Heat The day after tomorrow will be hot in the Netherlands: up to 39 degrees! Check whether your reservoir is still full, whether the mix is still moist, shade vulnerable plants around midday, and wait with sowing until it cools down.
Hi, I'm Jelle. This is how it began.
Why I started Makkelijke Moestuin, how it quickly grew into a movement, and why we work differently from most companies.
The beginning: 2008
When I started Makkelijke Moestuin in 2008, I was 14. And lazy.
I loved plants, but a vegetable garden? Far too much work. At the time, all you saw were vegetable gardeners digging away furiously. But according to Mel Bartholomew - the creator of Square Foot Gardening - a vegetable garden could be a piece of cake.
And that I did want to try. So I built my first raised beds, sowed some vegetables and, when it worked to my utter amazement, created a website about it.
I loved plants, but a vegetable garden? Far too much work. At the time, all you saw were vegetable gardeners digging away furiously. But according to Mel Bartholomew - the creator of Square Foot Gardening - a vegetable garden could be a piece of cake.
And that I did want to try. So I built my first raised beds, sowed some vegetables and, when it worked to my utter amazement, created a website about it.
Long story short: lots of people found the website, the press picked it up, and more and more people wanted a vegetable garden like it.
One thing led to another
Hundreds of people joined in and became MM gardeners. I wrote a book, and before long people were asking whether we could supply seeds and Makkelijke Moestuinmix as well as information.
That first summer, I mixed the growing mix in a cement mixer in the garden. People came to collect it with their trailers. I put seeds into envelopes and posted them all over the country.
The enthusiasm of all those MM gardeners created a real movement, and I soon couldn't manage it on my own.
First my mum helped, followed later by my best friend and my brother.
That first summer, I mixed the growing mix in a cement mixer in the garden. People came to collect it with their trailers. I put seeds into envelopes and posted them all over the country.
The enthusiasm of all those MM gardeners created a real movement, and I soon couldn't manage it on my own.
First my mum helped, followed later by my best friend and my brother.
Between 2010 and 2018, hundreds of tests shaped the foundations of our range: raised beds and table planters that last indefinitely, a growing mix that never needs replacing, and a sturdy trellis. No-nonsense, reliable products you can use in the garden year after year.
We also created a free app that guides you from seed to harvest, and an online community where MM gardeners can meet one another.
Then we solved the two big problems the Makkelijke Moestuin still had: slugs and snails with an electric fence, and endless watering with a water reservoir. We developed all of this ourselves, so our team grew too.
Then we solved the two big problems the Makkelijke Moestuin still had: slugs and snails with an electric fence, and endless watering with a water reservoir. We developed all of this ourselves, so our team grew too.
Among fellow MM gardeners
Because almost everyone who starts a Makkelijke Moestuin tells a few other people about it, we've grown considerably and even become a real company.
That still feels strange to say, because it doesn't really feel like one. It's more like a club of extremely enthusiastic people.
That still feels strange to say, because it doesn't really feel like one. It's more like a club of extremely enthusiastic people.
We're not a company that sees you as a number, or only as a customer. Call us and you'll speak to someone who has their own Makkelijke Moestuin and will happily chat with you about plants.
Successful vegetable gardens and great service - no advertising
I'm sometimes asked, "Jelle, what's your business model?" The short answer is: we don't have one.
All we do is make people happy with a vegetable garden that works. The funny thing is that this automatically helps Makkelijke Moestuin grow, because happy people spread the word.
We don't advertise or pay large social media platforms. For example, we don't have cookies on this site that track you. Lovely! We prefer to invest the money we save - advertising is expensive - in the quality of our products.
We also gladly invest in exceptionally good service. Have a question? We'll help. Have a problem? We'll solve it straight away, without making things difficult. The result: even more happy people.
Sometimes I wonder why other companies do the exact opposite: spend lots of money on advertising, then completely neglect customer service or leave it to an AI bot. Isn't that a kind of anti-marketing?
So we simply go above and beyond to make your vegetable garden a success. Everyone who joins our team supports that 100%.
All we do is make people happy with a vegetable garden that works. The funny thing is that this automatically helps Makkelijke Moestuin grow, because happy people spread the word.
We don't advertise or pay large social media platforms. For example, we don't have cookies on this site that track you. Lovely! We prefer to invest the money we save - advertising is expensive - in the quality of our products.
We also gladly invest in exceptionally good service. Have a question? We'll help. Have a problem? We'll solve it straight away, without making things difficult. The result: even more happy people.
Sometimes I wonder why other companies do the exact opposite: spend lots of money on advertising, then completely neglect customer service or leave it to an AI bot. Isn't that a kind of anti-marketing?
So we simply go above and beyond to make your vegetable garden a success. Everyone who joins our team supports that 100%.
The future
We've now created a system that allows almost anyone to grow food with ease.
We want to keep making that system better and easier. That's why we invest every euro left over in the continued development of our products and our free app.
We want to keep making that system better and easier. That's why we invest every euro left over in the continued development of our products and our free app.
Sustainability
Our number one priority is for every vegetable garden to succeed. Sustainability comes second, but the two actually go hand in hand. Starting a vegetable garden is far from sustainable if poor results make you give up again soon. That's why it's important to us that our products are high quality and last a long time.
Our MM-Hero raised beds are made from waste plastic that's difficult to recycle. So far, we've cleared up 450,000 kg of plastic waste this way. That's equivalent to 75 million supermarket carrier bags. Because the boards are pressed at high temperatures, they're safe to use in every respect.
Our MM-Hero raised beds are made from waste plastic that's difficult to recycle. So far, we've cleared up 450,000 kg of plastic waste this way. That's equivalent to 75 million supermarket carrier bags. Because the boards are pressed at high temperatures, they're safe to use in every respect.
What's more, all materials - including those used for the growing mix, accessories and seeds - are responsibly sourced and produced. That's good for nature and for the workers involved.
We consider everything: packaging, transport and energy. As soon as something can be done even better, we adopt it as quickly as possible.
A fair price
Good products are never cheap, including ours. But looking purely at price, our raised beds are three to five times cheaper than planters of a similar quality, and not even that much more expensive than raised beds that wear out in no time.
That's because we now make many of them, can buy the materials at a good price, do everything ourselves, and don't use middlemen.
That's also why our products aren't available in every garden centre and why we don't offer absurd Black Friday discounts. If we did, we'd either have to raise our prices substantially, accept heavy losses, or compromise on quality.
You therefore know that you always pay us a fair price, while we know we're supplying high-quality products that are genuinely worth it. That feels good.
We do as much as possible ourselves
Call Makkelijke Moestuin and you won't get a call centre, but always one of us. The same applies to email: MM gardeners helping fellow MM gardeners.
We pack our parcels ourselves, just like every order.
We pack our parcels ourselves, just like every order.
We make the water reservoirs for our raised beds here in our own premises. The same goes for the electric-fence control boxes and sawing the boards.
We make the app ourselves. We programme, illustrate, and create the website, shop and copy. Everything.
We don't have managers walking around or sit in an ivory tower directing other people. And we never want to.
We don't have managers walking around or sit in an ivory tower directing other people. And we never want to.
That way, we always know what's happening and what's important, and can respond extremely quickly if something does go wrong, including for our customers.
Because once again: if we make you - and all those other MM gardeners - happy, we'll ultimately achieve our goal too. Together 😀
Because once again: if we make you - and all those other MM gardeners - happy, we'll ultimately achieve our goal too. Together 😀
On to the next step
Now you know who we are, it's back to you. You probably want to know how everything works, so let's move on to a genuine Makkelijke Moestuin raised bed, because that's where it all happens.