Just with the onset of Covid, I finished my Masters. The pandemic postponed my PhD leaving me with lots of time and less options to run away. Sometimes being stuck and bound to a place is not the worst that can happen to you.
This gave me the chance to slow down and to stay at my family’s home longer than the usual visits. Suddently there was all this time and mindspace to reconnect with the plants and trees there, learn more about medicinal plants but also how agriculture is done there. After some first very calm weeks into the pandemic, arriving spring made the scarity of agricultural workers obvious. It felt the right moment to jump in, help the farmers, get a daily purpose while being on the field to see and observe the farm life.
From the conventional farm to the organic farm
It all started on a conventional farm specialised in strawberries and asparagus with a lot of fields—like a crazy amount of fields. In the three weeks I was there, I never went to the same field twice, and we switched fields several times a day. The days started early, even more so because I went there by bike. At least the morning bike ride woke me up nicely. The task was to fill the ten strawberry boxes with only unbruised fruits. Damaged ones were strictly separated since they would quickly cause the whole box to mold. The work was mostly done with very experienced Polish workers who make their way to the farm every year for the harvest. They were so good at picking that they picked twice the amount of strawberries in the same time that I did. While I only worked one shift (from 6:30 to 1), they did a second one in the afternoon—and my back was often already sore after just one shift. To extend the strawberry season before and after the regular season, the farm was experimenting with new breeds that we were planting in coconut substrate in greenhouses before being transferred to the field. After some weeks of strawberry picking, the work became a bit monotonous, and I am grateful that I was able to switch to an organic farm that was also looking for help.
There, apart from strawberries, I also learnt about other vegetables and fruits – the whole farm system was much more diverse and interconnected starting from different types of plants being mixed in one field, one greenhouse. The time on the farm was very precious to learn how decisions in farming are made, how the fruits and vegetables are grown but also how they are sold. I also learned about the risks and problems they face (I wrote a bit more about that here). I discovered the principles of crop rotation, which plants are planted together (intercropping), how the soil is prepared, how plants are stabilised, how pests are prevented from spreading, and what to do if these strategies do not work and they do spread indeed. I learned about soil covers for different crops (mulching), various fertilisation schemes, the use of bumblebee boxes for pollination, how to prune vines, and how to organise work and find help. I often felt like a little observer, soaking up all the knowledge and practices.
I realised how these practices all fit nicely into the theory I learned during my Master’s, which promotes healthy soil by supporting soil organisms. Seeing this theory put into practice connected a lot of previously unconnected dots. Adding this practical dimension is incredibly valuable and served as a good reminder that theory and practice are best combined.
From planting to growing, to flowering, to fruiting, and finally to harvest, it was beautiful to observe this cycle. Here is a little photo series capturing it:
Farm life encounters
There was so much life in the greenhouses of the organic farm. Compared to the conventional farm, where I started my strawberry picking career, the difference of life encounters were incredible and I found so much more life on the organically managed fields.
However, not all life was necessarily welcome. The green rice bugs made their way into Southern Germany for the first time that year (first two photos). They have very detrimental effects on the harvest. So my task was to collect the larvae and prevent them from spreading as best as possible.
Also, there were some mice that made their way into the eggplant greenhouse. Some of the holes they caused in the vegetables became habitats for slugs and beetles.
To prevent the mice from coming too close to the vegetables, the farmer plants rows of garlic and onions around the crops or rotates the fields to areas where garlic and onions were planted in previous years.
Also, on the farm: when cucumbers, tomatoes and aubergines in all forms come along your way that are not so visible in our supermarkets unfortunately.
In the black forest canopies
So many of those quiet days, I went with my parents and brothers to beautiful hikes through the Black Forest. We observed how winter slowly switched to spring, came along lush blueberry fields up high above 1000m in acidic soils, the quiet lake in the natural protection zone, views across France, Strasbourg visits at my brother’s, huge Mamut trees, beautiful tree remains, moody clouds, mysterious paths and a fire salamander. Also, friends from Munich came to visit me. It was so much fun ringing them to my most favourite hikes and places.
In that time, I also found that old beauty of a bike in our basement. My dad bought it second-hand back in the 80s, and I can vividly picture him with his long curls and his jeans jacket, full of energy cycling up and down the Black Forest hills. With a few security checks and new brakes, the bike was back in shape. I am very grateful that in that time, I discovered this incredible sport with all its beauty that comes with road biking. The exhaustion after a 90km day tour, the adrenaline rush going downhill, the gradual uphill climbs requiring so much patience and endurance. Could not have asked for a better instructor than my dad, showing me some of his favorite routes. Through endless forests, up and down we went on our tours. Also, we encountered this quite historic sign back then when women were supposed to hike in their dresses.
Finally, some time for herb and flower harvests and for preparing all kind of remedies such as dandelian honey. I appreciated learning recipes by my dear neighbour Felicitas and studying books I found at flee markets or ordered over the past years but never had time to read.
Also, I met a person from the local NABU, the organisation for biodiversity conservation. We went to get rid of invasive grasses that are pushing local diversity to extinction and to install bird refuges that he built. He also showed me his beautiful wooden boats he crafted. Soon he will set off with his own boat sailing the Atlantic Ocean to Newfund land.
Thanks my dear, beautiful hometown for hosting me once more for longer than the usual visits. I learnt a lot and will hold those quiet, mostly outdoor spent time forever in me 🙂
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