This September it will be 30 years since I took my first steps in glasshouse horticulture. Back then I was just 17. I can remember it like it was yesterday, though. Bunching chrysanthemums was the first job I got to do. Not long after that I found myself on a tractor. And that’s where my passion lay. I was triggered by the question of how I could get the earth in the glasshouse ‘just right’ for optimum plant growth.
50 years of glasshouse horticulture
I was recently reminded of those days by an interesting explanatory film that was shown at primary schools back then (in Dutch). It gives a wonderful picture of glasshouse horticulture in the Westland area half a century ago.
High-quality cultivation floors
A whole lot has changed in those 50 years. If I compare the pictures from then with the hyper-modern nurseries that I visit these days, it’s clear that the industry hasn’t been standing still. And, of course, that goes for us too. The first cultivation floor that we laid, back in the 1980s, is in no way comparable to the high-quality ErfGoedFloor that we produce these days.
Hitting deadlines
What has remained the same is the way that we go about our work. Hitting deadlines is absolutely essential in glasshouse horticulture. After all, you’re working with living material. You can’t stop it developing and growing just like that. That is why this industry is characterized by short lines of communication and an ability to think on your feet. Indeed, we at ErfGoed have always believed that a deadline is a deadline. No concessions. So deadlines have to be met.
The power of nature
Despite all the changes in legislation and technology, my passion has never left me. I have always been searching for ways to make plants feel ‘at home’. I am convinced that if you can achieve that, then you won’t be needing pesticides (which we are allowed to use fewer and fewer of). Nature possesses so much power. That always amazes me. I believe we ought to use that to our advantage.
That is something that has occupied my thoughts all these years. When growing crops in my vegetable patch, but also when breeding my rabbits. Back then, we had no money for expensive hutches, concentrated feed or medicine. And yet, I regularly won prizes with my rabbits. Much to the consternation of the ‘real’ breeders, who did have that sort of money. And what went for my rabbits also went for the crops in my vegetable patch; if you make sure they feel ‘at home’, nature will generally do the rest.
Ideal growing conditions
And that is the guiding principle by which we have developed the ErfGoedFloor® to date, and continue to do so. We ask ourselves the central question: How can you create the ideal growing conditions in which a plant is most comfortable and can best develop?
Growing comes easily
I am convinced that our cultivation floor has given us a clear and unambiguous answer to this question. I often hear responses from growers who say that growing on the ErfGoedFloor® is, you know, natural. And that’s just what I mean, and what I aim for every day: plants feel ‘at home’ on our cultivation floors. What that means for you is a strong, vibrant, healthy crop. And that equals higher returns.
