Community rules

We aim for useful, friendly, and enjoyable. And for lots of pleasure from and in your Makkelijke Moestuin. You can always raise a concern, but grumbling and complaining doesn't make anyone happy.

If you garden in a different way - for example in open ground - another forum will probably be a better fit.

The community is made for ages 16 and up.

We've made the community as easy and intuitive to use as possible. But if you still don't understand something, you can look it up here.

Go to the instructions for using the community in the app.

1. We garden with the Makkelijke Moestuin system.

That means: in raised beds with 30 x 30 cm squares and Makkelijke Moestuinmix. We grow vegetables and herbs that are suitable for that.

For posts that don't fit 100% with the information in the app or on the site, we created the category '(Not quite) MM': a nice channel for MM gardeners who like to experiment, for example with other vegetables. Posts that have nothing to do with MM, or that go against it, will be removed.

2. We help each other wherever we can.

There are no stupid questions.

3. We treat each other kindly and with respect.

Always.

4. Our shared goal is to grow our own food in a way that makes you, your surroundings, and the world healthier.

That's why we work with good, sustainable materials, don't use disposable junk, use clean seeds, and avoid harmful pesticides and other toxins like the plague.

5. Linking to your own site, social media account, or Facebook group is fine, with a few small notes.

We like links, except when you offer competing products.

Links to your blog posts are fine too, as long as they have at least something to do with your Makkelijke Moestuin. A blog post about knitting doesn't, unless you're knitting sweaters for your courgettes ;-).

6. Ads and commercial posts, photos, or links are removed as soon as we see them. Same for brand and product names.

This also isn't the place to point each other to bargains or shops where you can buy them. At the very least, we'll remove the names.

Do you still want to share a really handy product, and it doesn't compete with ours? Then take a photo of how you use it yourself, because posts with bare product photos will be removed.

7. Everything you post, including photos and videos, remains your property.

By posting it, you do automatically give us and other MM gardeners permission to share it. Within the community, but also on our own social media or sites.

8. Sometimes we adjust a post a little.

We edit where needed: a clearer title, removing brand names, and fixing major spelling mistakes. If the first photo in a set is too dark, unclear, or unattractive, we may swap it with one of the other photos. We also do that if another photo fits the topic better.

9. Swapping with each other - for example seeds and plants - is fine, as long as it isn't commercial.

You do that at your own risk.

10. We are not responsible for any damage you suffer from following advice from others.

For example, if your lettuces die because of someone else's genius tip 😶. Please do post your experience though, because then we all learn from it again.

11. If you are under 16, you may not create a community account yourself.

There is no age limit on the app itself. To keep it that way, we have to follow Apple's rules strictly. A public forum has different conditions than an app.

The community is also really made for adults, not children. We don't even want to think about children being harmed by us in any way. Think of internet bullying alone.

Of course children can use the app and view the community, but they are not meant to post or reply there. If that does happen, we will block the account from the community.

12. If we think something is provocative, aggressive, offensive, or otherwise against the rules, we remove it.

That can mean whole posts, but also replies to other posts. If someone keeps breaking the rules even after consultation, we can suspend them from the group temporarily or permanently.

We are always open to feedback, but if we sincerely feel that nobody benefits from it, we close the discussion.

Photos with inappropriate content - fill in the blanks 😉 - are filtered out immediately by an algorithm we built in. It can be a little over-enthusiastic, so when there's a report, we judge it ourselves and often approve the photo after all. That may take a little while.

We do our best to read everything, but we may miss something now and then. Do you see something inappropriate? Report it by clicking the three dots to the right of the post or comment.

13. If practice shows that it's needed, we can adjust or change these rules.

14. We built the community ourselves, including the software for it.

Bugs may happen now and then, and we may also have missed something. Maybe you have a really good tip. Would you place your comments in this post by Jelle? Then he can take a look.

15. Tips for the app

We built the app entirely ourselves too, and Arjen, Jelmer, and Johan are constantly working on it. If you want to share something about that, please report it in the App-support category.

16. Using other people's photos and copyright

Because of strict copyright rules, you may only post your own photos and illustrations, not someone else's. We remove the latter.

And one last thing: