Winter is almost over and spring is just around the corner so my students are preparing for our spring plant sale. During the winter we have been farming in the greenhouse raising "mealy bugs and scale". Our next project is to use various predator insects better know as "Biologicals" to see how well they can control pest insects. I have a student Lillian who will be conducting her work based learning project on scouting, evaluation and control of insects and diseases in our greenhouses. Lillian is a senior student with an interest in biology/botany who has been enrolled in greenhouse management and plant science. Her first responsibility has been to research the insects and decide which biologicals she will study. Lillian released the lady bugs first February 9th and then she received the lace bugs a week later. She was super excited to open them up but we noticed the next day that the ants were eating them out of the package. We tried to get rid of the ants but that's a difficult task when we can't use pesticides.
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One of the greatest revelations that I experienced in the Netherlands was the importance of providing a social atmosphere to patrons.
On this day I finally made it to Fruittuim Van West, an Organic farm near Amsterdam. I say finally because I traveled by foot if there were no public transportation and my first attempt to find it were not successful. But as I will mention many times "no worries" I will have unexpected adventures and experiences by "wondering aimlessly lost". So as I walk down a country road I start to see fruit trees and I know I have arrived. At first glance I notice a building that looks almost like a bunker underground but as I enter I see a large open space like a court yard. Around the court yard the building underground offers a market with organic produce, fruits, grains, homemade breads, and other natural products (even clothes). On top of the building are large apple crates containing blueberry bushes and "the earth". So the concept was to build an "earthship" in order to conserve water and energy. These same crates are also located in the open court yard area growing herbs and flowers. As I walk from one side of the court yard to the other side I see a cafe'. They offer a social space, which is important to the dutch, so they offer sandwiches, pastries, coffee and more. To one side they have a stage where on certain days they have live musicians. Be sure to check out the web site and read more about the Barn as they call it. As I walked thru the cafe' I start to see patrons picking raspberries, cherries and currents. The orchards were directly out the barn. They offer, many varieties of apples and pears too. But what really caught my eye were all the chickens running around loose in the orchards. Fruittuim has free range chickens throughout the gardens including their roosting huts and laying boxes. Here again read more about them on the web site including breeds and purposes. But I was more interested in all the children and adults who were searching laying boxes for their own eggs. What a great learning concept! I am sure the chickens also add lots of nutrients to the orchards as well as feed on insects. So I could write a book just on this one experience but I will not because you can go to the web site and learn much more. As a teacher of agriculture I take away many great ideas about urban farming the organic way but I also learn that a social atmosphere is important to the experience.
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http://fruittuinvanwest.nl/over-ons/het-verhaal-achter-onze-schuur/
This is the day I've been waiting for because I finally get to visit "Koppert". Koppert is a market leader in biological crop production. In addition, they deliver several species of bumblebees for natural pollination. They also make microbiological products which help the plant fight diseases and pests. I have contacted Bram Klapwijk a specialist with Koppert to request a visit to their facility and labs. I have been emailing Bram since December 2016 and he has patiently corresponded back and granted my request to visit. The problem was when. I had to rearrange some dates because of conflicts and just so happen I got to visit on a day when he was doing a product demonstration to an agronomist from Ukraine. Sergey Morozov is a grower adviser from Kazakhstan visiting Koppert to learn more about products and how they work. How can't tell you how excited I was to be part of this presentation.
This may be a long post but I have to explain in detail what I learned because it is so very important to the world today. First, I'd like to discuss the founder of the company Jan Koppert. In the late 1960's Jan fell ill to pesticide products he was using on his crops and developed an allergic reaction. He realized that if he didn't find a solution to eliminate using the pesticides he would have to stop growing. Thus, the beginning of his research to discovering natural enemies of the insect world. Today his products are produced and used all over the world.
https://www.koppert.com/
When I told all my friends and family about my fellowship grant they all said "oh be sure to visit the tulips while you are there". Well I will have a problem you see, tulips bloom in April and my travels are in the summer when tulips are past their bloom season. But that's ok because I've seen them in bloom many years ago during my first visit to Holland and yes it is spectacular. This time around I will visit the Tulip Museum in Amsterdam and learn about the history of this famous flower.
The museum is small and located in a very touristy section of Amsterdam known for it's shopping and cafe's. Tulips were planted and blooming in the entry of the museum but the most spectacular of blooms was the Amaryllis displayed throughout the shop. If I lived here I would have to buy one for my collection. The museum is in the bottom of the gift shop. I learned that tulips originally came from Turkey but they were brought into the Netherlands in the 16th century. They became so popular that they were considered as valuable as gold. Tulips were even swapped as money in the Golden Age of Holland. But soon the novelty wore off and the tulip actually lost it's value. During the time of "Tulip Mania" tulips were bred to be all colors, sizes and styles of blooms. We actually discovered that a virus could cause the colors to become streaked which became very popular as a unique kind. The value of the tulip escalated and became very overpriced making them unaffordable to the common man. Soon, people realized the tulips were not as valuable as originally thought and the market fell causing many investors to go bankrupt. After the fall in market prices tulips became affordable to the common investor and farmers started growing them for the European market. Because of the soft peat available to grow nice big bulbs the farmers began to see profit in selling not only the flower but also the bulb. Thus, the beginning of the bulb industry. Farmers could cut the flowers and replant the bulbs for the next season. In July, farmers will dig the bulbs and sell them around the world. Farmers dig the bulbs with machines that lift the bulbs out of the soil, then they dry the bulbs. The smaller bulbs that were not large enough to sell and any bulbs that didn't sell they could replant for next years flower harvest. Consequently, I didn't bring home any bulbs because they are last years crop but in September I can buy fresh bulbs from this year's harvest in American stores. But the local flower markets sell bulbs of all species, colors and varieties any time of the year. I've never seen so many bulb varieties in my life. Holland is associated with all kinds of cut flowers. It is the hub for cut flowers from all over the world. But that is another Blog. Back to the tulip. In the museum I learned that before the frost they plant the bulbs and cover with thatch. When the bulbs start to grow in the spring farmers will inspect them and dis-guard the one's with disease. The bulbs will start to bloom in early April and the farmers will cut the flowers before they go to seed and feed them to cows. This process will allow the plant to make energy only for the bulb so they are large and healthy. No energy is wasted on making seed. In October tulips are planted in greenhouses for the winter and are used in the cut flower industry. Bulbs are grown in nets and can be stored in cool aeration for a few weeks to initiate blooming. The bulbs are allowed to grow for about three weeks and then they are harvested. The process involves crushing off the bulb by a machine, the stems are cut uniformly and wrapped in packaging for shipping. They can be stored in coolers to keep the tulip tight and green until sold. Fun Facts: Over 2 billion tulips from Holland are shipped all over the world 60% of the total land in Holland is used for agriculture and horticulture and most of that is grow bulbs. During World War II people of Holland ate tulips for nutrition There is only one kind of tulip but there are many groups based on size, shape and color The tulip is named after the turbans worn by the Turkish Sultans The cheese museum was next door to the Tulip museum so I had to check it out. In addition I was hungry and the tulip museum wasn't open yet. As I entered the store I was greeted by two very charming young ladies. They had samples of all the cheeses in the store. As I tasted many different types of cheese (mostly Gouda) the young ladies pushed me to try the "Special One". Why is it called the "Special One" I ask, the cows are only fed flax seed and cranberries, they responded. It was a little sweet but very tasty. They also had samples of goat cheese which is a softer cheese. The goat cheese can be mixed with just about anything. They had flavors ranging from truffles to hot peppers and even bright colored pesto varieties in Blue, green and hot pink. Yes, I bought some cheese....who could resist? I entered the museum in the bottom of the store and was surprised by all the information. The Dutch didn't have a lot of land to grow crops thus they started animal farming for dairy products. And from the dairy they learned to make cheese. They started to market this product in 1581 at the Alkmaar Market. Because the cheese is so delicious and fresh the Dutch eat cheese sandwiches like American's eat peanut butter and jelly. It's a staple of their diet. One attribute to traveling solo is you have lots of time to think. You also have the freedom to choose where you are going to go next. I haven't traveled solo since I was in my 20's and I hadn't done much traveling since 1999 when I had my first child. So I wondered whether I still had it in me to travel solo. But it didn't take me long to get over the inhibitions of the "where and how". I learned to jump on the train which would take me to a bus which might take me to another bus where I would walk sometimes for hours to find my destination.
