No. 40: The countdown begins

Two weeks ago, our website counter silently surpassed 3,000,000 visitors! For several years, we have been trying to put the renewed website online. All sorts of circumstances forced us to postpone it. In December 2013, it was almost ready... but something else came up. Now we are making a serious attempt again in the autumn, I have high hopes! In the meantime, we are secretly tinkering with that site and making it better and better, now for the transition.

Another small corner of seed potatoes fills my cold store. We have been able to donate to various urban agriculture projects (serving food banks), growers and other customers responded generously with orders, now for the final push. Again: a late-planted potato often yields a nice harvest of "new" potatoes in September: a discovery for many. You can also try this "trick" around this time with broad beans, peas, and sugar snap peas: normally a spring starter, but sown in late June, these crops will give a nice autumn harvest 9 out of 10 times. In addition to theregular clearance offers, I'm putting together a nice mix of bulbs, tubers, and mushrooms in the "Garden Filler" package, see below for more information.

1. A complete grow kit for fresh mushrooms, such as Button Mushrooms, Oyster Mushrooms, Porcini, etc.
2. Several bags of seed potatoes for young potatoes in autumn
3. Some onions, shallots, ullucos and other edible tubers or bulbs
4. The "topping" consists of some last ornamental varieties such as Dahlias etc. for a colourful autumn.

The retail value of this package will be € 80.00, I am offering it for € 39.00. The sooner you order, the greater the variety will be; we will stop once 3 of the 4 items are sold out. Bonus: for orders of 2 packages or more, we offer free shipping, so seize your chance for an order without additional costs!

Click here for more information or to order

One of the nicest innovations from last year is "De Groentekist" (The Vegetable Crate). Many customers bought this fun starter kit as a gift: to enthuse others about growing vegetables in a small available space! During the summer, I'm offering a special deal: normally the crate is €19.90, but now it's available for the pleasant price of €15.00. Click here for all the details of this beautiful wooden box.

Click here for more information or to order

In the Newsflash of June 6, we already announced this offer, and we have since packed hundreds of plants for you. This week, the last replenishment from my Belgian grower will arrive, and a few dozen more packages can be made. Therefore, here is a repeat of the previously published text:

The grower, who supplies most of our tomato and pepper seeds, provides us with plants in dozens of varieties each year. Grown with love and organically, no single variety is standard, some we don't even have available as seeds! Each package contains as many different plants as possible, a harvest full of discoveries! We put together different packages, which you can pre-order, delivery in the coming weeks.

We offer 3 packages:

1. Starter Package Tomatoes and Peppers (20 plants total) worth €35.00........ now €25.00

2. Standard Package Tomatoes and Peppers (40 plants total) worth €70.00........ now €45.00

3. Top Package Tomatoes and Peppers (60 plants total) worth €105.00...... now €59.00

Click here for more information or to order

We sell water collection trays in many sizes. They are essentially large to very large plastic saucers on which plants can be placed. If you place them outdoors, make sure to position the trays level and drill some holes on the side to prevent the saucer from overflowing during heavy rain, which would make the plants too wet.

For our assortment, click here

Irrigation mats can be laid as a base in the preceding trays. This prevents plants from getting too wet and retains moisture for a long time.

Click here for more information or to order

A smart irrigation tray, complete with mat.

Click here for more information or to order

We are increasingly collecting smart products in our section "Gardening Aid" under the category "Garden Tools", group "Watering Systems". This week, several more top products have been added.

Click here for this entire product group

Good watering cans are only available from a few brands. We sell, among others, the English top brand "Haws", which combines quality, ease of use and an attractive appearance.

Click here for more information or to order

Recently, I've allowed myself to be roped into a veritable ambassadorship; every allotment gardener sows too much and then hawks their surplus harvest around until even the neighbours can't stand the sight of another courgette. To prevent this, an idealistic club has set up a website. It's essentially a marketplace with supply and demand; anyone can report what they have in surplus, and "requesters" indicate how far they are willing to travel to pick things up. The intention is for items to be picked up for free, but if people have made, for example, jam or juice, they can ask for compensation for the cost of jars, etc. On Facebook, it's gaining quite a bit of popularity, but they (naturally) want to reach as many people as possible. And now, of course, comes the question: hearing this, do you think you can do something with it, and/or do you happen to think of another good way to publicise it? The website is intended for both the Netherlands and Belgium, so if you know Belgian colleagues who could use it, that would also be great. If you can't do anything with it, I understand, of course; I'm probably not the only one bothering you. I hope you're doing well in any case, and I send you sunny greetings, Mari.
www.oogstoverschot.nl and www.facebook.com/oogstoverschot

You guessed it: it appealed to me, and now you know about it too!

As soon as I return (early August), I will start the annual strawberry sale. This year with a more complete assortment than ever. The Malling Pearl will be back, and of course the "white", the "black", the "climbing", pink flowering, Swedish wild strawberries, etc. etc. you can already look forward to it!