Mamulova, now the chair of GROW, is content seeing this community unfolding: “We have a nice mix of employees, postdocs, students and PhD students. Just like I hoped.”

On May 6 the group had ‘Flower Day’. An event where they plant flowers native to Eindhoven. Mamulova: “We want to help the biodiversity in the city. Planting native flowers helps and we hope to tell more people in Eindhoven about them.” The group managed to get a list released by the municipality: the 40 of 040. A list with 40 flowers native to this city, also known by the regional landline code 040.

“It was a bit hard to get the right seeds though,” Mamulova says. “If you go to a garden center, you see how many flowers look similar to the listed ones, but when you look at their Latin name, you realize they are not. And a flower being popular in the region doesn’t make it native. But we managed in the end.” Fellow board member Nisreen Hamada: “For example we have Veldsalie, Grote kattenstaart, Echte koekoekbloem and Slangenkruid.” Mamulova: “We also got some donations of people who had the right seeds at home.”

A lot of interest

Mamulova is happy Cursor published an article on her initiative: “It for sure helped and approximately forty people came to the first event!” Even more joined the new gardening community GROW. They didn’t waste any time and GROW already has a board and a committee now.

The board consists of eight members. “That’s quite large, but we do it like this so people can share tasks to reduce workload,” Mamulova explains. “We also have a bit of a different committee structure: there is one committee rather than many small themed committees. Our committee consists of eighteen people at the moment. Those are the ones who said they’d like to be a bit more active and they care for the plants on a regular basis. In total we have about fifty people involved in GROW.”

Meet and learn

Nisreen Hamada joined soon after she saw the article on Cursor’s Instagram. “I just started following you and then I saw planting day pop up there. I immediately got enthusiastic: I like gardening and wanted to get in touch with other people interested in this. I already met so many nice people in GROW and learned a lot from them.” Hamada soon decided to join the board. “I’m the vice-chair and logistics and real estate manager.”

Want to see more photos and videos? Instagram: @grow.communitygarden

Composting

There will be more events in the near future, so if you’re interested but haven’t shown your face yet, there are still chances coming: May 24 from 4 PM till 6 PM there is ‘Plants, Pots and Paint’. An event where you can show your creativity and paint flowerpots. “But also a moment to exchange seeds or plants, depending on the stage we’re at,” Mamulova adds. Hamada smiles: “And to enjoy each other’s company of course, have drinks, relax.”

On June 4 there will be a lecture on composting (1.30 PM till 5 PM). Hamada: “We’re lucky to have a composting expert within our community and he will explain the types and ways of composting.” Mamulova thinks it’s a good preparation for the future. “We might not have compost yet, but if enough of us educate ourselves now, maybe we can make it happen in the future.”

Dream big

GROW is now registering as a community, but wants to grow further to an association. Hamada: “We want to establish a place where people can easily join, enjoy themselves and learn a lot from each other. That’s why we’re planning many events.”

Mamulova is already dreaming about a flourishing future. “If we can expand from a greenhouse to a garden, that would be wonderful. Having garden beds on campus, visible for all. Now the greenhouse is a bit tucked away still. If it becomes more open and visible, even more people can get in touch and join us.”

Want to join?

If you got curious for the event on May 24, GROW asks anyone who wants to participate to sign up so they can make sure they have enough space and materials. If you’re generally interested in being part of the community, you can reach them by email and there is a WhatsApp group.