In line with nature

Natural Farming - Garden update At the start of this year, we had no plans to create a vegetable garden. With the house renovation taking all our time and energy, it simply wasn't a priority. But when the construction work unexpectedly paused, we decided—almost at the last minute—to plant some food anyway. What followed was probably our most unconventional garden so far. 😂 This time, nature took the lead. Spontaneous plants appeared everywhere, green manure grew wild, reeds and "weeds" found their place, and in between we planted tomatoes, peppers, aubergines and many other vegetables. It has become a beautiful experiment in letting go of control, trusting nature a little more, and appreciating whatever the garden chooses to give us. It's not always easy. When you see neighbouring gardens that look tidy and productive, it's tempting to compare. But this journey continues to teach us that there are many ways to grow food—and perhaps even more importantly, many ways to grow ourselves. We hope you enjoy this little reflection! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgKQfJyAvlM

Update – Our courses are back! For a while, our Natural Farming courses were temporarily unavailable due to the significant price increases on our previous course platform. We have now moved everything to a new platform and took the opportunity to revise and expand the courses with many new lessons, practical examples, photos, videos, and Q&As based on the questions we have received over the years and our own experience gained during four years of practising Natural Farming. As always, all courses are available on a give-what-you-want basis, so everyone can access them regardless of their budget. Our current courses are: 🌿 Starting a Natural Food Garden Learn how to create a vegetable garden that works with nature instead of against it. The course covers soil preparation, mulching, sowing, green manures, irrigation, natural succession, and much more, with practical videos, photos, and step-by-step guidance. 🌱 Natural Farming with Seed Balls A complete guide to making and using seed balls for vegetable gardens, food forests, reforestation, and ecosystem restoration. You'll learn how to choose the right seeds, make seed balls, sow them successfully, and design seed mixtures for different landscapes. The course also includes practical videos, downloadable resources, and an extensive Q&A. Behind the scenes, we are already working on the next course, entirely dedicated to mulching—one of the most fundamental principles of Natural Farming and healthy soil. We hope these courses inspire many more people to work with nature and help regenerate the land around them. Enjoy! 🌿 https://www.inlinewithnature.org/courses

Update – Where did the videos go? Some of you asked what happened to the videos of Evi carrying the big machine above her head. 😊 Over the past few months, we've been dealing with quite a bit of bureaucracy. Because of that, we decided to temporarily hide the latest videos where we're working on the house until all the paperwork is completed and the new plans are finalized. We'll explain everything in an Honest Sharing video very soon. It's been quite a journey! In the meantime, we've reorganized all of our content on the In line with nature YouTube channel. From now on, you'll find all our videos there, instead of Freehive. In a way, it feels like the land brought everything back together, allowing us to refocus our energy on one shared story. On the channel you'll now find playlists for: 🌿 Our Journey (Previous Freehive) 🌱 Natural Farming 🏡 Self-Sufficient Living ❤️ Honest Sharings 🤝 Community 🎬 Shorts for those who enjoy quick moments instead of longer videos. We hope this makes it much easier to follow our journey. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/@inlinewithnature

Natural Farming - Mulching the trees A thick layer of straw can make a big difference during the hot summer months. In this video, we mulch all of our newly planted fruit trees to help keep the soil moist after irrigation. By reducing evaporation, we can use as little water as possible while giving the trees the best chance to grow in a natural and healthy way. #naturalfarming #fukuoka #inlinewithnature #mulch #fruittrees #mulching https://youtu.be/acd14nDxN_Y

Natural Farming – Do or Do Nothing? This summer, our biggest challenge is helping our newly planted fruit trees survive the long, hot, and dry season. Without some extra water, they simply won't make it. We considered letting nature take its course, but after losing more than 40 newly planted trees last year—even with a 60 cm (elbow-high) layer of mulch around each one—we decided to take a different approach. Natural Farming constantly invites us to ask the question: Should we intervene, or should we do nothing? Most of the time, we choose not to interfere. But this time, we've decided to give our young trees a little support until they are well established. In this video, we share the simple solution we've come up with to help the trees thrive while making the most of every drop of water. What would you do? Would you water the trees, or let nature decide? We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. #naturalfarming #inlinewithnature #fukuoka #donothingfarming #fruittrees #irrigation https://youtu.be/VRMO52K_eeA

Book Update – We're Sorry! We apologize deeply as we are still waiting for the printed books to arrive. The Boy and the Star Dragon is coming soon, but the printing company took a bit longer than expected. The English version should arrive here next week, and the Dutch version a few weeks later. We are doing our best to ship the books to you as soon as they arrive and are very grateful for your patience and support. Thank you so much for waiting! x Evi & Matthias

Natural farming - Harvesting the garlic This year, we didn't plant any garlic, yet nature surprised us with an abundant gift. Garlic bulbs left behind from last season grew into a beautiful harvest, providing us with plenty of food for the year ahead. In this video, we harvest and dry this volunteer garlic, a simple reminder of nature's incredible resilience and generosity when we work in harmony with it. https://youtu.be/2Bo484AWCas #fukuoka #growingyourownfood #inlinewithnature #donothingfarming #naturalfarming #vegetablegarden

Natural farming - The garden continues and a little surprise! While we wait for more paperwork for the house, we've been putting our energy into next year's vegetable garden. 🌱 After laying out the first beds, we chatted with our friend Tayfun, a permaculture specialist in the Netherlands. He suggested aligning the beds with the contour lines so they can naturally capture and retain more of the rainwater flowing down the terraces. It meant redoing our work—but it will be worth it in the long run. It's amazing how quickly the landscape changes. We started surrounded by poppies in a lush green field, and just a few weeks later everything had turned golden under the daily 30°C heat. The garden is slowly coming to life and… we stumbled upon a little surprise. #inlinewithnature #donothingfarming #naturalfarming #community https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb5888M7mQY

Natural Farming - A gift from nature When you decide not to grow anything and you grow much more than when you decided to… Just leaving a few garlic bulbs in the soil and nature took care of it! #donothingfarming #inlinewithnature #fukuoka #growingyourownfood #selfsufficiency

Final stage before official printing 😍 We received the samples! Which cover do you like most? Let us know!

