• How ecological do you live compared to anyone else on this planet? It sounds like something impossible to express. Actually it is possible, by calculating all human activities back to the amount of land and water used for them. The Ecological Footprint is a tool that gives insight into the amount of land and water that people use to be able to produce all their food and other supplies and to be able to process their waste. Have a look on our Eco Footprint page and do the test!

The Tree

• It was on an Autumn evening in Ireland that we visited him, that very old tree. Its construction clearly showed what his survival strategy was. Its branches, as thick as considerable trees themselves, arced as buttresses to the ground. During its life it has gone through quite some hustles. It withstanded storm and lightning, plagues, fires and wars. The castle beside it fell to ruins, but this tree also has seen it being built. Long before the time of castles and lords it already stood there. Estimated age: 2500 years!

This tree, a Taxus, would never have managed these 2500 years of survival if only one person would have come up with the idea to cut it down, for firewood or beams, for paper or simply because it stood in the way of that person.

When is a tree worth to let live?
When is a tree worth to cut down?

There is a lot to tell concerning trees.
• Leo Vroman has written a splendid poem called: De Eenvoud van Beuken (in Dutch only for now)

• In English you can read a less poetic, but certainly not a less interesting approach of the phenomena "Tree" in: the 100 years old tree

From Olive to Oil

• With a taste that ranges from mild to very strong olive oil is one of the finest products in the (Mediterranean) kitchen. Portuguese olive oil has perhaps not such a great reputation as Spanish, Italian or Greek oil, but is certainly not worth less.
Here in Portugal, we made a comprehensive report of the olive harvest and the pressing in a traditional olive press, working on hydro-power. A beautiful series of photographs and a delicious oil were the result!
Read all about it here (in Dutch only for now)

Home Made Yogurt

• One of the things that the Dutch "kaaskoppen" living abroad really miss are diary products like yogurt. This page is not just for ex-pats, but for everyone who wants to know how you can easily make yourself a delicious pot of yogurt.

It is actually not difficult at all. Have a look at Home made Yogurt (in Dutch only for now)

Wild Food

• If you look at the sacs of fresh herbs at the supermarket, or at the foam plates with mushrooms, any relationship with soil, grass and trees is hard to find.

It is always nice to let small city children pull on a carrot plant. The amazement in their eyes at the sight of a carrot, just like they are sold in the store in bags, is great.
And what about the felling of potatoes. The plant has often already disappeared completely, but the ground is really full of potatoes. Who has hidden thèse here?

One step further to the roots of our food is to point out people the many chestnuts and beech-nuts spontaneously falling down from the trees in the autumn. Also fruit trees, hazelnuts and walnuts, you can encounter in parks, forests and along streets.
But there is more to be found in nature.

In the series "Wild Food" we once in a while report about an edible crop, found in the wild, supplemented by a special recipe and some information about other uses.

First in the series: the Elder (in Dutch only for now)

Know what you  E a t

• Not all of our food comes directly from nature. A lot of our food comes straight from the factory where it is changed and treated for various reasons. Food additives are substances that are added to food without directly contributing to nutritional value or taste. You can see what has been added to our food in the factory on our E-number overview (in Dutch only for now) of the most commonly used chemical substances. They are not always so human-friendly as the European approval wants you to believe.