible and are valued in Asian cuisine.
We offer this special lotus in four different colours: cream, white, red, and pink. This way, you can give your pond or water feature an extra colourful look.
Before sowing, lightly file the rounded end of the seeds and place them in lukewarm water until they germinate. Plant the tuber in a pot with pond soil and place it in a sunny spot in at least 30 cm deep water. The plant likes warmth and grows best at a minimum of 13°C.
In colder regions, it is advisable to store the tuber frost-free during winter. In warmer climates, the lotus can remain outdoors all year round.
A stylish and edible addition to ponds and water features.
✽
Discover the Welwitschia mirabilis: a living desert legendThis extraordinary plant, also known as the "living fossil," grows only in the arid deserts of Namibia and Angola. What makes Welwitschia so unique? It has only two leaves that continue to grow throughout its life, sometimes reaching up to 6 meters in length! Despite the harsh conditions, this plant can live for hundreds, or even over 2000 years.
Want to try growing this desert legend yourself? Sow the seeds year-round in a warm place (25-30°C), lightly covered with sand. The plant takes time, but those with patience will bring a piece of the desert into their home.
✽
Sow now: Turnip greens in October!Do you think the sowing season is over? Not entirely! You can still sow turnip greens in October. This fast-growing plant thrives in the open ground, but also in a pot or container on the balcony or terrace.
With mild temperatures, you can harvest in as little as 4 to 5 weeks. Delicious in a stew, salad, or stir-fry — fresh from your own garden, even in autumn!
Tip: sow in a sheltered spot or use horticultural fleece for a little extra warmth.
✽
Allium altissimum / Persian Shallots – Ornamental and TastyThis special onion variety is grown for both ornamental purposes and culinary use. The sturdy stems, at least a meter high, bear large spherical flowers in deep purple or pure white – real eye-catchers.
We offer the original, wild form, originating from the mountains of Iran (Hamadan, 1850 m). In the Middle East, the bulbs are popular in various dishes. They are eaten both fresh and dried. After soaking in water, they become milder and acquire a fine, sweetish taste – delicious in savory pastries or even in yogurt.
Cultivation tip:
Plant Allium altissimum in a sunny, well-draining spot. Provide sufficient water during growth, but keep it dry during the dormant period.
Colleague in full bloom
This time, we are proud to put Arriët – or as we usually call her, Jet – in the spotlight. Jet is the one who handles our seed procurement. Thanks to her keen eye and planning, the right seeds are in stock on time and are processed into a filling job for the team that hand-packs everything. Because what many people don't know: almost all our seeds are packed here on-site, one by one, by hand.
Jet is also the driving force behind all checks and certifications. Even when Ton was still fully involved, she was the one who arranged everything around his work. Nowadays, she is much more than that: my right hand. Without her, I could practically live here, so to speak.
Jet is an indispensable link. She is our walking collective labor agreement, maintains order down to the smallest details (even the paperclips are always perfectly arranged), has a special love for hogweed, and works harder than anyone else. I can say with certainty: without Jet, Vreeken's Zaden would no longer exist.
At home, Jet has a beautiful garden, which she enjoys working in during her free time. And if there's one thing that can always be found in her garden, it's blooming flowers. She's especially fond of snapdragons.
A fun fact from Jet: snapdragons can be easily grown in the same pot as tulips. The tulips bloom in spring, and then the snapdragons effortlessly take over. This way, you can enjoy a colorful sea of flowers twice a year – from one pot!
✽
New introductionsOne of the things I enjoy most about my job is finding new varieties to expand our assortment. Ton is still primarily responsible for purchasing seeds and plants, but the flower bulbs? Those are my responsibility—and I do it with great pleasure!
It's always exciting to discover what new colours and varieties are available. Every season brings new surprises.
We've created a special page on our website with all the new varieties we've recently added. So, be sure to take a look—you might find something you've never seen before!
Facts and News from Ton
I'm happy to leave the Newsletter to Mila, but every now and then I'll fill this section with interesting facts!
Potatoes
Ruben and I have started planning the assortment of seed potatoes for the coming season. For years we grew old and forgotten varieties, but as I'm stepping back, I can no longer maintain that cultivation, so that collection has unfortunately been lost. However, there are positive developments: we continue to grow the assortment of garlic varieties every year, and these are lovingly cultivated in the Beemster. Furthermore, several growers are still very active for us in cultivating old or unknown seed varieties and species, and those harvests are now trickling in. I'll still be involved in that for the time being, you have to have something to do as a retiree, right!
Regarding potato varieties: there's still plenty of choice, of course, we're going to focus more on the so-called "Robust Varieties," which are potatoes with good resistance to potato blight and thus can be successfully grown organically.
