2026/20 - Gardening in Uncertain Times

 Tending to leave politics out of this blog, I thought I'd make an exception for the 20th post of this year.

                  (Cytisus 'Apricot Gem')

My gardens, Hunky Dory (the allotment) and the balcony both, are my 'happy place'. I potter, I enjoy, I make mistakes, I rejoice in projects that work. 

War

But I would be telling lies if I said I am dancing through life at the moment. There are two terrible wars on in my distant backyard, effecting life in my country. Firstly it brings us/me anxiety and secondly prices of everything are shooting up. The price of petrol has gone through the roof, and this affects everything which has to be brought in by trucks. Thus it makes driving to my nursery more expensive, but it also makes everything I buy there more expensive as well, and prices in supermarkets are even higher than they already were. At home, energy prices (gas/electricity) have become ridiculous. And that's all without even mentioning the huge regret I feel when it comes to those poor, ordinary people in those countries at war. How does bombing civilians out of their homes, let alone killing them, weigh up against conflicts which clearly are just about money? Please save me from old, megalomaniac men!

Everything combined, it makes for a financially worrying Spring.

Allotmenteer

As an allotmenteer, the most logical step is to grow more of my own food, right? Easy-peasy. You'd think. And I will try. But the thing is, I am much more of a FLOWER grower, as the gate-crasher above illustrates. It takes up precious space in my planter, where I could grow at least 4 more broccoli plants. But do I rip it out? Nope. Not yet, at least, times must become even more desperate before I start doing things like that.

Still. I did chalk my greenhouse windows and I took a trip to the nursery to buy the tomato and cucumber plants I wanted.

Meanwhile the grass verges around Hunky Dory have erupted with rapeseed, so lovely. And the peaceful countryside around me makes up for the bombed out cities I see on the news every day. 

Eikenbladsla, or oak leaf lettuce I think it is in English. I put that gutter I discarded to good use, fingers crossed that it will work.

I bought two Cucumber and two Tomato plants, and have two more Cherry Tomatoes at home on the balcony. Hopefully that will save me getting the expensive veg from the shop. And they taste a whole lot better!

And I have Rettich, love it, and the Paksoi is doing well.

I have a glut of Rhubarb at the moment, I give away lots, but I will also look into making Rhubarb cordial. Don't you think the back of those leaves is beautiful?

Not too shabby for a flower grower, right? But flowers are my first love.

The Euphorbia does her best to repeat the colour of the Rapeseed and pull it into my garden.

The bronze leaves of the Physocarpus opufolius Little Angel make my heart swell every time I see them. They will turn much darker over time, to dark red.

And the Centaurea are everywhere. They self-seed, but I must admit I help them by throwing their seedheads in the beds at random. They satisfy my craving for cornflowers, which simply will not grow in my garden.

My Ukranian friends from the Taalcafé like them just as much as me.

The advantage of the giant Pampas Grass behind my struggling Fern is that it now keeps the Fern in shade or partial shade for most of the day, and it likes not being baked by the sun! Like me, in fact, simply cannot stand it. So every time I get a bit morose because of having no funds to go on holiday, I remind myself I can't 'do' faraway hot places anyway. So... unfortunately no Mexico or Singapore for me...I'll try to nurse their plants instead.

 

Hunky Dory is mostly green and yellow right now, but will turn to green and pink/lavender soon. The changing of the colours in my garden mean the changing of the season to me. First white, then yellow, then blue appears, then the multicoloured Tulips and after that whoosh! During May all of a sudden the pink/lavender bed will burst into flower.

Look me up at my website Renée Grashoff Schrijft when you want to read more of my writings, and have a good week, wherever you are.

Renée Grashoff 

2025 /20 - Silly temperatures

We have reached a high level of amazing weirdness: on Thursday afternoon it was 29,5°C in the South of my country. 

Not over here near the North Sea though...we 'only' reached 27° due to the seawater only being 10°. The government thought it prudent to warn people flocking to any kind of open water (the schools have their May break) that it was not sensible to go swimming. Mind you, the PFAS pollution is such that I wonder if it is sensible at any temperature...

Anyway, my seedlings were gasping! And the soil outside is rock hard, so planting them out was no option either. That really pissed me off, pardon my language. I tried to solve the problem by transplanting them to large pots. It means even more pot watering, sigh, but so be it. It was this or chuck them into the garden as compost.

On the positive side the garden is looking fine. Everything already established is taking the weather into its stride. But my neighbour, whose water butt is almost empty yet again, was shaking his head. His veg need water.

