With love, caring for their soil, growing vegetable for the plates of the nation!
Have you ever been welcomed by your colleagues with hand-knitted socks & Gummite?
Tuesday morning, 7am, the sun is still shining.
I was going to spend some time with my agriculture colleagues out in the fields in Reken. This is the home of iglo spinach, herbs & cabbage. (For those who don’t know, it’s placed in the midst of nowhere, close to Munster & the NL)
Rita & Andreas, our agriculture advisers are waiting for me. With boots & hand knitted socks in their hand 😊 I love it. They have been into their job for more than 10 years. It’s a while we had not seen: Last time we were on the field was by bicycle. “Not a good idea for today. See the clouds, it’s gonna be wet.”
Today we don’t go to the big spinach fields. Today we focus on herbs. It is just amazing. You are sitting in the midst of Pimpinella, Coriander, Borsch, Sorrel, inhaling the intensive smell of fresh Basil. We are touching, smelling and eating the herbs – fresh on the field. Soon they will be harvested – within 2 hours packed in frozen… My imagination is going wild. Fresh salat of Sorrel with cheese and fruit, balsamic sauce. We talk about the successes and challenges of the season. What happens if the rain is too much or too little, what if the Coriander is blooming (as consumers don't like white flowers).
So many „what ifs“ … #climatechange #fieldtofork#biodiversity#loveforfood
Achim trudges through the rain. Achim has been a contractual vegetable farmer for more than 30 years – with heart and soul. He mainly takes care of the vegetables (and the terrible administration – as he complains to me). His wife Petra had to spend the night in the stable. She takes care of the 80 cows and with Achim on her side of in total around 2,000 pigs. Tonight, a calf was born. It wasn't that easy. Didn't want to drink. Now she makes sure that everything works out. Then she comes around the corner. She doesn't look at all like she's been awake throughout the night.
It's pouring. We are soaking wet. Josefine, one of their 4 children, comes along, she has prepared something. We sit down in the porch & enjoy a gigantic breakfast!! And then we start listening to each other . . . inspiring and so important these days!
My key takeaways from this amazing morning:
💫 It’s an energy boost spending time with team & business partners
💡 It’s a creative boost being out there, listening in, sharing experience on the ground (or green), co-creating new ideas
🌿 Food appreciation is low, compared to our European neighbors the lowest in Germany, where consumers pay more for anything else. So there is general low acknowledging of the hard work of people working in agriculture, like Petra and Achim. BIG chapeau on you!!
💚 I’m impressed and feel alike: #Love what you do and do it with passion!
What is it you care for with #love that gets you up before 6 am - regardless the weather condition?
Lasse Andreas iglo Deutschland
