About me....

I'm in my mid thirties, married and mother of three children under 10. My husband got's his own company and I' m working three days in an office (also of course in my house, because there's always a lot to do with a family of five). My passion is everything that's got to do with the environment. And I like to cook (and by hear so, not that bad either).

Why this blog? I love to garden. I love to eat well. And I love the environment. And what's the best combination of these three? To grow your own food. No toxins, no pesticides and eat what's growing in the season. Strawberries in June (and not with christmas dinner).

I'm very lucky that we have a piece of land (about 800 square meters) where currently only grass is growing. That's going to be my future project. I want to garden my veggies over there. And I've planned my herb garden and fruit trees in that piece of land.

I also want my own chicken and a glasshouse (so I've got a bit more possibilities in winter dinners). The glasshouse can be heated, but not with electricity, nor with gasoline heating of something like that. I've watched the series of It's not easy being green (BBC) and I've seen heating on solar-energy. That will be the solution, but... that's for a later moment.

To garden 800 square meters and to have a job for three days (and a bunch of children around the house) will require a tight schedule. First the fruit trees will arrive, next the herb garden and the latest part of the plan will be the veggies (that will cost me the most hours after all).

In my backyard I want to plant flowers that I can cut in every season. Because I do love flowers in the house.

So what are the plans:

A fruit garden with all kind of fruits: apple, pear, plum and hazelnut. A walnut tree is already growing  in my backyard.

Then the herb garden will be completed. A classic design, with straight paths. Naturally, I'm going to cook with these herbs, but I'm also planning to use it as tea and as the base of shampoo, lotions and I'm trying to make my own cough drops.

Also there is going to be a rose bush, there is definitely nothing as beneficent as relaxing in my bath with rose oil. Fruit bushes and berry bushes will also take part in the garden. And strawberries (which I love), all sorts of them so we can eat them until the first frost. 

Finally the vegetable garden, with the glass house and a solar dryer. There also going to be three compost bins. Composting your own food is the ultimate way of giving nutrients back to the soil.

And chicken, I always wanted to have chicken, so I have fresh eggs to cook my meals with.

That's of course my second passion: to cook. As healthy as possible.

Our meat is already coming from a butcher which is specialized in free-range meat. When you've tasted that, you don't want to eat other meat.

And of course I'm going to process the harvest of my garden, canning, drying and smoking. I want to find the best ways to cook my meals as tasteful as possible.

In short a busy couple of years, but I'm full of energy!