Euro-Serre: exceptionally practical with Petra D'hoey

Petra D'hoey spent her childhood in her parents' pear orchard in Verrebroek, Belgium. Now she lives and gardens with her own family and her father in the same place. The greenhouse plays a starring role in their daily lives and Petra learns something new there every day.

Header photo: Ken Stoffels.

Petra D'hoey grows many of her vegetable garden crops exclusively in her greenhouse. "We live in the countryside," she explains, "so there are a lot of rabbits that also like to have a bite of our harvest. We have planted lettuce plants in seed trays and placed herbs on the shelf. In the open ground we have cauliflower, herbs, savoy cabbage, endive, spring onion and fennel." Each crop offers its own possibilities in the greenhouse: lettuce, for example, grows well in a tray or pot, and spring onion can be planted between crops to make the most of your space. "I'm not a top vegetable gardener," says Petra, "but it does give me satisfaction and pleasure. I get a lot of tips from my dad about fruit growing and the vegetable garden." She also learns while gardening itself: "Sometimes it's very simple things, like that I only had one plant of some varieties and later realized that you really need two plants for fertilization. You take that into account."

One of the plants that Petra likes to grow in the greenhouse is the dahlia. “It started with a bag of dahlia tubers that I was given. That was a great success!” For Petra, it is a godsend to be able to plant the dahlias in the greenhouse. That way, she doesn’t have to worry about freezing temperatures or accidentally removing dahlia plants while weeding. When previous flower experiments failed after planting, Petra was very angry with herself, but then she realized: “Actually, that effort was never in vain. I had enjoyed doing this and fortunately I found the pleasure again afterwards. In books, gardens sometimes seem so perfect, but that is often not how it is in real life.”

The greenhouse is located in a pear orchard, which means the family can count on both delicacies from the greenhouse and the orchard. “My husband and I built our house in the orchard where I spent my entire childhood. A dream come true,” says Petra. “I spent my entire youth here, toiling among the pear trees or dreamily on my picnic blanket until it was time to go home again.” Petra now gardens with her father and her family. “The children’s curiosity was also aroused. That was the biggest incentive to buy a greenhouse,” she explains. The arrival of the greenhouse was a breath of fresh air for the entire family. “What joy does the greenhouse bring us? Processing the day, silence, a beautiful view, letting go and recharging, and all that with a sunrise and a beautiful sunset. You don’t need anything more.”

Euro-Serre has been the expert in building hobby greenhouses and garden rooms for over 40 years. In the wide range of aluminium greenhouses and garden rooms, there is the right greenhouse for everyone. You can also go there for tailor-made advice and professional installation. With a greenhouse you reduce your ecological footprint, because you invest in organic food, which does not require polluting transport and energy-consuming cold stores. But that is not all. Euro-Serre greenhouses are exclusively produced locally using energy from solar panels. The raw materials are circular, which means that the waste flows are 95% recyclable. The powder coating is also environmentally friendly. This makes a greenhouse from Euro-Serre a sustainable choice.

Euro-Serre has distributors in Belgium and the Netherlands. More information can be found at www.euroserre.com .