LOCATION
The vegetable gardens are situated south of the Faculty Club. Entrances are indicated with white triangles. Always close the locket again, hanging it on the fence, so it will not get stolen.
OLD AND NEW
The gardens are split up in two parts. Old is near the tool shed, New is around the cabin. Each part has its own spot for green waste, a heap of manure, a compost heap, and a water pump.
Water Pump
Here you can get water to water your plants. In the summer, it is better to get the water from the barrel, not directly from the pump, as the water in the barrel has been warmed up a bit by the sun. The plants can handle this better than the ice cold water from the ground. After use, refill the barrel. You can throw in some water in the pump with the bucket to get it going, if necessary. Don't use tap water for your garden -- we have to pay for that. In dry periods, the tap water is used for sprinklers which are rotated over the gardens by one of our members.
Green Waste
The green waste is split up in compost and waste. A sign indicates what goes where (sorry, Dutch only for now). Plants with diseases and weeds need to go to the waste pile ('afval'), so it is not spread over the rest of the gardens. On New, preferably, put the bad plants immediately on the garbage heap behind the berry cage near the trees.
OLD
Old contains a tree orchard and a berry garden with trees and berry bushes from individual members. In the cold frame, certain vegetables are pre-grown. Every now and then, vegetables are 'free', meaning that as a member you can transplant some of the seedlings to your own garden. Members are also allowed to pick herbs from the herb garden (don't dig out), and vegetables from the tasting garden (#17) where less traditional vegetables are grown for members to try out.
Berry Garden
If you are interested in a berry bush here, contact mentor Henny Kramers. She coordinates this garden. A couple of times a year, she gets all the bush owners together to for maintenance (weeding and pruning). Also, there are picking days, and part of the berries of all bushes is used to make jam, which is sold on behalf of the good cause SOTO (Stichting Onderwijs Twente Oekraine -- Foundation for Education Twente-Ukraine).
Alternative: see Berry Cage, at New.
NEW
The cabin is at New. Here we meet for field trips, maintenance mornings, and most other activities. Behind the cabin you can find the bees of the bee keepers club De Botte Hommel. The berry cage contains bushes assigned to individual members.
Berry Cage
Would you alse like a bush in the berry cage? Contact our secretary. For these bushes, there are no joint maintenance days, but you are still responsible for weeding and pruning your own bush.
Alternative: see Berry Garden, at Old.
APPLE TREE ORCHARD
The apple trees in this orchard are being maintained by the UT, but BTD members are allowed to pluck the apples freely.
TOOL SHED
This is the meeting place for new members for a tour of the gardens. The tool shed contains small tools, large tools, wheel barrows, and watering cans, for common use. The boots, gloves, and bean sticks are all private property of members, so do not use. There are two large bins, calcium and potassium, to improve garden soil. Potassium (K) improves the growth of roots, beets, and flowers. Calcium (Ca) helps with the uptake of nutrients, but also inhibits the uptake of the nutrients in manure by the earth, so do not spread it over your garden at the same time. One can (filled to the line) per garden unit per year is sufficient. There is also a tick removal kit. Every now and then there is honey from the bee keepers club -- you can then put the money for the honey in the tin can, and take a pot home. Don't forget to close the shed when you leave, and clean your tools after use.
YOUR GARDEN
Every garden has a number, with a sign to the left of the garden. Some gardens are split up. #a is immediately to the right of the number sign. #b is immediately to the right of #a. Your path is to the right of your garden. These paths are there, so everybody can reach their garden easily. It is your own responsibility to keep your path, the part of the main path next to your garden, and your garden itself, weed free. Remove weeds at least once every two weeks, to avoid spreading the weeds to your neighbours. A couple of times a year, all gardens are inspected.
It is not allowed to use chemical pesticides or poison, to protect your plants against pests and weeds -- we are an ecological garden community.
MAINTENANCE MORNINGS
There are maintenance mornings on a regular basis. Together, we do some maintenance tasks for the common parts of the gardens. As a member, you are obligated to help two times a year. These mornings are great moments to meet your fellow gardeners, and to learn to work with different tools. Maintenance mornings are announced through email. We meet at the cabin.