No. 80: I'm writing this message in the wee hours of the morning...

The past few months are ones I won't soon forget: many cases of flu and challenging personal circumstances (more on this at the end of this newsletter) have turned our annual busy period into a real challenge. Fortunately, we're now seeing light at the end of the tunnel; many orders are still awaiting some additions (for example, flower bulbs are currently being heavily restocked), but in a few weeks, our delivery time will be back to normal. I notice that seed sales worldwide are still booming: my suppliers are experiencing longer delivery times than ever, so they are also swamped with orders. A good sign: growing your own is popular and loved. With 4 people handling emails, we try to answer all your questions, but despite our efforts, there's a backlog in replies. Please only send a message if it's absolutely necessary and definitely not to all our email addresses at once (please).

... that you can order the unique Kiwi Berry packages, then again in October. Our grower is amazed at how much we have sold, and we are grateful for your enthusiastic response. Are you interested but haven't ordered yet?

What you harvest from the garden, you must return as fertilizer. That is an old gardeners' wisdom that still holds true. We therefore have a very wide choice of fertilizers. Have you ever delved into the use and effect of fertilizer? Some time ago, I wrote a nice exploration to give you some basic knowledge, see Background no. 3

The only (and immediately a very good) fertilizer that we stock for only 1 month is WORM CASTINGS. This year we started a bit later (due to the late frost), but we now have plenty of this most reliable compost in stock!

Spring has truly arrived when the Asparagus and Wild Garlic plants come in. Well: they're here, we have carts full of these plants!

Asparagus
We sell 2 top varieties in the form of "crowns", Grolim and Gijnlim, both are suitable for white and green cultivation, Grolim slightly better for white and Gijnlim for green cultivation.
You can find them here on the site. A clear video about the best planting method can be found here. For white cultivation, you build a mound on top, just take a look here.

Wild Garlic
One of the most sold plants in our assortment is Wild Garlic. More and more people are discovering this easy perennial plant, which feels perfectly at home in a forgotten shady spot. Annie MG would say: it practically eats out of your hand... You can make a delicious pesto with it, use it in soup, herb butter, in salads, you name it. Everything from the plant is edible: leaves, flowers, and tubers. You can order them here.

I am, of course, talking about Jerusalem artichokes and Potatoes.
The Jerusalem artichokes are almost gone and a large dent has already been made in the potato stock.
This year we had 180 varieties available, now just over 140 varieties. Click here for the available varieties.

Every year we buy many special and rare varieties to experiment with. Do you need some help with the choice? From this assortment, we create a collection of an average of 10 varieties, worth € 25.00. Each variety is, of course, separately packed and labelled. We offer this journey of discovery in potato land for € 15.00. Click here to order.

I would never have thought, that we would collect over 500 different summer flowers. The dahlia is of course the showstopper, but there is so much more... Don't wait too long to order, because some varieties are already selling out, and I can't restock them. Still waiting for your flower bulb order? That's right... some varieties sold out, which we are now restocking. Your order, of course, has priority and is already (mostly) ready. Click here for our assortment.

... but not all plants survived. Have you already taken stock? In my case, the Eucalyptus froze above ground. I'm going to cut it down and I'm already sure that it will resume its life with many shoots. Of course, some plants will also have frozen to death. Do you know how to check if a shrub is still alive? Scratch the bark a bit; if it's green underneath, there's a good chance of regrowth. My growers are complaining a bit that the initial growth of many plants is lagging compared to other years. So, our assortment will build up a bit slower than usual. Today, the first cart with vegetable plants arrives, and on Saturday, many more plants will come, always directly from our organic growers: our garden festival is about to begin, and the plant team will surely be very busy again.

I thank many of you for your sympathy following the passing of Pateh. Two weeks ago we were finally able to bury our foster grandchild, after two impressive days in London.

The week before, there was a celebration: our first foster daughter had been with us for 25 years, and I myself turned 60. They really got me good; we spent a lovely weekend together as a family. Laughter and tears have often mingled in recent weeks...! After this busy period, I will seek some rest to process everything; men sometimes take a little longer to get in touch with their feelings.

I wish each of you a very pleasant and happy Easter!
Ton Vreeken, March 30, 2018