“I’m an architect, and I slowly started to do more and more green projects like designing neighbourhood gardens, food forests, nature grounds and these kinds of things. This is the second year that the garden has been here on campus. I got involved a few years ago when they wanted to teach a gardening course.
We have mostly students from TU Delft who take the courses, but also people from outside join if there is space. Sometimes we have workshops like making drinks using things from the garden, like tea. There are a lot of ways you can do things like that and discover new flavours. We also have spaces for individuals who are members here to grow their own food.
‘It’s a bit of a wild zone’
This is also a social place. It’s about connecting people, especially people from other countries. It can be hard to break into the Dutch culture, and this is a way for them to make connections. My grandmother always said you have the best conversations when you are doing the dishes. It’s the same when you are doing gardening, you make quick connections with each other, and you can have interesting conversations with people.
This is a very diverse place. It’s bio-diverse, but also as far as people go. And it’s a bit of a wild zone. That can be different for some people because they are used to straight lines and structure. We try to work together with nature, not against it. Traditional gardening is fighting against nature. We try to learn from what the weeds tell us about the soil condition and what we might grow there. If there’s a wild carrot growing, it might be a good place to grow carrots.
I’m also involved with Stichting Groenkracht, which is an organisation that tries to connect people with nature in Delft, mainly through gardening and food. The aim is for people from the same neighborhood to have more social coherence. And it’s also about creating a place for bees and butterflies to come because there is so much concrete now.
A lot of people say gardening is like meditation. You do some physical work with your hands and you get out of your head. Here you can be outside, get some sunshine and some light exercise, and grow some fresh food.”
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Heather Montague / Freelance writer
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