Category: Volunteering

Friday Flowers

The Cedar Journal May 12, 2023

Now back from vacation and back “to work”. Yes, I know it is only volunteer work but still it is work with awesome benefits. Like the flowers in bloom.

One of my favorites at the Historic Garden, Aalsmeer. A bright orange rhododendron.

Now, if orange is not your color then perhaps purple/blue is. This is called blue rain (English translation of what the Dutch commonly call this following plant). A wisteria in full bloom.

Wisteria in full bloom, Historic Garden, Aalsmeer.

With the return of Spring, babies try to make the gardens a safe place. I saw two clutches of ducklings this morning. Just in time for Mother’s Day.😊🐣

Mama duck was not happy that so many Human workers were at the garden. She was “yelling” at her children and they were not listening to her! Had to laugh as her “children” were in about the safest place they could be, plus they stuck together.

I got a total work out weeding the roses. As our manager mentioned to me this morning “You can hear all the weeds popping out of the garden as you walk pass.” As the day went by I really think the weeds were laughing at our efforts.

Boat full of plants ready for the annual geranium sale.

As if I didn’t get enough of weed pulling or flowers I went directly to my garden to pull weeds and to plant my now late to start garden (darn vacation…😂). Tomorrow is “work day” at the garden where I must help care for the common areas so had to get going on my area today.

Iris in bloom. Rows of seeds planted, mulch done. Protection on the tender plants to keep (hopefully the very hungry slugs from eating my plants.😬

One patch of weeds still to be done… then we start all over again.🙄

My straw bales don’t need to be weeded but the garden rules say I must keep all my garden weed free. So the never ending process continues…

My rye grain is NOT weeds! Not sure the other gardeners agree, but they will see…

Enjoy your weekend everyone! Give your Mom a hug if she is still around, if not, plant a flower in your garden in her memory this weekend.

Happy Mother’s Day.

Flowers, Flowers Everywhere

The Cedar Journal April 9, 2023

Most my blog followers know that I volunteer at the Historical Garden in Aalsmeer, that I also worked at the largest bulb garden in the World, the Keukenhof in Lisse. I have something in my core relationship with nature that gives me strength, provides me with energy and heals me in difficult times.

This week was finally warm enough and sunny enough to make the bulb flowers pop into full bloom.

The bulbs in some fields are in full bloom near Lisse.

From my volunteer day at the Historical Garden (where I got plenty of exercise hauling wheel barrows of worm compost), to working in my straw bale garden, to hopping on the bike for a long ride through the bulb fields, the following pictures capture it all.

Worm compost that was delivered to the Historical Garden Aalsmeer has to be hand hauled over the canals into the gardens via wheel barrows by staff and volunteers.

Writing this, I am flat on my back! Yup…it was a bit too much for my old back injury so I will be enjoying (not really) some pain killers and doing nothing for a couple of days.

This year is the year of the Lilacs at the Historical Gardens. The garden forces some of the Lilacs to bloom early by placing them in the warm greenhouses.

More show of color inside the greenhouse at Aalsmeer.

A view of the lilacs that are in the garden from the inside of the garden shed. Shhhh…don’t tell the boss I was resting after hauling the wheel barrows.🤫😊

Then there is my garden… weeds, slugs, new shoots, new community, just trying to find my place. So I tried an American thing, pumpkin bread (for free) stop by my garden for a chat. First time…no one came, second time…two people came…

Trying to be Minnesota Nice in my own garden.

The straw bales are now starting to fill up with what will be a summer harvest. Planted spinach, carrots, onions, basil this week. Pulled weeds and tilled dirt. It is a constant work in progress.

Then it was on my electric bike and out for a ride in the sun around the bulb fields of Lisse.

This display I stop at every year in Lisse was popping with color.

More color on display in this small front garden.

A stop for coffee, I noted how many tourist bikes were sitting outside. This restaurant is in the old Lisse train station and is a favorite for tourist snd locals alike who are out viewing the fields by bike.

My bike ride finished with a stop at my long time favorite places.

Annemieke’s Pluktuin

https://www.annemiekespluktuin.nl

I placed my two bouquets of tulips into my bicycle bag and headed for home. My back was in pain as I entered the house but my heart was full of the joy that Spring brings, blooms of nature.

Hummm…St Patrick’s Day 2023

The Cedar Journal March 17, 2023

I had to check my calendar today to make sure there wasn’t a full moon as some strange things have surrounded me the last few days.

I mentioned in my last post I saw a gal with devil horns on and satin cape draped on a bench.

Today, it must be because it is St Patrick’s Day and the universe always wants those of us with some Irish blood running through our bodies to have fun. This was what made me laugh today.

Check out the boat name. Hummm… wonder what services they provide?

Irish are all about what is green and little sprouts are green.

Hummm… little green sprouts on these rose bushes.

