Ina found an interesting video on YouTube a while ago that talked about turning the cherries from Cornus mas (European cornel / gele kornoeille) into something resembling olives.

We have discovered three Cornus mas in the park nearby. This year the trees had a mast year. Naturally we decided to try …

This month I made another batch of apple vinegar. I had harvested a few apples from my mother's front yard. They had fallen down and were brown and desseccated in the middle. The tree had rejected them as viable seeds because of this. The outer part was still usable to …

We did an experiment with felting a back to a recently shaved fleece. The wool came from a Ouessant sheep. Below is a photo series on how we created a sheepskin without having to kill a sheep.

The fleece we started with; fully detached from the sheep.

We mostly followed …

Let's start with a question I get every time I say that I collect nettle seeds: "Why?" Well, for sowing, of course! ;-) ... and other uses. So, why would you want to collect nettle seeds? Here are a few reasons (Source):

• nettles are a source of minerals: they contain iron, calcium …

Recently I got asked about about creating a garden with the specific aim of keeping starvation at bay. I came to the conclusion you need crops that contain at least sufficient calories to keep you going. So starchy, sugary, oily or protein rich.

Check out the table on the Potato …

Since mid 2017 I have been involved with gardening at the Proeftuin Meerhoven in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. This is a community garden maintained by volunteers in the neighborhood adjoining ours. We use the space with approval from the local council. The harvest from this garden has supplemented our lunches and …

This is a list of experiments Ina and I have been conducting in 2021.

• gardening
  • Arno taking over full responsibility for the allotment
  • Ina helps with voorcultuur, odd jobs
  • harvesting musterd seeds
  • cleaning musterd seeds
  • harvesting mirabels
  • more hedgelaying at the Proeftuin
  • more planting cuttings
    • raspberry
    • black and red currant …

This month I made mustard from mustard seeds grown in the Proeftuin. The recipe follows further down the page. But first a bit of botany.

Flowers of Sinapis alba (white mustard) being worked by a bee. Lower on the stem you can see the seed pods developing. As the plant …

A sample of the species I harvested. From top to bottom and from left to right, starting in the left top corner:

• leaf of Armoracia rusticana (horseradish / mierik)
• leaf of Galium aparine (cleavers / kleefkruid)
• leaf of Achillea millefolium (common yarrow / duizendblad)
• leaf of Claytonia perfoliata (Indian lettuce / winterpostelein)
• flower of …

Since Sunday 2017-07-30 I have been involved with gardening at the Proeftuin Meerhoven in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. This is a community garden maintained by volunteers in the neighborhood adjoining ours. We use the space with approval from the local council. In addition to helping with gardening, I learned a lot …