Biological / eko

 

Organic farming first means no chemicals are applied. Organic fertilizer is used instead of synthetic. Chemical pesticides are also taboo. SKAL is the organization of organic farming in the Netherlands, which strictly monitors practices plus control and use of the EKO hallmark. The roses of Bierkreek, for example, are sold in garden centers as organic and that even extends to supermarkets across Europe. If the EKO label is on it you can be sure it is a certified organically grown product. A product that does not have the label on it is not allowed to be sold as "organic".

 

 

This means that as much as possible we work in conjunction with the environment and nature. Bierkreek in fact "raises" her own natural “fighters”. One third of the farm consists of natural grass strips with brushwood and bushes, interspersed with pollarded trees, hedges, wood strips and water pools. Because of this natural enemies of annoying insects find their habitat in and around the nursery. This gives the annoying insect hardly a chance to establish themselves. They are preventively treated by nature instead of eradicated after they arrive by man.  Moreover, Bierkreek is convinced that annoying insects such as aphids are actually hugely important. The young aphids provide food for insects that also tackle thrips. In other words, if you kill the aphids now later on you will have a problem with thrips. Read here more about beneficial insects, or just look to the next video

 

 

The container field has a closed water system and the roses only get rainwater. Water that is not taken up by the plants goes back to a water basin. In the water basin is an "Algeastop". This is an ultrasound system which kills algae. The quality of that water is so good that the staff sometimes swims in it during summer! Good water quality, however, also means a good population of water fleas. So much so that the filters of the pump are sometimes blocked. Now a large school of fish known as Rudd make sure the water flea population does not get too large.