The High Tech Campus beekeepers got their own facebook page
Go over and visit them either in the garden (they are there quite often) or head over to their facebook page.
More up-to-date information on our facebook page
We would like to invite you over to our facebook page for more recent news and pictures of our garden. The site is also available if you don't have a facebook account!
November 30 The trees are still waiting
To all that were able to make it last Saturday: Thanks a lot for coming and we hope you had as much fun as we had.
To all that couldn't make it: It was a lot of fun, but don't be too sad that you missed the fun. After discovering a whole lot of sand in the ground we had to change plans and haven't actually planted anything yet (just our central walnut tree). So you are in LUCK since we'll finish the garden with all the planting action coming Saturday November 30 at 10am (till about 3pm).
What can you do???
Hope to see you on Saturday! Don't forget to fill the doodle!
To all that couldn't make it: It was a lot of fun, but don't be too sad that you missed the fun. After discovering a whole lot of sand in the ground we had to change plans and haven't actually planted anything yet (just our central walnut tree). So you are in LUCK since we'll finish the garden with all the planting action coming Saturday November 30 at 10am (till about 3pm).
What can you do???
- Check out some pictures of last Saturday.
- Take a walk during lunch and have a look.
- Free up your agenda, come next Saturday and bring your family. The kids had a blast too.
- Let us know that you come and what you bring by filling in the doodle.
- Working clothes / shoes
- Lunch item to be shared (let's create an international buffet)
- Gloves
- Shovels (if you got them)
- Your badge (though we will inform the guards, so don't worry)
- Help to plant ~15 fruit trees (local varieties of apples, pears, apricots, plums, cherries, nuts)
- Create an edible hedge from more than 500 individual bushes (many different berry varieties)
Hope to see you on Saturday! Don't forget to fill the doodle!
November 23 Plant a tree
We are happy to announce the first implementation step of our Community Garden at the Boerderij. Join us on Saturday November 23 with your family. Things will start at 10am. Together with Soontiens Gardencenter we will create the border of our garden which will consist of several edible (think delicious berries) and decorative hedges. Furthermore we will plant more than a dozen fruit/nut trees of local varieties.
Please bring:
Please let us know if you are joining by registering here.
This is what we will create TOGETHER:
Please bring:
- Working clothes / shoes
- Shovels (if you got them)
- Gloves
- Lunch items to be shared
- Your badge (though we will inform the guards, so don't worry)
Please let us know if you are joining by registering here.
This is what we will create TOGETHER:
March 27 Visit of HTC landscape architect Cor Geluk
We did a site visit today of our future garden with the landscape architect Cor Geluk and his colleague Mattijs Gevers. They have been shaping the appearance of the campus for many years and are the authors of the current 5 landscape design of the campus. They are very happy that campus residents take things into their own hands and 'personalize' the space. As guardians of the overall campus landscape design they propose to help us define the borders between the garden and the rest. This will define the outline in which we will further develop our garden. They are very interested in hearing all the good ideas of how campus residents would like this place to be like and what they would want to do there. So make your ideas heard.
March 15 First Garden Design workshop
In our first longer working session, we had six external experts giving us input on different aspects surrounding the work in the garden: Leo Bakx, Minke Greve, Arjen de Vries, Willem Doreleijers, Naomi Raja Boean, Dirk Jan van Stipdonk. Their advice was used to inspire us and to start the discussion about what we need to do in order to make the HTC Community Garden a success. We started developing action plans in smaller groups around five key topics:
1) Resource management
2) Planning & Design
3) Communication & Fundraising
4) The technical aspects of gardening
5) (The gardening) community
Finally, we did a fun activity together (see here) and closed the day with drinks at Grand Cafe.
1) Resource management
2) Planning & Design
3) Communication & Fundraising
4) The technical aspects of gardening
5) (The gardening) community
Finally, we did a fun activity together (see here) and closed the day with drinks at Grand Cafe.
March 7 Invitation for Garden Design workshop March 15
We want to invite everyone to our first garden design session on Friday March 15, 12h-17h at the “Boerderij”. The objective of the workshop is to select the experts (suggest yours!) that can help us get started and make together with them a few first designs, work plans & timelines. We realize that it is difficult for a number of us to participate during work hours. Try to be there at least for the first 90min where we introduce some of the experts.
March 6 Meeting HTC site management
Receiving great support from the HTC site management for our initiative! We agreed that the most suitable place on the campus for our garden is next to the "Boerderij". It is very central, at least 700m2 can be cultivated and we have a "Clubhouse" to meet in. HTC will check with Cor Geluk (Landscape Architect) what we need to respect in order to integrate the garden into the overall landscape design of the campus. We will also receive the soil test results that were done in the past to ensure that the ground is clean and can be cultivated. A reply for both actions is expected by Wednesday March 13.
