No. 140: A fresh spring and a refreshing newsletter

Tomatoes

Over the past few months, we've been busy restocking our tomato assortment to perfection. Fortunately, we've been able to source many varieties again, which means our shelves are now richly filled. We truly have something for everyone: delicious, sweet cherry tomatoes that elevate your salad, juicy Roma tomatoes perfect for making authentic Italian pasta sauce, and large beefsteak tomatoes that you can slice (sprinkle with coarse sea salt for a party in your mouth).

A leafy cabbage that originated in Japan. The great thing about this leafy cabbage is that it can be harvested at many stages: very young, mature (30cm) and even the flower stalks are edible. The taste is mild, slightly sweet and aromatic. When harvested young, it can be used in salads, and older leaves go into stir-fries or soup.

This typical Asian seasoning has a special, pungent aroma and a complex flavour that combines characteristics of basil, coriander, fennel, and mint. Use the leaves in salads, or in roasted and stir-fried dishes.

Beautiful, delicate Mizuna, ideal for young harvesting and for combining with wild arugula. The taste is slightly spicier, but so close to arugula that the name "Red Arugula" was quickly coined!

Even though I find the name hilarious, I didn't come up with it myself. However, it's an ideal tomato for growing in a pot. They grow to about 60cm high and yield a substantial harvest of tasty sweet fruits. It's not uncommon for a single plant to produce 300 fruits.

A carrot so small it's almost a micro-vegetable. They are tasty and full of vitamins. Another great characteristic is that it can be harvested after just 12-15 weeks.

It's hard to imagine in this cold weather that summer is only four months away. Yet, summer is the time when the entire garden will bloom. Bees buzz and butterflies flutter through all the flowers.

Do you also want your garden to be full of scent and color? Then I can tell you now that we have already received our first batch of summer-flowering bulbs. New varieties have also been added, so grab them while you can!

This is not our entire assortment for this season yet! We will receive our next batch next week, but we will only put the items online once we have actually received them and can sell them. This way, we have faster delivery and have to disappoint fewer people!

Fancy a home-grown potato on your plate? A self-grown potato mash, chips (or fries), roasted or a fancy gratin! Who wouldn't want that? I am now happy to announce that the first batch of potatoes has also arrived. Just like with the flower bulbs, this is not our entire potato assortment for this year yet! We will receive the rest of our potatoes in the coming weeks.

It is still a bit too early to plant the potatoes outdoors. Therefore, store them in a cool, dark place until it is the right time to actually put them in the ground.

Of course, you might not have a lot of space for potatoes, but we have a solution for that too! We have various potato grow bags available that you can place on your balcony or in your small garden.

My good friend Ton, of course, already sent out a brief news flash last Monday, in which he announced that we are offering the Helleborus collection again this year. See the full message below:

This attractive and very robust overwintering tent is easy to set up and comes standard with a ground sheet, making the tent (by placing enough plants) very wind-resistant. Thanks to its comfortable height of 180 cm (in the middle), you can accommodate large plants. The 3-layer bubble wrap provides optimal protection against cold. If you also purchase a sheet of XPS insulation for the bottom (120x120 cm), it will provide extra protection against rising cold. In case of continuous frost during the day, it is necessary to place a heater, which you should position away from the plants on a small table or stool.

During thaws, open the tent for sufficient ventilation; the tent has a strong zipper. In spring, the ground sheet can be detached, and you can use the tent for early sowing or hardening off vegetable or flower plants.

Normally this tent is 195 euros, but we are now offering it for 155 euros.

This handy tent offers many possibilities: early planting and hardening off in spring, providing a tropical environment in summer, extending growth in autumn, and protecting plants in winter. The tent measures 186 cm wide, 175 cm high, and 84 cm deep. It features a sturdy zipper for ventilation or extra secure closure.

Normally priced at 85 euros, it is now available for 67.50 euros.

And now for our three last amazing offers: the minifarms in three sizes. The Mini Farm is ideal for growing raw vegetables, herbs, strawberries and virtually all plants up to a height of 40 cm. The Mini Farm is also perfect for strengthening germinated plants.

The small minifarm has been reduced from 119 euros to 95 euros. This offer is even more attractive because you also receive 10 sachets of seeds with the minifarm that you can use immediately!

Discover this unique plant with beautiful curled, blue-green foliage – a real eye-catcher for any garden! This perennial beauty is not only winter-hardy, but also provides a delicious harvest as early as the second or third year. From January onwards, cover the plant with a 30-40 cm pot, which will beautifully blanch the young shoots. The result? Delicious, tender shoots that will tantalize your taste buds!

And that's not all: in summer, the plant starts to bloom, and the flower stalks (in bud) are also a true delicacy! Add this green treasure to your garden and enjoy the delightful harvest year after year.

This is truly an "Oerprei 2.0"! The harvest is abundant and the growth is very healthy.
The bulbs have the appearance of garlic, but the taste is milder and sweeter (like leek). This variety is therefore (probably rightly so) called the ancestor of our leek, and besides the refined leek flavor, it also has an interesting bloom: some develop white with pink flowers, but the bloom is usually a cluster of new bulbils. In summer, the bulbs are fully grown and can be harvested and eaten. Replant the smaller bulbs for a harvest the following year! The leaves are, of course, edible as leek.

This hardy Japanese ginger (also known as Miyoga) is a true discovery! It's a close relative of true ginger, but instead of the rhizome – which is actually poisonous – you eat the young leaf shoots and flower buds. A delicious and surprising delicacy! Besides being an ornamental foliage plant for the garden, it also provides tasty surprises for your plate. Give it a shady spot that doesn't get too wet, and you'll have a unique addition to your garden and your kitchen!

We're concluding our green treasures with a delicious raspberry! This dwarf raspberry is not only ornamental but also super tasty and extremely fruitful! In spring, the compact plant emerges with yellow-orange leaves, which beautifully change to a fresh yellow-green hue in summer. All summer long, this plant gives you large, sweet, red raspberries – and all on one-year-old shoots that grow in the same year. The best part? The shoots are virtually thornless, so you can harvest your raspberries without getting pricked!

This raspberry is perfect for pots or containers, but you can also combine it beautifully with strawberries in large hanging baskets. With a height of 100-150 cm, the plant will gracefully overhang in large pots – a true eye-catcher in your garden or on your balcony!