Manja | PlantButton

About a year ago, in just a moment’s time I got the idea of PlantButton. I needed a plant to climb my walls inside my house. I love a plant packed jungle, courtyards overgrown with creeper plants, when you…

Manja | instant relaxation?

How do I get myself into the woods? While Netflixing myself drowsy I long to this sigh of relieve which I experience when I do get myself to a forest. And even though I find myself not often there…

Manja | Ginkgo Biloba medicine

I bought this book.. and I have this beautiful tree standing in front of my building.. and then there is me. And so it came to be that I made this tincture. The tree I am talking about is the Ginkgo…

Manja | June 2020 | white supremacy

For me it al started years ago with an ongoing debate in my country, about black Pete. Black Pete is part of this racist Dutch traditional celebration for children with lots of presents. For me…

Manja | April 2020 | Hack: germinate acorns in 1 week!

Germinating acorns is good fun, but man the germination takes ages! You collect acorns in autumn, then they hibernate in your fridge for months. Sometimes you are lucky and a…

Manja | 8 March 2020 | Int. Woman’s day

About 3 years ago I saw a street theatre production by Cia Maduixa. It was a dance on stilts without words and it depicted the story of the continual struggle women have to go through to…

Manja | January 2020 | growing micro vegetables

Micro vegetables are a type of next level sprouts and still easy to do. I find it very hard to grow a full lettuce indoors without doing a study beforehand and supplying the right…

Manja | November 2019 | Sprouting dish extraordinaire

If you have already been sprouting for many years, and like me, have delved into different sprouting methods over these years, tested them and experimented with them, then you…

Manja | October 2019 | avocado flower

I love germinating avocado pits. At times, I have six brooding at the same time and I always have at least a couple shining in full bloom with a spiral of roots and beautiful green…

Manja | September 2019 | forest bath

Shinrin Yoku, skogluft… the therapeutic workings of a forest bath. A simple walk through the forest, or just the ‘being’ in nature, is allegedly enough to lower blood pressure, reduce…

Manja | July 2019 | growing a lemon tree indoors

I am not sure if it’s possible, but it is worth trying: growing a fruit bearing lemon tree, from a seed, in my kitchen. In any case, it was easy enough to germinate lemon seeds,…

Manja | June 2019 | tasty salty Ice Plant

Aptenia Cordifolia or Baby Sun Rose or or or… I call it: Ice Plant. This delicious edible plant reminds me of the sea because the structure and the flavor taste like samphire. You can…

Manja | April 2019 | Sprout in the dark or in the light?

Most seeds germinate and grow faster in the dark. This has to do with the plants’ urge to survive. They feel, as it were, a ‘now or never’ urge and will totally go…

Manja | May 2019 | Sunflower sprouts

Have you eaten your first sunflower sprouts yet? They are creamy and nutty in flavor and you could cultivate a whole bunch to make a raw hotchpot, but even better is to make a beautiful salad.…

Manja | March 2019 | Floating Forest

Floating Forest is a mobile construction with little bottles of water with sprouted acorns hanging off it. Everything is in balance because all components in the mobile play their part. The…

Manja | February 2019 | What is plant light?

Do you also find it very complicated to buy a plant lamp? Maybe you came across this article here in the hope to gain more clarity. I think you are in luck! :)
In my search over the…

Manja | January 2019 | Growing tomatoes in winter

Thanks to an artificial sun, my tomatoes bloom in winter! Besides the plant light, I give the tomatoes the same organic plant feed as I give my house plants. The tomato roots in a…

Manja | January 2019 | Growing organic lettuce indoors

Welcome 2019! And may this be the year that I will unravel the recipe on how to grow organic leafy greens indoors. For a while now I have been trying to grow different kinds…

Manja | December 2018 | regrowing red beet

Regrowing red beets results in a beautiful flower bouquet substitute. Moreover, this flower bouquet will last for months and its cultivation is 100% sustainable.

How?

∙ Buy raw…

Manja | November 2018 | alternative onion

Who hasn’t had this happen, you scramble around your onion basket and next thing you’re holding a sprouted onion in your hands. A little irked you use the still usable part of the…

Manja | October 2018 | gelatinous germ seeds

Generally nothing much can go wrong when cultivating sprouts, but sometimes it does. During my sprouting experiments, whereby I ignored instructions and advice and tried everything out…

Manja | autumn 2018

Never before have I gone into the woods on my flip flops this time of year to find autumn treasures. This warm sun is lovely and it feels like a second spring. So too think the dandelions and the bees, who,…

Manja | October 2018 | germinate an acorn

The only acorn I want is a germinated one! They shine in magazines and on Instagram…. but not just like that. It is not that hard, as long as you have the right acorns. Fortunately, it…

Manja | October 2018 | Cultivating Sango

The instructions for germ seeds are often very similar: soak between 6 and 12 hours, then sow. However, is this standard recipe correct?
Every plant has its own set of rules. In the last…

Manja | September 2018 | Straw bale garden is fireproof

Ohhh Indian summer I love thee…Are you also looking back on a fantastic garden summer? The vegetables on my straw bales did great. Bathing in sunlight AND compliments. I…

Manja | September 2018 | Gathering acorns

And all of a sudden it is autumn. A beautiful pumpkin is still ripening in my straw bale garden, but I am getting excited about the garden season inside my house. This means gathering…

Manja | September 2018 | my germination station

I cultivate my cress and sprouts in my kitchen. I have a handy container for the cress on a rod above my sink and for the sprouts I use a drainer. Using these practical solutions,…

Manja | August 2018 | Shop window with a propagation station

I have finished my new shop window! This time it is a propagation station, an installation of young and older cuttings. Many house plants can be easily propagated by…

Manja | July 2018 | Straw bale vegetable garden

If you live in a city center without a garden and you have itchy green fingers, then the straw bale vegetable garden is the way to go! Perfect as a façade garden (dogs cannot wee…

Manja | August 2018 | shop window with a garlic installation

This summer I can release all my green finger creativity in the shop window of De Noorman in Deventer. A challenge in itself, as this shop window is under constant full…

Manja | August 2018 | Regrowing bok choi

Regrowing vegetables can yield you a second small harvest. I tried this with my bok choi, though the result was somewhat disappointing.
I had harvested a huge bok choi with roots from my…

Manja | August 2018 | Germinating a mango pit

Can you germinate a mango pit with the Deno method? You bet you can! But there is one little surprise: the actual pit of the mango is in fact inside the pit that you pull out of the…