My salad greens, cucumber, cherry and zebra tomato on the balcony are doing fine, with plenty of water. Every other day I am watering for almost an hour. I bet my water bill will be up again this quarter. Oh well. My water company then sends me an e-mail with sad faced emojis: 'you have used up more water than this time last year!' Yeah, duh, last year we had the wettest spring ever.

My romain is getting to the end of their lifespan, but it has fed me for two weeks, in various forms. Oh, btw, Google people, endive is not the translation of andijvie! Endive is witlof. Just saying. Shall I send you my invoice?

This is the proof that I successfully managed to keep my Pelargoniums alive this winter. Both red and white. So happy with that!

Back to Hunky Dory. This beauty is self-seeded! I think it is absolutely gorgeous.

Bernagie/ komkommerkruid

   And next to the also self-seeded Bernagie it makes for a very welcome guest.

   Mind you, there is a very fine balance between 'lovely garden' and 'utter chaos'. And my garden has the tendency to want to convert back to wilderness. Having neighbours on two sides who seem to have forgotten they have a plot (meaning the weeds there are knee high), I really need to keep on top of things and dissuade the more aggressive invaders from taking over my garden.

   Fortunately my other neighbour is extremely neat.

Talking about plants that self-seed, the Digitalis have discovered the path to my greenhouse. There are dozens of plants there this year. I let them stay, they are much too nice to pull out.

The only surviving Camassia being lovely next to the pine.

And this is it for this week.

I wish you a good week, hopefully the weather will treat you well, wherever you are.

If you would like to read more, use the link to visit my website Renée Grashoff Schrijft

Take care!

Renée 

2025/13 - Blooming Balcony

Frosty nights, but gloriously sunny days, so my balcony garden has woken up. I have taken a chance on the weather and dared to hang up the planters on the railing again. It could mean a dash in the night to take them down again when there's a storm brewing, but I'll see it when it gets here. 

Blossoms from the street

The many blossom trees in my neighbourhood have woken up too, lovely!

I woke up at 6 a.m. as is my habit, and was greeted by a gorgeous citrussy scent, so I thought wow, that blossom smells divine! Until I noticed that Puck had molested my lemon pelargonium...Her breath smelled very un-doggielike for the rest of the day, which was good, but I watched her like a hawk to see if she would not suffer any ill effects. Fortunately she didn't.

This morning I watered the balcony plants, and saw that many of them have started growing. 75% Of my pelargoniums have survived the winter, which is bloody marvellous!

I did buy some forget-me-nots, as I adore that colour blue. I have combined them with pelargoniums (bloodred) and aubretia Antique Rose Imp (pink), so that I have some colour.

But there are also creamy white primulas, the ones on a stem. They are next to the Maroccan mint, bergenia, astilbe, parsley,  thyme and sage in the ground planter. By the time that mint takes over the primulas are past their prime anyway.

In one of the railing planters there are a few digitalis which have self-seeded. That will be interesting to watch when they grow...

Stipa and Pelargoniums as well as ....?

Because the veg did quite well on the balcony in 2024, I planted some endive next to the grape hyacinths. When the gh are spent, I will put a cucumber in as well.

And I also have a sugarsnap, for the first time. Let's see how that fares. I have one in Hunky Dory as well, so I can compare their performance.

Endive to the left, bulbs to the right

   There is rapeseed behind the sugarsnap to try to lure the pollinators. I tried some runner beans in 2019, but I had exactly one bean...

   The salvia and fuchsia are showing signs of life, and the mini rose is looking promising.

   But what is the star at the moment is the yellow wallflower. From a small plant two years ago, it has practically taken over the entire trellis planter. Totally crowded out my white grape, that is a shame. But the clematis is putting out new growth as well, so that doesn't mind that wallflower one bit.

Isn't she cheerful?!

The purple clematis

   I am really looking forward to the next few months. My gardens never cease to uplift my spirits.

   I hope you will have a great weekend, wherever you live. Especially you over there in Singapore, Hong Kong and Mexico though! You are my best readers at the moment, thanks very much. I would dearly love to visit your gardens. Perhaps one day...

   Greetings,

   Renée 

160 - Balcony Blues

 Mijn balkon was bijna zes jaar geleden de reden dat ik mijn appartement kocht. De grootte van mijn 'huis' was echt even slikken, maar ik besefte meteen dat ik er in de zomermaanden 2,5x4 meter bij zou hebben. En voor 'meer' dan dit kreeg ik geen hypotheek, duh!

