Astrid is a volunteer at Food Garden IJplein: “It has become a bit of my life”

Astrid Louwers (40) suddenly found herself without work during the coronavirus pandemic, as the souvenir shop where she worked had to close during the lockdown. During that time, she decided to look for another enjoyable activity during the day. She surprisingly found this close to home, at Voedseltuin IJplein. “I immediately felt happy when I saw the grounds, with all the flowers and vegetables. It is a hidden oasis in the city and seemed like a wonderful place to do volunteer work right away!”You can tell that Astrid has green fingers by looking at her living room: it’s full of plants! The choice to volunteer in a food garden may seem obvious because of this, but that’s not entirely the case: “I know a lot about plants, but I knew absolutely nothing about growing vegetables and fruits,” Astrid laughs. “It was like a whole new world opening up to me when I started working there. They train you well, so fortunately, I quickly learned a lot about what it takes to maintain a vegetable garden.”

Harvest is for the Food Bank

At the beginning, Astrid worked at the Food Garden a few times a week, but now she only comes on Tuesdays. “Work is done in the garden on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm,” she explains. “On Tuesdays, we work on maintenance tasks such as hoeing and weeding. Wednesdays are for harvesting. And on Saturdays, there is usually maintenance work, so there are noticeably more men in the garden. Almost all the harvest from the garden goes to the Food Bank; we recently had as many as twelve crates full!”

Minicollege

In the Food Garden, you will find a colorful mix of volunteers, says Astrid. “People of all ages and backgrounds come here. There are a few retired biologists among them, who know everything about plants and animals and are happy to share this knowledge with the volunteers. Often, they give a mini-lecture during the break, explaining about insects, composting, worm hotels, or other vegetable garden-related topics. Incredibly fun and educational!”

New world opened

In addition to these mini-lectures, workshops are also held in the Food Garden, on topics such as diseases and pests in the vegetable garden. “I always enjoy attending the workshops and have also completed a course at the Amsterdam Vegetable Garden School. I am no longer just a volunteer, but also a coordinator and board member of the Food Garden, and I can now teach and guide others in gardening. Getting involved in this volunteer work has opened up a whole new world for me! It has truly become a part of my life. I am also more involved in gardening at home. My own garden is full of plants, but my neighbor’s garden was still empty. We agreed that I could use her garden to grow vegetables. Together we share the harvest, so we both benefit from it!”

Fun activities

In the Food Garden, not only hard work is done, but fun activities are also regularly organized. “The garden is always open to visitors from the neighborhood,” explains Astrid. “They come to picnic or read a book. But we also have parties, like a harvest day. A lot of delicious food is served, prepared with vegetables and fruit from the Food Garden, and there is a campfire with a cauldron where soup is cooked. It is always very cozy, and everyone is welcome.”

New friends

Even as a volunteer, everyone is actually welcome, explains Astrid. “If there are enough volunteers, we temporarily ask only people with experience in gardening to sign up. But in principle, anyone can send an email! It’s not a strict organization. If you can’t make it one time, you don’t have to notify us, and of course, coming for an extra day is also possible.”.“I really like that we are such a diverse group of people, I have also made new friends here.”

Interested in volunteering at the Voedseltuin IJplein? Send an email toinfo@voedseltuinijplein.nlor contact VCA via w.post@vca.nuPhoto: Mark Rammers