The story so far
My first plot, when I was 12, was in my
parents’ garden. My parents gardened
organically, in a very traditional way. That
first garden failed miserably, as it was in
the shade of a huge tree that sucked up all
the moisture – but it was a valuable lesson
and got me hooked on growing food.
Every subsequent garden I make is a
little better than the previous one. I had a
balcony garden in our first apartment, and
when we moved into our current home, I
planted my first (tiny) edible forest in our
backyard. I started a community garden in
our neighbourhood and have had several
allotment plots. All good experience for
scaling up to my current quarter-acre plot.An advocate for permaculture, Vera Greutink’s plot in the Netherlands
contains both raised beds and an edible forest, providing her and her
family with fresh produce all year round. Sharing advice and recipes on
her blog growntocook.com and her Instagram and YouTube channels
of the same name, Vera also teaches gardening courses and designs
gardens. Last year, she published her first book, Edible Paradise.We live in Hengelo, a small Dutch town
close to the German border, and our plot is
about 5 kilometres – a 20-minute bike ride- away from our home. It’s common here
for allotments to be a short distance from
people’s houses, but our plot is unusual in
terms of its size and that we were able to
buy it. My husband Remco helps and so
(occasionally!) do our two teenagers.
Before we started planting in January
2016, I spent weeks carefully designing the
space – better to make mistakes on paper
than to have to move mature trees later!
We planted most of the trees and large
bushes and started the kitchen garden
during the first spring, but the rest of the
design (a greenhouse, a pond and a pergola)
has been implemented gradually.
In spring, Vera’s forest
garden is in full leaf
(left) and her no-dig
raised beds are ready
for planting (centre).
Come summer, there
will be veggies for the
kitchen and flowers
for the vase (right).»
The storyso far
Myfirstplot,whenI was12,wasinmy
parents’garden.Myparentsgardened
organically,ina verytraditionalway.That
firstgardenfailedmiserably,asit wasin
theshadeofa hugetreethatsuckedupall
themoisture– butit wasa valuablelesson
andgotmehookedongrowingfood.
EverysubsequentgardenI makeisa
littlebetterthanthepreviousone.I hada
balconygardeninourfirstapartment,and
whenwemovedintoourcurrenthome,I
plantedmyfirst(tiny)edibleforestinour
backyard.I starteda communitygardenin
ourneighbourhoodandhavehadseveral
allotmentplots.Allgoodexperiencefor
scalinguptomycurrentquarter-acreplot.
An advocate for permaculture, Vera Greutink’s plot in the Netherlands
contains both raised beds and an edible forest, providing her and her
family with fresh produce all year round. Sharing advice and recipes on
her blog rowntocook.com and her Instagram and YouTube channels
of the same name, Vera also teaches gardening courses and designs
gardens. Last year, she published her first book, Edible Paradise.
We live in Hengelo, a small Dutch town
close to the German border, and our plot is
about 5 kilometres – a 20-minute bike ride- away from our home. It’s common here
for allotments to be a short distance from
people’s houses, but our plot is unusual in
terms of its size and that we were able to
buy it. My husband Remco helps and so
(occasionally!) do our two teenagers.
Before we started planting in January
2016, I spent weeks carefully designing the
space – better to make mistakes on paper
than to have to move mature trees later!
We planted most of the trees and large
bushes and started the kitchen garden
during the first spring, but the rest of the
design (a greenhouse, a pond and a pergola)
has been implemented gradually.
In spring, Vera’s forest
garden is in full leaf
(left) and her no-dig
raised beds are ready
for planting (centre).
Come summer, there
will be veggies for the
kitchen and flowers
for the vase (right).