3. Good Organic Gardening - May-June 2016 AvxHome.in

Marleen & Ronald van der Winckel | GARDENING FOLK
Emma displays some
of the gemmos she is
preparing from buds
harvested on the farm
Marek adds moisture to
the compost
The crops are planted over six separate
fields. The schedule of planting, which is
highly complex due to the large range of
crops and the timing of harvests, is managed
by Ronald, who uses computerised stock
records to keep track of planting and harvest
times and crop rotations. Green manure crops
including lentils, clovers and oats are sown to
renew soil fertility after areas are harvested.
Clever ideas
Much of the harvesting is done by hand,
although mechanical harvesters are used for
more robust crops.
Of particular importance to Ronald and
the family is reducing their use of fossil fuel.
The farm is well served by solar energy,
which is harnessed via panels and batteries
to provide the energy to run the farm’s
electric tractor and harvester as well as
pumps and other equipment.
Using a kit imported from the US, Ronald
modified an old red Allis-Chalmers tractor
to run on battery power. Cyriel made
the battery-powered lavender harvester
by modifying a harvester and adding an
electric engine from a forklift.
As well as reducing their use of fossil fuel,
the electric tractor and harvester are quiet
and don’t belch fumes or drip oil. Ronald says
it’s more pleasant and less stressful to work
with electric-powered machinery. As the
machines work in the fields, spare batteries
are recharged from solar panels. “The power
we generate provides enough energy to
harvest what we can handle in a day,” says
Marleen. “It all works really well.”
The herbs are also dried sustainably as
natural heat from the roof space above the
workshop is used to heat the air that dries
the plants.
It’s a busy and demanding life but one
Marleen and Ronald love. “We work every day,”
says Marleen. “We just enjoy being here on the
farm. We never tire of it and never get bored!”
Future plans
Despite their success, the family’s farm isn’t
going to stand still. Future plans include
bringing cattle onto the property. Cattle are
an important part of managing the fields in
an organic system, Marleen explains. She
says they plan to build shedding to house
the cattle to make it easier to gather the
manure, which could then be applied to the
soil as fertiliser.
Marleen would also love to rear Maran
chickens, a French heritage breed that lays
dark-brown eggs. She is hoping to find a
breeder to get her flock started.
Keen to share their knowledge, the family
have also begun to run field days for natural
therapists. Visiting a working organic farm
allows practitioners to better understand
how the therapies they rely on are grown and
processed, says Marleen.
Around 200 crops are
produced annually.
They range from
traditional herbs,
including lavender,
echinacea, golden
rod and rosemary, to
niche crops grown for
specialist medicinal
uses, such as gemmos.
Another overview of a part
of the farm with one of the
herb fields, the vineyard
and Mount Roland
Good Organic Gardening | 33