New to SFG in the Netherlands

Hi all,

my name is Annelies and I just joined the forum. I bought the book yesterday and have been experimenting with "normal" gardening on my balcony for a few years now. This year more successful than earlier tries.

With some luck I'll get a community garden tomorrow and can start some serious organic vegetable gardening with the SFG system. If no luck and no garden, I may redo the balcony as soon as possible to see if I can make it work.

I may end up with some questions since I never tended a real garden before really. I don't think plants in pots will compare to growing vegetables and such. So I am hoping for support

CU
Annelies

I am so glad you have the book and really hope you get your garden plot. Be sure to check out the sub forum for the European region. It may have some information helps for your area of the world.

As you progress in your gardening adventure, be sure to take pictures. We love to see pictures especially from other countries.

I spent a great 5 days in Delft and Amsterdam back in Sep 2000. Took the ferry from Dover to Oostend and drove into Holland. Beautiful country.

Kay

Hi Kay,

Thanks, i'll get pics up as soon as I can show the boxes and stuff. I live close to Rotterdam. How is your SFG coming along?

I'll check out the European region forum

Cu
annelies

ahoornik wrote:How is your SFG coming along?

That's a dangerous question to ask us SFG'ers. That's like asking Grandpa if he has a picture of the grandkids. Out comes the accordian wallet photo holder with 2000 pics!

GG

LOL Bring it on

Annelies,

Welcome to the all new squarefoot gardening site . there are several Netherlanders on site here ...

Some with balcony pots , some with real gardens and some smar guys and gals with " real " All new Square Foot Gardens in all their various forms. ( ANSFG's )

I'm very very pressed for time at present and will be away for at least a week .. leaving early on Saturday morning ...I'll catch up with you later .



David aka Plantoid.

Hi David,

thanks for your post, I'll find out today if I get my own garden or if the balcony will be converted in a 1*10 SFG

Hoping for the best, I'll let you know how it turns out. If a real garden happens than I'll have to start planning the whole thing. If it becomes the balcony I can take my time, since it is already full with pots, but I'll still try to get some vege's in.

CU
Annelies

'Hi All,

I've been to the complex and signed papers. Now it all needs to go through admin and such, but I got my plot.

It is 3200 Square feet... a bit more than I anticipated. But I can have a terrace, some grass, I need to officially plant a border of 5 feet along the main pathways which is on 2 sides, since I have a corner.

It is all overgrown currently and I heard that the workcommittee will help me empty the thing for a few bucks... so I think I'll have that done to start with

That way I can see from one side to the other LOL

Already planning in my head, so now it needs to start to transfer to (digital) paper
Does anyone experienced have tips to :

- skip a few of the beginner mistakes??
- cover some area in an attractive way with low maintenance growth, so I can concentrate to start with on my boxes and have little to no work with the rest?
- any other good advice?

Thanks in advance
Annelies

ahoornik wrote:It is 3200 Square feet... a bit more than I anticipated.

WOW
GG

Daggone, that's bigger than my house. Using the SFGing method you could easily share that with another family.

Just remember, if you use the SFG method, you build on top of the native soil. NO DIGGING. Start small this summer. Maybe only 3 or 4 beds put on top of cardboard and newspaper to stop weeds and grass. Keep the rest cut down until you can plan out exactly what you want. Can you build a small shed for keeping your tools and warming up on early spring days? You certainly have the space.

sfg4ukim has some pictures of European allotments. Hope she chimes in.

there are 2 other threads going right now you should check out.

https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t12649-info-on-cardboard-and-newspaper-weed-barrier#125062

https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t12551p30-need-tips-on-how-to-prepare-and-overgrown-plot#125064



Kay

Hi Kay,

Yep,I would think so. I'm thinking some fruit trees and maybe a meditation garden corner .. I would have veen happy with a quart of it

Thanks for the tips. I'll go back tomorrow or momday to get the exact measurements an to start planning.

I need to keep a budget in mind as well, so I can't fill it up all at once

The other threads have good tips as well. Rockgarden had come to my mind as well.

Looking forward to the moment I can start

Cu
Annelies

Hi all,

I set up a quick page for myself so I can easily link to MM calculator and with just one photo of the completely overgrown garden. I wanted to post a link to that photo, but am not allowed. I uploaded to servimg but can't hot the image so I'll try and put it into my avatar, will be a bit small though and mostly green LOL

I hope to sign the contract, pay the rent and all that this week (depending on this one boardmember of the community garden to return to work) and then I am allowed to start doing things.

For now I am just planning away, hopefully with the right garden space in mind

I'll update as soon as I get more interesting stuff to show

CU
Annelies

WOW! You do have a lot of planning to do! sounds great! don't get overwhelmed with all that space. it will be hard to contain yourself to limit what you do

we look forward to seeing your progress!

hope to hear what you are up to soon!

Michelle

Hi Michelle,

I know what you mean. I went out and bought "some" seeds to plant. Of course as Mel warns in his new book, you shouldn't look in catalogues because you'll end up with way too much. For me that worked like that as well, I got seeds enough to feed a whole town probably.. and I only stuck to what we really eat LOL In my defense I did buy stuff that you can plant in all seasons, so I should be good to go for years.

I got them now in an airtight container and will be planning my garden boxes soon. Also I hope to get the wood and other material together today, or as soon as I am back from my worktrip, which would be on Monday. That way I can prepare as much as possible before I get actual access to the land itself.