March 4 Kick-off meeting
Some 40 gardeners (of the so far 65 registered) could join for our kick-off meeting on March 4 at the Strip. In small groups we discussed what motivates us to garden at HTC. The result is summarized in this word cloud.
Feb 27 First meeting set for March 4
So far we are 57 people, of whom 3/4 are interested to jointly garden with expert guidance and 1/4 prefer to manage an individual plot independently. In order to get to know each other and take next steps together, we organize our first meeting on Monday March 4, 12:15h-13h at the Conference Center / Strip (room Zernike).
Main objectives:
- To kick-off the community
- To understand what drives us
- Define the way forward
Preparations:
1. Write down for yourself why you want to be part of this project. What do you want to get out of it? What are you able and willing to put in? This will be the focus of the meeting. If you can’t join, please send your input by mail to [email protected]
2. Start sharing links/videos of resources/ideas/initiatives that could be inspiring for the community.
3. In case you know of other people who are interested in this topic, invite them to come to the meeting.
Main objectives:
- To kick-off the community
- To understand what drives us
- Define the way forward
Preparations:
1. Write down for yourself why you want to be part of this project. What do you want to get out of it? What are you able and willing to put in? This will be the focus of the meeting. If you can’t join, please send your input by mail to [email protected]
2. Start sharing links/videos of resources/ideas/initiatives that could be inspiring for the community.
3. In case you know of other people who are interested in this topic, invite them to come to the meeting.
Feb 23 Campus-wide invitation sent out with some delay / Original deadline dropped
Curious to learn more about Nature? Ever thought of starting a garden, but didn’t want to do it just by yourself? Wondering why not make use of our campus for more than just the after-lunch walk around the lake? Join the HTCE community garden!
With the support of the High Tech Campus management we plan to create a space on the campus where we can learn and experiment together around gardening. We want to work with local actors like the city farmer from the Genneper Park, the students and teachers from the Green High School just at the edge of the campus and the experts from the Nature Education Centre among others. We are thinking of a space where we can spend our lunch-break and round up the day, putting our hands in the soil together.
Nature is awakening and we want to be ready this spring. So, if you want to be part of it, sign-up here as soon as possible!
With the support of the High Tech Campus management we plan to create a space on the campus where we can learn and experiment together around gardening. We want to work with local actors like the city farmer from the Genneper Park, the students and teachers from the Green High School just at the edge of the campus and the experts from the Nature Education Centre among others. We are thinking of a space where we can spend our lunch-break and round up the day, putting our hands in the soil together.
Nature is awakening and we want to be ready this spring. So, if you want to be part of it, sign-up here as soon as possible!
Feb 6 Starting point
A number of Philips employees had a discussion with the HTC campus management (Harrie Arends and Bert-Jan Woertman) on the possibility of establishing a community garden for HTC residents in Jan. Their feedback was positive. HTC supports such an initiative. If enough campus residents mobilize themselves and make a solid proposal, they will look for an appropriate patch on the campus and Van Stipdonk would help in setting things up.
Current thinking revolves around two options:
The only conditions we want to impose from the start are:
For setting up infrastructure, such as a fence (rabbits!), a table (lunch break), water piping (irrigation) and a shed (tool storage), we would ask HTC companies for sponsorship. HTC is already working together with the middle school "GreenSchool" that is located next to the campus and the "Milieu Educatie Centrum" in the Genneper Park. Those parties might want to help with training and projets.
BUT the first question is:
ARE THERE ENOUGH PEOPLE INTERESTED?
We set ourselves the threshold of 1% of campus residents. If 80 of the 8000 residents would like to actively be part of this, we think it's worthwhile to go ahead. Therefore, register your interest on this site and forward to other campus residents asap.
Current thinking revolves around two options:
- Separate in small plots of ~50-100 sq.m. and give those out to self-organized teams of residents (3-5 people). They will have full control and responsibility for their plot and decide what they want to do with their harvest.
- Make a master-plan for a big plot of ~1000 sq.m. as a group under the guidance of an expert. The group will organize all required tasks among themselves. They will get a year-long training from the expert during lunch/afterwork sessions.
The only conditions we want to impose from the start are:
- Adhere to organic farming principles.
- Show off the garden and its produce during the Dutch Sustainability Day in Oct 2013.
For setting up infrastructure, such as a fence (rabbits!), a table (lunch break), water piping (irrigation) and a shed (tool storage), we would ask HTC companies for sponsorship. HTC is already working together with the middle school "GreenSchool" that is located next to the campus and the "Milieu Educatie Centrum" in the Genneper Park. Those parties might want to help with training and projets.
BUT the first question is:
ARE THERE ENOUGH PEOPLE INTERESTED?
We set ourselves the threshold of 1% of campus residents. If 80 of the 8000 residents would like to actively be part of this, we think it's worthwhile to go ahead. Therefore, register your interest on this site and forward to other campus residents asap.