Eh, ja. De rest stond in de slaapkamer!

Mijn balkon is superbelangrijk voor me, want ik ben anders net zo'n dikke hommel die zich wanhopig tegen het vensterglas werpt, ik moet eruit! 

Dat balkon staat zó vol planten dat er nog maar net plaats is voor Puck en de twee stoelen. Toen ik dus een email ontving dat 'de gevelreiniging plaats gaat vinden, dus balkons en parkeervakken moeten leeg in week 13' kreeg ik éven hommelneigingen. Oh, f... a duck! (Niet letterlijk, uiteraard, ik hou van eenden). En ik hád al 3 weken rugpijn...Maar toen ik mijn nood klaagde in het Taalcafé, zeiden twee van mijn 'taalvragers' (wie bedenkt zo'n woord?) onmiddellijk "oh, wij komen helpen!" En zo geschiedde. Op zondagavond trok een vrouw van 1.60 max en ik schat niet meer dan 55 kg binnen een half uur mijn balkon leeg. Female Powerrrrrr!

En ze bracht nog zelfgemaakte sushi mee ook.

Donderdagmiddag, Puck houdt toezicht

En dweilde mijn vloer, ondertussen grappend dat het haar een sportschoolabonnement uitspaarde. The kindness of strangers...Inmiddels geen vreemden meer! Mijn Aziatische vriendinnen zijn een verrijking van mijn leven.

Maar goed. Ik had dus vier dagen lang een keuken vol planten zodat ik niet kon koken, een hond die volkomen van slag was omdat ook de slaapkamer vol planten stond en een kolonie mieren die vrolijk het huis verkende en al snel de suikerpot gevonden had die ik alleen voor vrienden gevuld houd.

Juni 2021

   Op woensdag was mijn balkon dan eindelijk aan de beurt. Twee mensen in een hoogwerker spoten in tien minuten mijn muren 'schoon' (sorry hoor, het spoor van druipwater vanaf de lekkende afvoerpijp is nog duidelijk zichtbaar. Het is maar goed dat alle eenden zich tot de plantsoenen beperken, ik bedoel maar).

   Op donderdag heb ik onder streng toezicht van Puck met liters azijn de groene alg van het balkonbeton geborsteld, alle ramen gezeemd en fruitsalade en tapas verzorgd, want in de namiddag kwam dezelfde powervrouw de planten weer terugslepen. 

Juli 2021

Mijn fotoarchief op mijn tablet gaat helaas  niet verder terug dan 2021, want ik had je graag laten zien hoe het balkon er in zomer 2019 uitzag, toen er ook nog een zwembadje voor Puck opstond. Zij wilde er niet in, maar ik zat er wel in met boek en drankje, uren tussen de planten, me te verbeelden dat ik in een tropisch land was.

Nu staan de bakken weer op hun plaats. De zich ontrollende hostabladeren zijn al 15 cm hoog, de bollen naderen hun bloei-eind en gaan binnenkort naar Hunky Dory, de minivijver is weer fris en ik ga tomaten, komkommers en bonen in de rolbakken zetten. Vorige zomer waren die een geweldig succes, beter dan die uit de tuin, eerlijk gezegd. De kruiden staan al, ik gebruik ze dagelijks. Het is zowaar droog. Als ik de voorspelling kan geloven (nope...hier in Brielle hebben we een afwijkend miniklimaat volgens mij) wordt het 25°...met buien. Nou, korte broek aan en net doen of ik in Bangladesh zit dan maar.

Ik wens je een heerlijk groen weekend!

97 - Sneeuwloze Alpen dáár en kleddernatte tuinen hier

 Als je nu nóg niet toe wil geven dat onze wereld klimatologisch in rap tempo aan het veranderen is, dan ben je ....Ja, wat ben je dan? 

Hunky Dory tussen de buien door

Stekeblind? Dom? Eigenwijs? Bang? Een wappie?

Ik mag (en wil) uiteraard niet oordelen, ieder zijn meug, maar af en toe moet ik echt op mijn tong bijten om niet in te gaan tegen dingen die anderen mij vol overtuiging vertellen. Maar zwijgen is goud (lees: ik begin er niet aan, I choose my battles very carefully!). Met één uitzondering: wanneer hun overtuiging omslaat in de drang om MIJ te overtuigen, dan maak ik subiet een eind aan het gesprek. Ik geloof namelijk in wat ik met mijn eigen zintuigen waarneem, en niet in wat ergens in een konijnenhol op het internet beweerd is. Mijn ogen, oren en neus vertellen mij dat de natuur in de tweede week van januari 2023 doet alsof het lente is in plaats van winter. Ik heb geen beelden nodig van volledig groene Alpenweiden vol balende wintersporters, want mijn Helleborus (bloeit volgens haar label van half februari tot eind maart) bloeit nu.