Keeping you posted

Annelies

Hi All,

the contribution is payed and this morning the contract was signed and the key to the garden complex has been picked up by Rob(my mate). I am currently in another part of our country to teach workshops. He made an appointment for me with the work committee for monday morning and I'll see what I can do to get it cleaned out real quick. The issue seems to be that there are rare plants in there that some think is a shame to take out. They can come collect them, I wouldn't mind. There are a lot of older members that have been around for a while that took pity on that plot and spent time working on it, making it a meditation garden (overgrown, but still... there little quite place)

Even though I wasn't there to get the key and sign the contract, I am happy, and on my way back from here I get the chance to stop at a place that sells Mel's mix (dutch version) so I can pick up what I need for my garden boxes. I am looking forward to that already.

Also I got weed cloth and looked at wood for the boxes. the four by four, seems to be inconvenient to make whenI look at the length and width of stuff here, but I may be more successful with 3 by 3

I'll keep you all posted
Annelies

Congrats on your allotment Annelies!

snip The issue seems to be that there are rare plants in there that some think is a shame to take out. They can come collect them, I wouldn't mind. There are a lot of older members that have been around for a while that took pity on that plot and spent time working on it, making it a meditation garden (overgrown, but still... there little quite place)


These are the folk you want to make friends with. Maybe they can help you incorporate the special plants into your overall plan. AND I'll bet they have a lot of information on what to plant and when.

Kay

Hi Kate,

I think you may be right, but I'll have to just be there and see how many are in their opinion rare. It may just be that they like it to stay all the same. Which isn't an option.

If it is justa few plants I'll be happy to cherise them and keep them on the plot and incorporate them in my garden plans.

And I am well aware that the older gardeners have a wealth of knowledge to share and I hope to be able to get some help from them.

I'll be back with more as soon as I know/see more
Annelies

Just don't listen when they say SFG won't work, 6" is not enough. We know it will.

Kay

Hi Kay,

that conversation already happened. It didn't bother me, I know this will work

Today I'll get my bags of Mels Mix and I will start with 4 boxes with 3 by 3 squares

CU
Annelies

ANSFG does come in meteric sizes but 900 x 900 works well for me .

Those rare plants .. euKKk ..... who planted them there in the first place ? ...Can they walk round your plot with help from you ????

Ground cover .... Dwarf Chamomile " Treneuge " or similar name. It is an evergreen , smells a bit like crushed apples when you walk on it . I love wortking near the bed for its scent is very calming. It does not wear well like grass but it can be walked on . Does not flower so it's not grown from seed .

It grows to a max of 100 mm high , never needs or very rarely needs cutting and can be propagated by division or cuttings. It does have a creeping habit so can fill in any gaps in the plantings . As it does not flower there are no seeds .

I started out with one plant in a 50 mm pot from a garden center in August last year .. carefuly grew it on in MM and split it into five parts once it had took hold at the end of September .

In early April this year each plant was again split into five and replanted , any broken bits without roots got hormone powdered and they have all struck . I set all the cuttings/ splits about 100 mm apart in a grid .

I now have one sq meter of thick matted dwarf chamomile .... 100 mm thick that needs dividing up & setting out again as I'm going to take it to the stage of a complete 3 mtr x 4 mtr front garden lawn .

This should cover an area six square meters if planted 100 mm apart ..I reckon that 150 mm apart will be OK if it stays rainy for a few weeks .

You do need really clear weed free well manured ground to get it going , hence me using a 900 x900 bed of MM . You can propagate it from mid April till about the last week of September .



I have some friends who have a 6 mtr by 8 mtr lawn made of this chamomile , they say they run a hover mower over it once every six months to knock down any weeds that have struggled throught the dense blanket of the chamomile.

Hi Plantoid,

thanks for the chamomile tip. I just read about it the other day in a book by James Wong. He is an botanist and wrote that it can be used to make seats in your garden, since it is so dense. So this makes sense and I just love chamomile.

So that may be the new grass for me as well

This weekend I was at a holistic festival teaching, so I couldn't be at the garden complex to get the key etc. But Rob has been so kind to go and take care of all that. In a few hours I'll go find the workcommittee people and see if they will help me. I understood from Rob that there were some discussions on how and when they could help, if they would... since I wasn't there I'll just check it out now.

LOL I hope things work out well and quick because I have a car full of Mel's Mix now. Got a chance to pick up 16 bags near the festival place. So I need to get the boxes going or drive around in a small and completely filled up car.

I'll come back with more after I see the work committee. Also I am now on the forum for longer than seven days and should be able to post images here. So you can see what is going on.

CU
Annelies

Hi

today I met with the workgroup. They took a quick look and decided that they had no urge to help me. So I started off alone. Below an image before I started. After that an image of when I was half way through. I had to run when a thunderstorm came up, so didn't make a photo when I left.





so I'll probably continue tomorrow, to clear out the garden.... I do not need to get it to spades deep, right? Just make it equal and get the root cloth in the boxes?

thanks for any advice
Annelies

One of the beauties of SFG, no massive digging. Level the area and cover with multiple layers of cardboard and/or newspapers for weed suppression. A layer of weedblock can be added if you want. Then set the box on top, fill with MM, add a grid, and plant.
Is that a stepping stone walkway I see around your planting area. How cool. Knowing the size of your plot and seeing the overgrown state, I can see you may have to start small with veggies this year and use the winter to make multiple plot plans until you get your dream garden. I can picture a combination of flower, herbs and veggies. Wish I could see it in person, but will be content with loads of pictures.

Kay

Hi Kay

yes you see it right, it is a pathway. There is one about 6 foot from the edge all around, with a small inbetween path, which is what you see in the photo and there is a terras (no idea what you would call it in English) but it is is a bout 15 by 15 feet

I am trying to enlist, students or other work people to help me for a few days to get a portion of it level.

Instead of grass I hope to get lawn camomile planted and some fruit trees. I do have tomato seedlings maybe they will grow to be happy plants, in a sunny spot that is already empty. I'll have to put them there since leaving them inside isn't an option

Keeping you posted
Annelies