Old and original potato varieties must continue to be cultivated, preferably in their countries of origin, such as Peru. Fortunately, there are good initiatives to support farmers there to continue doing this. Without support, all those beautiful, old varieties (with special characteristics) will be supplanted by smooth, modern spuds. An interesting article about this can be found here.
Tomatoes, also disease-free
Tomatoes belong to the same family as potatoes and are even closely related! Unfortunately, they also suffer from potato blight (especially in wet summers). Luckily, this year was very favorable for tomato cultivation, but it's better to start on the cautious side...
If you're planning tomatoes, especially for outdoors, choose the more compact bush tomatoes; they yield earlier harvests before potato blight is prevalent (literally) in the air. The secret is: if you manage to keep the plant itself dry (under a canopy, in a greenhouse, or tunnel), the disease will have a harder time striking.
By the way, we have very good news for 2026: we're introducing a number of taller (and thus long-harvestable) varieties that are highly disease-resistant for outdoor cultivation. One of our growers is busy developing these varieties especially for hobbyists. I visited their trial garden (see photo) and was amazed by the beautiful, healthy plants with delicious fruits!
Are you an active blogger or another type of "green" influencer? Send us an email, and you'll receive a free starter kit of these special tomato varieties; I'm sure you'll be very satisfied with the cultivation results.
By the way... 2 months ago I read this interesting article about the close relationship between the potato and the tomato: the potato originated from the tomato! Read all about it
See also the schematic photo in the previous section "Potatoes"
Microgreens (those young plants you eat...)
In the coming months, I plan to significantly expand the microgreen assortment; we're continuously searching for new flavors for you to experience!
So many leafy greens taste different when young than when fully grown. Often extra fresh and surprising, with the added big advantage: you can grow them indoors on the windowsill, even (or should I say ESPECIALLY) in winter. The current assortment can be found here.
Do you already know the company Koppert Cress? We know them well and we share each other's discoveries; they recently visited us again. A nice report about their (and my) passion can be found here.
Eat seasonally
We don't always succeed 100%, but at the vegetable stall at the market, I try as much as possible to choose varieties that haven't traveled too far and therefore truly belong to the season. An additional advantage: vegetables from the Benelux are grown under stricter restrictions regarding the use of pesticides, so they are cleaner than fruits and vegetables from distant imports. Organically grown food is of course even better, but sometimes scarce and still excessively expensive. I am well enough acquainted with conventional cultivation and which varieties are disease-prone and which are not, which allows you to support both organic and serious conventional growers.
Raw vegetables of this season are mainly Endive, Red Chicory, and Witlof. All three are chicory varieties and very healthy. Did you know that the cultivation of witlof (called "witloof" there) was invented in Belgium? It's no coincidence that witlof is also called Brussels Endive here. Nowadays, the roots cultivated (in summer) are widely forced into witlof in water. This so-called hydroculture is quite sustainable and requires much less work than the traditional trenching, as was done in the past. Did you know that there is still a group of growers in Belgium who enthusiastically grow witlof in this old-fashioned way? The taste is better, the growth is slower, and the plant still absorbs nutrients (along with aromas) from the soil. It has now become a recognized regional product, and it has to be, because these heads must be paid more for, which therefore requires clever recognition and profiling. The season starts on October 19th, enjoy your meal! You can read all about this delicious witlof here.
Just in the nick of time...
Now that it's going to get colder next week (the wind is shifting to North-East), many will turn on the heating. So far, I've managed well with a thicker sweater or a blanket on the couch...
Also, think especially about the tropical plants you still have outside; some of them need to come inside now, otherwise the transition will be too great. We are also bringing our sensitive plants inside now. There's still a nice batch of pepper plants that can also come inside; you can still buy them, and then you'll have your first pepper harvest very early next year, read all about it.
And another thing: the Curry Leaf Tree plants are growing well at our grower's, just a few more weeks, then registration closes, so be quick! We only have these aromatic plants occasionally, seize the opportunity!
I have much more exciting news to share, but that will be another time. Our profession is fascinating; I learn something new every week, and developments never stand still; we're happy to keep track of them for you!
Green greetings from Ton Vreeken
Farewell message
Next Saturday, it's time again for the Culture Night in Dordrecht! This year's theme is DWARS (CROSSWISE) — fitting for these times full of opinions, inequality, and uncertainty.
Throughout the city center, art and cultural institutions will open their doors with a free program full of music, exhibitions, performances, and surprises. A great opportunity to discover all that Dordrecht has to offer.
It's always a lively, enjoyable evening with plenty to experience — and we're right in the middle of it, of course! So if you're visiting Vreeken's Zaden on Saturday, be sure to stick around in the city and experience the Culture Night for yourself. Definitely worth it!
Mila van der Linden, October 10, 2025