Bamboo & Christmas Trees

Well it’s been two weeks since I have arrived in the beautiful town of Leusden, just North/East of Utrecht to volunteer on the Bamboo & Christmas Tree farm (Radijk).

I must say if we could grow bamboo in Canada, I don’t see why we wouldn’t. If you had a plant that didn’t have any known diseases or wasn’t susceptible to other diseases carried by other plants and doesn’t have any pests/insects trying to eat away at it, wouldn’t you? It’s a pretty hardy plant, but unfortunately for us Canadians, it can’t handle weather beyond -15 for long periods.

However the bamboo here is just doing fine! I’m told that there are over 2000 different kinds in the world and that on the farm here, they grow around 40 different types. A lot look the same to me, but to the trained eye are apparently easy to notice. All I know is that some are greener, yellower, darker browns and reds than the rest, but if you asked me what was what – I couldn’t tell you. We also have ones that have grown 4-5 meters high already, that of course if called the “Great Wall.” And talk about a hard plant to try to remove out of the ground, with it’s thick roots and compacted soil around it, it makes for a heck of a time to get out – never mind to try to divide into smaller potable plants.

The Christmas trees however as you know are not in season, so they mostly get fed and watered for the time being till the season is upon them. Irvin did tell me that they sell about 2000 Christmas trees throughout the Netherlands, which is pretty darn good for a small farm of 10 hectares in all shared with other plants, buildings and display areas.

As for me, my time here on the farm has been spent potting, transplanting, watering, weeding and feeding all of them. Which is right up my alley and has been amazing so far. Just being outside in the warm temperatures (when it’s not raining) has been great, I even have a bit of sunburn to prove it, which will turn into farmers tan sooner rather than later. But we’ve had some days of rain on and off and even a bit of sleet coming down, which I think is interesting for some of the volunteers here, to me it’s nothing new.

But the nights still cool down hovering around 10 degrees and it’s a humid cool, I even noticed it when it gets warmer out too. But the thinker I am, invested in a small portable electric heater (which turns into a fan for summer days), making both Mocha and I happy (with still some cuddle time under the blankets!).

The family who owns and the people who work at the Bamboo farm are pretty wonderful people. Some speak English quiet well, some a little and some only know “Coffee Time!” But it works, what you can’t make out in language, is made out in waving of the hands, pointing at things and trial and error. I unfortunately know little Dutch and have a heck of a time following it with all there throaty pronunciations. But it does have a mix of English, French and German all thrown into one.

All and all life on the farm is going well and I am enjoying it, haven’t had much time to look for paid work as of yet, but we will see what the Easter weekend holds. . . . . .

(Now some photos of Leusden and the Bamboo farm)