Hummm… me and my shadow…

Fertilizing the roses at my volunteer job at the Historic Garden Aalsmeer.

Humm…Happy St Patrick’s Day everyone!🍀🇮🇪

Historische Tuin for a Historische Thyme

The Cedar Journal May 11, 2020

I did mix Dutch and English a bit in this title. I played with the two languages and a play on the words time and thyme (a garden plant). Hopefully it didn’t confuse my readers too much.

We headed out on Friday (the Hubby took a day off, he is working from home so this time outside of the house was needed. It felt like a day off for both of us) to Aalsmeer to the Historische Tuin (Historic Garden) where I normally volunteer each summer.

As you might have guessed normal is not normal and volunteer work is also affected. The issue with gardens that depend almost solely on volunteer workers to maintain the areas is that the garden (nature) doesn’t know there is a lurking virus. The workers (volunteers) are mostly over the age of 65 and thus puts them into the high risk group. Since I have underlying conditions that could also place me in a higher risk group, I contacted the manager in early March and told him that I would not be coming to volunteer until the rules were relaxed a bit.

This is how I social distance from the Hubby

That started to happen today. All grade school children to age 12 went back to school! Could you hear the sigh of relief from parents? The Dutch ministry is going step by step on reopening the country. The biggest near future issues that need to be solved will be with public transport, the aviation industry, and large events like soccer games or music concerts.

I made an appointment to tour the garden and take some pictures for this blog. Being the only one (with the Hubby) inside the gardens was a real treat since we haven’t been out much since this all started in March. The gardens have been working with a small skeleton crew of regular volunteers since the Prime Minister shut the country down. Some activities like the yearly plant sale were cancelled. But, like I stated, the garden continues to need attention and I was ready to see how bad things were with the limited work force.

Oh NO! He found me!!!

I was surprised! It wasn’t the normal for this time of the year but it was in great shape considering the limits that were placed on this institution with the start of the virus.

Inside one of the green houses that was newly remodeled.

Here are a few of the pictures of the gardens as it looks right now. There is not a date as of right now if or when it will be opened to the public, but when it does I would like to ask each of you (if possible) to visit.

Inside another newly remodeled green house these clematis were mostly lost two winters ago do to the poor conditions in the dated greenhouses. Now they are flourishing in this new environment.

The greenhouse rose gardens are in full bloom.

A sample of the greenhouse roses.

One of the hundreds of Lilacs in full bloom

One of my favorites as it reminds me of Minnesota, Iris in full bloom.

Flowers and Thyme

As we finished with our photo tour the Hubby and I ordered “take away” coffee and scones from the Historische Tuin Restaurant which has had to find a new way to keep in business while still maintaining social distancing. We enjoyed the backdrop of the Aalsmeer windmill and watched the boats on the canal as we sat on the bench outside the Historische Tuin. It was a perfect outing for a day off of work in these strange new times.

A special thanks to Historische Tuin Garden Manager, Dick Maarsen who approved my afternoon of photojournalism at the Historische Tuin. He and his team of limited volunteers will continue to maintain the gardens until they reopen sometime in the future.

Earth Day Garden

The Cedar Journal April 22, 2020

I started the day with my hands in the earth. To feel a connection to what we came from and what we will return to at the end. The rich earthy smell of well composted dirt. The grainy feel of the worm litter dirt, the pounding of the rock hard dry dirt that has resulted in the weeks with no rain.

The blue plastic rain barrel that I covered with reed and bamboo spout to make it look more Earth friendly. It drains into a small pond at the apex of the ZEN garden.

Worm droppings from a local earth worm farm adds much needed nutrients into the soil

Dirt gives the nutrients to the plants and the earth knows exactly what plants will grow for each kind of dirt.

I am working on a new volunteer project now that my plans for my normal volunteering has been interrupted. Just like dirt, I can change.

Plenty of opportunity to excel with weeds to pull and treasures to find.

There is a local Biological garden that is within walking distance from our house. When they turned tulip fields into a park several years ago a group of local people envisioned a local biological garden on some of the park land. They received approval from the local government and started the work.

The gate with information on the opening times.

I was a fan from the start and watched as the volunteers transformed it into a beautiful productive huge garden that first year. They sold the produce from the garden to anyone who wandered in from the parks trails.

Part of the original garden was a small garden that was created from brick with a tree in the middle.

Each morning for about a week now I go and get connected to the Earth. I pull at the weeds, beat the soil loose from the clumps of really hard dirt that has suffered from the lack of recent rainfall, I feel the freedom and silences of the early morning in the garden. I meditate on the current crisis and the people I love with my hands caked in dust and dirt.

I hope on this Earth Day my readers were able to do the same. There is one sure result from this current situation. The earth will survive, the dirt will continue to be dirt and nature will heal any damage us humans have inflicted upon it’s wonderful surface.