{"id":38793,"date":"2020-07-19T06:45:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-19T04:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/the-slovenia.com\/?p=38793"},"modified":"2020-08-27T12:33:51","modified_gmt":"2020-08-27T10:33:51","slug":"the-column-with-simone-b-michielen-the-secrets-of-nature-and-my-neighbors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/the-slovenia.com\/en\/gastronomy\/the-column-with-simone-b-michielen-the-secrets-of-nature-and-my-neighbors\/","title":{"rendered":"The Column with Simone B. Michielen: The secrets of nature (and my neighbors)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am always surprised how much Slovenia\u2019s nature has to offer when it comes to food. As a typical Dutch person I was (and still lam) used to buy almost everything in a shop and although there are more specialized shops in the Netherlands when it comes to food, we hardly know where everything is coming from.<\/p>

Not here. I know people who will never eat potato if it isn\u2019t grown on their own land. Beautifully kept vegetable gardens at every neighbor\u2019s place where tomatoes seem to be red and all the plants grow. Not at my place. Green fingers, as we call it, aren\u2019t mine and the fruit, tomatoes, and other vegetables I tried to grow this year knew exactly that they had to deal with a beginner. I don\u2019t have a garden. I do, but with bushes, trees and flowers. I know, not a \u201creal\u201d garden. The vegetables and fruits are planted in pots, as it seemed a lot easier, but it is not. They need TLC, and water, which I both forget now and then. Around my house, people walk in the field to find all kinds of wild plants and if the conditions are perfect I see them going into the forest to find the most delicious mushrooms. They know what they are doing\u2026 while I am already happy that I know where to find wild garlic, of course after almost falling into it.<\/p>