Grove: Anything That Grows
Our new community project!
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the quiet kind of love that comes from noticing. A leaf that curls just a little more than yesterday. A stem leaning toward the first warm light of morning. The slow unfurl of a bud you’ve been watching all week. When you keep a garden—no matter how small—it begins to feel a bit like a pet or even a child. You learn its rhythms, you sense its needs, and you find joy in its little victories. Over time, that intimacy changes you. You start noticing plants everywhere: the pothos in your friend’s kitchen, the balcony geraniums you pass on your way to the shop, the smell of wet soil after rain. The noticing spills over, and with it, so does the care.
Living in the city, it’s easy to lose touch with these rhythms. Amsterdam is alive in its own way—bike bells, brick streets, water flowing quietly under bridges—but much of that life runs on human schedules. We measure time by appointments, tram arrivals, and the days until the next holiday. Nature’s time moves differently. It doesn’t answer to alarms or to-do lists. It stretches, rests, and wakes according to the light, the seasons, and the weather. Without even realising it, we can go weeks or months without truly paying attention to those slower cycles.
That’s why having your own plants—whether it’s a single basil on the windowsill or a balcony full of green—can be such a grounding force. They keep time in another language. They invite you to pause and tune in: to notice that your tomato seedlings always reach further after a rainy night, or that your monstera waits for the warmer days to open a new leaf. Plants remind us that life is happening quietly, even when we’re rushing. They slow us down in the best possible way.
This is what Grove is about—our new community project here at Mango in a Pot. Grove is a way to bring people in Amsterdam back into conversation with plants, together. It’s for everyone - whether you already have a jungle at home, or find yourself whispering “please don’t die” to a new plant baby, or anyone who simply misses the feeling of touching something green and alive.
Gardening Club
We are starting a gardening club at the studio, a space where we can meet, share, and grow side by side. Sometimes we’ll pot or prune together, sometimes we’ll swap seeds or trade tips, and sometimes we’ll simply drink tea and watch leaves do their slow work. We’ll invite local growers to share their knowledge, host workshops on city gardening—from seed starting to composting—and experiment with shared growing projects like a community herb garden or a propagation exchange. The goal isn’t to be perfect, it’s to practice paying attention, to build a relationship with living things, and to remember what it feels like to grow alongside them.
Our first gathering will be on the 6th of September, from 2pm until around 4pm. Our physical meetings along with interviews with growers and workshops will help you get to know your plants, and maybe yourself, a little better. Grove will be an open door: come once, or keep coming back through the seasons. All you need to bring is yourself, a little curiosity, and maybe a plant that needs a friend.
As with clay, what we make with plants is only partly about the finished piece. Mostly, it’s about the time we spend—hands busy, minds quiet, hearts a little more tender. Grove is our way of tending to that tenderness in community. We can’t wait to grow with you.
