No. 88: Four more weeks.

Selling everything out is almost impossible. In fact, we'll be receiving another delivery from a grower on Saturday! You can help us sell out the last lovely bulbs... From December 1st or at a time you specify, we will deliver the package we put together to your home or another address. Our contribution is that we give 100% more bulbs for the price you pay (in fact, you get a 50% discount). You can choose from 1 or more packages in 4 price categories. Idea: have the package sent to family or friends (specify that address under "different delivery address"); we will send the invoice to you.

When I started in this profession 42 years ago, all deciduous shrubs, including fruit, were traded bare-rooted. It was generally known then that autumn and winter were the best times to plant hardy plants, as they are completely dormant. Now I often hear the question: is it still possible, it's almost winter! Yes, yes, it is still possible and it can be done all winter, unless the ground is frozen (which in the Netherlands has never lasted longer than a few weeks in recent decades).

That's why we are now busy buying in fruit. Next week I will add another 10-15 new varieties, so that we can offer close to 300 fruit varieties!

Will you enjoy it with me?

Now that we are experiencing the short days again (we drop from 16¾ to 7¾ sun-hours each year!), it is extra healthy and pleasant to grow something edible indoors. Nowadays, with the help of our sophisticated plant lighting, you can even grow a harvestable product all winter long, just take a look here.

The group of Sprout and Microgreens holds a special place. You can harvest them after just a few weeks, they are very healthy and subtly flavorful! Just to distinguish: Sprout vegetables (or sprouts) you eat with the seed and all, you let the sprout emerge in the dark. This is then light in color, because after the chlorophyll appears, some of the vitamins are lost. Some examples for this group are Mung bean sprouts, Alfalfa, Radish sprouts, etc. We have simple, smart to very advanced sprouting aids to grow these crunchy young germinated seeds.
Take a look here.

If you give the young seedlings a light place, the first cotyledons and possibly a 2nd pair of leaves will also emerge. We then speak of Microgreens, referred to in English as "Cress," hence our word "kers" in, for example, Garden Cress. You grow these Microgreens on a grid or mat or simply in a pot or dish with a little fine soil. Go ahead and experiment with it, we supply many growers and restaurants and our assortment is still growing. You can find the entire assortment here. Isn't that a nice gift idea for under the Christmas tree?

I notice that the gift-giving month is approaching again, with many deadlines for orders ("I need it before December 5th") and at the counter, it's often: "could you wrap it for me?". We do our best to get all orders out on time, feel free to email info@vreeken.nl if you have an urgent order.

The bestseller during this period is our (old-fashioned) Gift Voucher; a bit impersonal, but our customers are always very happy to receive them!

A bestseller in our assortment for years, but now the bottom is truly visible (after approximately 30 pallets)! It's great fun to grow tomatoes, peppers, or chili peppers UPSIDE DOWN on your patio. You can read more about it on our website.

Our anniversary book is actually timeless. It tells our history, interspersed with many cultivation tips and interviews. I often hear people say that it has become such a wonderfully readable book. We had to print a large edition; we still have a few boxes of them left...

It will become more difficult for birds to gather their meals in the coming months. You can also hang up nesting boxes in winter; we sell them for many species of birds and other small animals. In fact, these are all great gift ideas, you can find them here.

You can find elegant bird feeders and other nature pots here.

Following the example of the British Bird Protection, we put together a beautiful mixture, you can find it here.

We sell beautiful watering cans from England from the Haws brand, an expensive (and sustainable) gift idea, but we are also very enthusiastic about simple (and clever!) solutions. For example, you can spray very accurately and finely with our simple spray nozzles that fit on an empty soda bottle. This summer, the drip hose was an ideal tool. Plants prefer to receive water only at the roots; this hose distributes it cleverly and regularly. The 2 sets we sell can be found here

Not a very cheerful subject, but it occupies all garden enthusiasts: how do I keep slugs off my plants...? We sell various clever solutions for this:copper tape and copper rings,slug barriers,slug trapsandslug pellets. A very clever solution isthe Snail Brush, which works especially well on the wooden edge of a raised plant bed.

Are you excited about these products? I would, of course, be happy to invite you to order them on the website or to pick them up in the store, there is plenty of stock. For a nice discount, I am putting together this special package for the upcoming gift-giving month:

• 5x Topsy Turvy (worth € 24.50)
• 1x Kiemkracht (worth € 9.95)
• 1x Wintervoer (worth € 3.95)
• 3x Flesbroesjes ‘Motregen’ (worth € 1.50)
• 1x Druppelslang 15m (worth € 12.50)
• 1x Slakkenborstel 1m (worth € 9.95)

The total value of this "December Inspiration" package is € 62.35. We are offering it for € 50.00