But I must say the first week I tried to keep it simple and visit places that would help me to understand the culture and the history of how horticulture became the back bone of this country. Wednesday June 21 I am staying in a Christian Hostel called "The Shelter". It's a very nice, clean, friendly, Christian atmosphere right in the middle of the "Red Light District" of Amsterdam. The moment I step out the door of the hostel I realize I am in a different part of the world. If you don't know the "Red Light District" is a section of Amsterdam where a gentleman can find adventure with a Lady who sits in a window showing her wares. Also, since smoking marijuana is legal, coffee shops offer the goods and place to sit and smoke. But, I must say I didn't pay a lot of attention to this because I was so mesmerized by all the beautiful plants lining the alleyways. Not to mention being drawn to the windows of shops selling the most beautiful pastries in the world. I also enjoyed viewing the canals that line the cobble stone narrow streets. The canals were lined with boats which were also covered in pots of plants and flowers. To be such a city of buildings and stone, flowers could be seen growing out of every nook and cranny. Holly Hocks growing 5 feet talk up against a wall coming out of the smallest crevices of soil. Were they planted? Did they just pop up like weeds? I don't know but they are beautiful. The evenings are full of activity any night of the week. People fill the streets enjoying dinning and social cocktails or coffee as they relax in the cool night air.
Hortus botanicus is the botanical garden of Amsterdam and one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world. This doesn't mean it's one of the largest of most diversified because if you go there and compare it to some of the botanical gardens in the United States you might be disappointing. But, it is one of the oldest and you will see plants I'm sure you never imagined could even live to be that old. This garden was established in the 1638 mainly for growing medicinal herbs. Because Amsterdam is so limited on growing space the people decided to designate this garden just for the purpose of growing herbs used as medicine during a time of serious human plagues. Later, the garden will house many unique and hard to find plants that will be used in the trade industry. One of the 6000 different plants they house is the 300 year old giant "Cycad" and if you are a plant geek like myself you know that cycads are some of the oldest plants on earth (12 million years old). I also saw a "Southern Catalpa" tree which is a very common species in Tennessee. This tree draws catalpa worms which eat on the leaves and is used by locals as a great fishing lure. The tree in the garden was over 150 years old and had very unique character. Pictured above. I acutally felt that the trees were some of the best specimens I've ever seen because they are so large and old. The garden meanders a path around the old trees which have amazing stories. The garden has a butterfly house where you can see many types of butterflies who live and feed in the tropics.
After the first day of getting adjusted to time differences and basic travel I decided to investigate the city of Zaltbommel where my American friend Lisa lives with her Dutch husband Peter who teaches art in Middle school. I learned very quickly that my sense of direction was not very good and I'd end up lost more than once. But I also learned this is a great way to see the culture, landscapes and plants off the beaten path. Once I figured out that one must walk cautiously watching for bicycles I felt more at ease taking the back roads and pathways. For you see Bicycles are the main mode of transportation in the Netherlands and they don't stop for pedestrians. They simply ring a little bell letting you know they are coming up behind you.
I noticed right away the landscape differ from American landscapes dramatically. The homes are small and very close together leaving very little room for landscapes. So the Dutch go all out with the shrubs and flowers. Even in the windows you will see vases of flowers and pots of orchids in full bloom. The Dutch spend more money on potted plants than any other European country. I saw potted plants in every nook and cranny. The climate is so perfect for growing that many trees and shrubs must be trimmed monthly to keep from taking over the small areas they have to grow. And the Dutch love their flowers so much they plant their entire growing space in blooming and ornamental plants. |
Lu Ann CareyHorticulture/Agriculture teacher at Bradley Central High School in Cleveland Tennessee Archives
February 2018
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