COMMUNITY IN ACTION During an apricot harvest with our friends at Biosegura, we crossed paths with the inspiring group of the crash course at La Junquera. People from all over the world came together to explore regenerative agriculture — visiting the seed bank, discovering organic farming, and experiencing harvest life firsthand. These moments remind us how much learning happens through doing. #inlinewithnature #togetherness #onebigfamily #communityspirit #giving #healthyfood https://youtu.be/TVcyycsiQAY?si=5hG2ppAUENkI104i

Natural farming - Our first veggie garden on the land! Yay, the start of our first vegetable garden on the land, of course natural farming style. We know the drill now. First we’ll add manure, bucket by bucket. And then we lay down the straw, one bale at the time. Since we love circles so much, we’re making them again, like in the previous vegetable garden. This one will be in the center of the land, at the heart of the project. PS: Do you see how green it is now? 🥰😍🥰 https://youtu.be/55wjdB_Ez3o

Natural Farming – Tree Planting Do you remember we told you that, thanks to the donations we received, we were able to plant 100 fruit trees on the new land? We made a short video about it—a glimpse of the land and some muddy shoes! Enjoy! https://youtu.be/7yTL9jB-qDM

https://youtu.be/hcstDBf5SK0 Freehive - Episode 13 This first phase of rebuilding has been the hardest so far. We had to adapt physically, face the freezing winter, and learn many new skills from scratch. It hasn’t been easy—but step by step, we’re growing into it, and the house is growing with us! It shows us that we can do anything, as long as we believe in ourselves and just go for it! Special thanks to Matthias, being able to edit the video on top of all the other things we have to do! 🙏😘 #freehive #inlinewithnature #renovation #DIY #spain

The Boy and the Star Dragon – Pre-sales are open! Hi everyone, We are putting the final touches on the layout of the book, and we are truly in awe. 💗 It has become a real treasure! You can help us with the printing costs by pre-ordering your copy now. The books will be printed very soon and sent to you in May (no later than June). And… together with Yu Jeong-ok, we have created a few small limited-edition art pieces inspired by the story. ✨ Take a look! PS: De Nederlandstalige versie is ook beschikbaar met zachte kaft. 🥰 https://www.inlinewithnature.org/theboyandthestardragon

Living in line with nature — the power of art and creativity There is a deep longing in us to make our project a unique place for art and natural farming. While building the inner walls, we remembered the glass bottles we received from our friends some time ago. Originally meant for storing food, they suddenly became the inspiration for an artistic tree inside the house. 🖌️🎨 Our first time building a glass bottle wall! And so, the first piece of art became part of the house. While working on it, I envisioned a large garden filled with art and a big atelier where people could gather and create together. My heart lit up. 🔥

Arty announcement Hi guys, In April I’m traveling to South Korea to pick up the paintings for the children’s book and give Yu Jeong-ok a big hug! So happy to finalize this gorgeous project! 🥰 If anyone is interested in one of the paintings, I could bring it with me to Europe if it fits my suitcase (a lot of silk scrolls do!) and ship it from here. I know Yu Jeong-ok doesn’t speak English and the communication is sometimes difficult when you connect with her personally. That’s why I want to give her a hand! It is a rare opportunity to get one of her works! Please send me a pm of you are interested! 💗 PS: pre sales for the book will be open soon and we hope to sell a few original works and a few prints on minimum donation base to support a good cause for children! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpiVo-IFPrc

Freehive – Building walls This is what our weeks currently look like: leaving at 9 in the morning and returning home around 7 in the evening. We’re placing insulation against the outer walls, building an inner wall in front of it, and constructing all the other interior walls to divide the rooms. An utterly time-consuming task. It’s incredible to slowly see the rooms coming to life. And hey… it looks like we’re growing in our collaboration too… 😉 Soon a new Freehive long video update! #couplepower #wegotthis #practicalaction #diy #rebuild #renovation #freehive #inlinewithnature https://youtu.be/TNBXwV_i5IE

Natural Farming – 400 kg of green manure seeds ready! Raaaaaiiiiin! 🌧️ Perfect time to sow green manure seeds on the 4.5-hectare plot of land! Well… or so we thought. We have oats, maize, wheat, peas, yeros (a Spanish lentil vetch), mustard (which we received as a gift), and barley. Seeding rate: 20 kg of seeds per 1,000 square meters. 10 kg per 1,000 square meters now, and the rest in autumn. We decided to keep it cost-effective: 400 kg of seeds for 300 euros. We know many people practicing natural farming are worried about high prices. We buy ours from a cattle feed distributor—and they are organic! You can also buy mixed sacks of pigeon or bird feed, as long as they are non-GMO. Happy sowing! 🌱 And we… we will proceed a little bit later 😉 #naturalfarming #greenmanure #inlinewithnature #masanobufukuoka https://youtu.be/ahlDLmvZ-co