Determining plants
Strepen trekken
Elken vri’jdag trek ik strepen,
strepen langs ‘t haegenpad.
Strepen naor de wiete wereld,
Strepen naor-ik-wet-neet-wat.
Vandage trok ik ok waer strepen,
kromme strepen deur de kop,
umdat i’j noo veur eeuwig slaopet.
Ne strepe deur de raekenschop.
11 April 2008
Writer and poet Henk Krosenbrink. On 16 March 2008 his wife Riek passed away. The above poem is written in the regional language.
I didn’t quite inherit a garden yet, but 2021 is the year I have to tend to my father’s garden. It’s the garden I have known since 1972 when my parents built a house on a piece of land. Half a century of love went into this garden. Much has changed over the years. A couple of years ago we cut down many large conifers, which were planted in the early 1970s and were over ten meters high.
It is springtime and most work goes into keeping weed under control. I removed many wheelbarrows of weed until I discovered the weed is in fact ‘winterpostelein’ (Claytonia perfoliata). It’s fully edible!
I had to use an app to determine the plant.
I was amazed to discover this plant on my mothers grave. What are the odds?
Recipes winterpostelein
You can simply eat it as salad and serve it with young potatoes, crème fraîche mixed with fresh herbs and fried mushrooms. Winterpostelein can also be used in a Dutch ‘stampot’ with mashed potatoes.
There are many plants I know and many plants I still have to learn the exact name of. The beautiful prunus in the front garden turns out to be a Japanese cherry.
Cutting down a forest
In the autumn of 2018 we cut down the last conifers in the front garden. In the years before a whole row of conifers was cut down along the driveway and about ten years before a mini-forest of pine trees was cut down in a piece of garden near the house. Pine trees are not suitable for a rather small garden.
I am a huge fan of DeWit garden tools from Kornhorn in Groningen. A fifth generation tool factory, making hand forged tools, which are nearly indestructible. Below is their take on the Japanese hori-hori knife. It is perfect for digging out weed. The serrated edge cuts through roots easily.
De Wit 14 cm push and pull hoes with 1400 mm ash handles. I also like the smaller hoe with a 400 mm handle.
De Wit Bad Ass trowel.