Helleborus

Ondertussen sop ik door de zuigende klei van mijn tuin, tegen een Zuid-Wester in die me uit alle macht beentje probeert te lichten en durf ik bijna niet te kijken naar de ongelofelijke hoeveelheid onkruid die me vrolijk toewuift. Allemachtig, ik hoef me voorlopig niet te vervelen! Gelukkig heb ik een erg pragmatische relatie met onkruid, het zijn simpelweg planten, dus heeft het een leuk bloemetje of een mooi blad, dan is het welkom, mits het mijn tuin niet overneemt. ( Dat probeerden de melkdistels afgelopen zomer, en het is ze niet gelukt) Alleen gras, ordinair koeienweigras, dat moet er ook uit. En mijn houtsnipperpaden moeten herkenbaar blijven als paden, er zijn grenzen natuurlijk.

Ik heb me voorgenomen vlak voor mijn twee composthopen nog twee verhoogde groentenbedden aan te leggen. Het 'Groenten tussen de bloeiende planten' principe van verleden jaar werkte niet door de enorme droogte; alleen de courgettes leverden wat op, hoewel veel minder dan dat ik gewend was. Ik ga dus wat meer zekerheid op groente die ik ook werkelijk in de pan krijg scheppen door toch weer te investeren in goede grond in de plaats van mijn kleibeton. Als je je schriele wortels niet uit de grond krijgt omdat je de riek er niet eens onderkrijgt, dan is de lol er snel van af.

11 courgettes van 2 planten.

Goed. De regen weer in...

Ik wens je een fijne week. Als je meer wilt lezen, zoek me dan op bij Instagram@songsmith2962 

8 - Growing veggies on a clifftop

 Grow your vegetables!

We are urged to eat less meat and sugar, and more veggies.

The shadiest corner at 21:30

As a gardener, obviously I couldn't agree more. Growing plants is fun, and growing something delicious to eat is double fun. The delight you feel when a seedling shows itself, and then watching that tiny thing grow until you can harvest it...it appeals to the deepest instinct of survival. And then when you compare the taste of your wonky home-grown cucumber to that watery straight as a ruler supermarket one...need I say more?

  Clifftop conditions

Now, I've told you my balcony garden has issues. It is SW facing, and almost always extremely windy. When the sun shines, it scorches from 11 a.m. until sundown. A slug colony lives underneath the decking and comes up to have raves at night. Everything needs to be grown in pots. And the pollinators have to be lured in.

My first efforts at growing veg were mostly disastrous. The runner beans made lovely runners, cute orange flowers and produced exactly 1 beautiful bean, due to non-pollination. The sweet potato looked gorgeous, it has such pretty coloured leaves don't you agree? But when I dug up the tubers they were mushy and spongey. The ginger shriveled up. The 2 courgette plants produced huge leaves, looked terrific, but I got only 4 courgettes.

 Parsley, aniseed and raddish  

  Mind you, there have been successes as well, thank Frith,       otherwise I would have lost heart.

 So far I have grown great tomatoes, chilis, strawberries, herbs, and the nasturtiums which I use in salads do very well indeed.   Salad greens do alright, as long as I protect them from the slugs.

  The strawberries need protection as well, from slugs sure, but even more from Puck, who loves them. She has turned biting them delicately off the stem into an art form.

 Plastic containers work best, as that sun dries out the much nicer terracotta ones much too fast. Plastic is against my green principles, but needs must. And I only get the ones made from recycled plastic, promise! I fill them with multi-purpose peatfree organic soil (with free slug embryos, grumble grumble grumble).

 Making plans

Because I am trying to grow lathyrus via a miniature teepee onto my bubble chair, I got to thinking about rigging a line between 2 large teepees, and having another go at beans. Now that I know there aren't enough visiting pollinators, I could try to have a go at pollinating the plants myself. That would be a first. Will keep you informed about it. Oh, when I finally get my allotment I will go wild...with my eyes closed I can see it already...

You can read more about my balcony garden on Instagram @songsmith2962 and my original art is @grashoffr .

Have a lovely day in your garden!