With the help of the Impulse Fund of National Programme Groningen, Roby and Charlie were able to buy a foil greenhouse. "Without the greenhouse, we wouldn't have been able to grow as many vegetables for a long time. Now we have had super nice vegetables: from cauliflower, to radishes and beetroot," Roby says. Roby and Charlie tell more about their venture and the subsidy.
Cauliflowers from Spain, blueberries from South Africa or avocados from Peru: these days, much of the fruit and vegetables we eat are imported from other countries. According to Roby Lalkens and Charlie Jansen, this is totally unnecessary. "Dutch agriculture, and even more specifically, Groningen agriculture, has an awful lot to offer," Roby Lalkens proudly explains.
Hence, the couple started a market garden at the organic farm Eikemaheert in Loppersum this year. At the market garden, Roby and Charlie grow vegetables, which they then sell to people in the region via vegetable packages as a subscription. "Since this spring, we have been loose with the packages. Meanwhile, more than 120 people eat from our vegetables and fruit every week."
Local food system
And that is already a result they are proud of. "Our vegetables come from our own land. Or sometimes from a colleague nearby. There are fewer steps between farmer and consumer. You know where your food comes from and we challenge people to cook with products from the region. With the market garden, we contribute to a healthy local food system," Roby said.
Preliminary work and research
But chasing that dream required a lot of preliminary work. "We started with research in the region and started talking to other entrepreneurs. After all, you want to add something to the region, strengthen each other and not get in anyone's way. For instance, we also talked to a horticultural company in Bedum. There, they also tipped us off about the Impulse Counter of National Programme Groningen," Charlie explains. "We come from the art world. Hence subsidies are not unfamiliar to us, although I do have a certain feeling about them. But precisely because the Impulse Counter was set up specifically to contribute something positive to the region, it suited us very well. So it is stupid if the money is left on the shelf. And besides: a beautiful horticulture is worth much more than a bag of money," says Roby.
Impulse counter
To apply for the Impulse Counter, the budding gardeners had to submit a business plan. "We already had those, of course, but we added considerable strength to it. It is community money, which is why we had to calculate everything in detail," Charlie adds. "And also: the grant allowed us to take slightly bigger steps." From the grant, they bought a planting machine, soil fears, irrigation pipes, crates, hoes and all kinds of other materials. "But our most important and biggest purchase was the foil greenhouse. That really saved us this year too. A foil greenhouse is crucial with this changeable weather, the subsidy allowed us to spend just a bit more on this."
Investment and climate challenges
With the changing climate, they were confronted directly the first year. "It was a dramatically wet spring. We experienced everything: rain, heat days and storms. Without the greenhouse, we wouldn't have been able to grow nearly as many vegetables. Now we have had super nice vegetables from the greenhouse: from cauliflower, to radishes and beetroot," sighs Roby.
The region's response to their gardening is also positive. "We already have 60 households taking our vegetable packets every week, while we were aiming for 40 this year. It's great to see how enthusiastic people are about what we are doing and its results," says Charlie. Every week, they send subscribers a vegetable email telling them which vegetables are in the pack. "Often we also send along recipes or a story about where the produce comes from. Last week we had another hundred cucumbers from the greenhouse. So those are in the pack again this week anyway".
Green on the bench
And what does the future look like? "We will of course finish this season and are also already thinking about next year's cultivation plan. We are learning a huge amount and can therefore do even better next year. We also want to dive even deeper into Groningen's food culture. After all, we have always eaten here; even without importing mangoes from Asia," says Charlie. "We want to make the food system local and sustainable again. And eventually, of course, we ourselves want to be in the green of our bank account, not just the green of the garden," jokes Roby.
Source:Nationaal Programma Groningen .co.uk