“I find it absolutely fascinating to watch seeds germinate and eventually grow into beautiful crops”
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“Just like De Bolster, we are always looking ahead.”
What once started as a small 200 m² trial vegetable garden behind the parental home in Füchtorf has since grown into a genuine 8,000 m² trial and demonstration garden. In this garden, Hanna Strotmeier, product manager at the German seed company Nebelung (known for the brands ‘Kiepenkerl’ and ‘SPERLI’), tests seeds from De Bolster, among others.
A contemporary assortment
In 2010, Hanna created a small trial vegetable garden in Füchtorf. Originally, the idea was only to perform quality controls on purchased seeds. No one could have suspected then that this garden – now 8,000 m² in size – would years later also become a place of learning for interested home gardeners and a trial field for vegetable and flower varieties from all over the world. Hanna: “The experiences we gain here with the different varieties help us to put together an assortment that meets today’s requirements: contemporary gardening, resistances, climate change, and so on. If it grows well here, it will also succeed for home gardeners.
“I am grateful that we are able to test so many trial seeds from De Bolster in our trial garden every year.
Tasting and learning
“I am grateful that we get to test so many trial seeds from De Bolster in our trial garden every year. It is always fascinating when home gardeners come to visit. The conversations with them often open our eyes to things we hadn’t thought of ourselves. For example, a few years ago we gave the ‘Amoro’ pumpkin to a chef friend to try out. He made a raw salad from it, with pumpkin, spring onion, raisins, pears, etc. – delicious! Since then, every visiting group gets a sample of this pumpkin. And what do you know? Everyone is enthusiastic.
Constantly adapting
Even after all these years, Hanna still speaks about her work with great passion. “It never gets boring. Every time, I find it exciting to see new varieties in the trial field. It’s not just the weather that has changed significantly in recent years – some varieties that used to grow easily no longer make it – consumers’ eating habits have also changed. Nowadays, people want tomatoes that are not just red, round, and 80 grams, but also orange, pink, black, yellow, pear-shaped, or heart-shaped. And obviously with many resistances, so they are better able to withstand weather influences and pests. This also applies to pumpkins, cucumbers, zucchinis, beans, peas, and lettuce.
Always staying in development
Hanna concludes: “Through working in our trial vegetable garden, I have learned that with the right choice of variety, the use of beneficial insects, flower strips, and careful soil cultivation, you don’t have to lose any yield. Observing the continuous changes helps us to develop new things, sometimes preserve something old – and always keep looking forward. They do that at De Bolster too. And that is exactly what makes the collaboration with De Bolster so valuable for us.
“I find it absolutely fascinating to watch seeds germinate and eventually grow into beautiful crops”
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