Personal thank you email from team Lincelam
€5
- 5 contributions
A personal thank you email from team Lincelam, because our gratitude is great!
Nursery greenhouse for Lincelam organic farm
Help our farm to an even more sustainable future!
Successful
Bert-Samyn
96
Contributions
01/11/2020
End date
€9,820
Out of €9,500
103 %
Supported by
Nursery greenhouse for Lincelam organic farm
<p>Every day, three times a day we sit around the table. Primary need number one is and remains our food! From time to time it is important to consider how this food is grown. Organic farm Lincelam would like to take this responsibility and be part of the exciting search for a new agriculture for the future.</p>
<h2>New agriculture for the future</h2>
<p>Firstly, we think <strong>small-scale</strong> is important. Our farm has 2.7 hectares. About half of this surface is used for vegetable cultivation. The other half offers space for different pieces of <strong>edible forest gardens</strong> that are being planted step by step. But there are also ponds and wild hedges all around the field, all this to maximize biodiversity.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/633817/IMG_5378-1574613966.JPG" width="100%" /></p>
<p>To make and keep this small-scale agriculture viable, <strong>direct sales</strong> are essential. With our produce and that of fellow organic farmers, I go to the weekly Tuesday market in Roeselare and the Friday market in Nieuwpoort. People from the immediate area can also visit our farm shop. This way we make the distance between farmer and plate as short as possible. Final result: a super fresh product on your plate!</p>
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<div>As a certified organic farm, we do not use chemical fertilizers and sprayed substances, but we go one step further. Our farm has been a member of <a href="http://veganorganic.net/" target="_blank">"The Vegan Organic Network" (VON)</a> since 2018 and we support the principles of "Stockfree Farming". Since 2019 we have also joined the <a href="https://www.bio-vegan.nl/Home/" target="_blank">"Network for biocyclic-vegan agriculture in the Netherlands and Flanders"</a>. This makes us <strong>the first vegan organic farm in Flanders!</strong> The most important difference with conventional organic vegetable cultivation is the avoidance of all animal fertilizers or other by-products from animal husbandry (blood meal, bone meal, fish meal, etc.). We prefer to build a fertile soil with the help of vegetable compost, green manure, crop rotation, etc.</div>
<h2>Who is farmer Bert ?</h2>
<div><img alt="" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/633815/IMG_5335-1574613881.JPG" width="100%" /></div>
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<p>After a carefree childhood in the small village of Leisele, I ended up in Ghent for my further studies. However, because the big city of Ghent was not far enough to satisfy my desire for the exotic, I traveled through Western Africa for a year. It was in Senegal finally, that I got to know organic farming. There I stayed and helped for a couple of weeks on a small organic farm, just long enough to experience the satisfaction of harvesting and just short enough not to be confronted with the countless trials that come with farming.</p>
<p>The germ had settled and when I got home I soon found the 'Landwijzer'-course for organic farming. And thus I returned to Leisele with a head full of ideas. With my girlfriend Véro, we first built an unusual eco-house and now an equally unusual farm project. In the meantime, in addition to being a full-time organic farmer, I am also a full-time proud dad of two perfect daughters.</p>
<p>A few years ago Alexia walked into the farm looking for an internship. She soon became an indispensable link on the farm and is now a permanent co-farmer at Lincelam!</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/633816/IMG_5228-1574613912.JPG" width="100%" /></p>
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Allocation of funds
<p>With your support, we can succesfully finish the construction of our semi-underground nursery.</p>
<h2>Why is a nursery necessary?</h2>
<p>We currently purchase most of our plants from a professional organic nursery. We grow some plants ourselves indoors or in one of our plastic tunnel greenhouses, but this is limited in the absence of a professional nursery infrastructure. However, for a small organic farm like ours, it is important to have a nursery of our own. On the one hand tit enables us to decide ourselves what quantities and which varieties are sown, on the other hand to limit the purchase costs.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/633819/IMG_5356-1574614198.JPG" width="100%" /></p>
<h2>Wa-wa-walipini?</h2>
<p>It is no ordinary rectangular glass nursery that we want to build. Just like the Lincelam house, the conservatory have an organic architecture. The floor plan has the shape of an arch (30 m long by 4 m wide), with the hollow side facing South. Our natural swimming pond is situated in that bend. In the winter months (when the sun is at it lowest), the sunlight is thus even more reflected on the nursery.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/632133/Walipini-1574001644.jpg" width="100%" /></p>
<p>Following the Bolivian Walipini greenhouse, our nursery will be built half-underground. Only the glass roof and part of the southern wall will be visible from the outside. This construction method has many advantages: We ensure a minimal visual impact on the landscape around us. But perhaps more importantly, there is much less heat loss at night compared to an ordinary greenhouse, because a large part of the walls are in the ground. In addition, the earth around the greenhouse functions as a 'thermal mass': during the day it warms up in the sun and at night it transfers this heat into the greenhouse.</p>
<h2>We are already halfway ...</h2>
<p>We have been able to carry out the necessary excavation work over the recent years, in combination with other excavation work that had to be done on the farm. We used reclaimed concrete L-retaining walls (North wall) and reclaimed concrete slabs (South wall, between nursery and swimming pond) to construct the walls. Now all that remains is the glass roof. For this we have the remains of an authentic grape greenhouse from the Overijse region at our disposal.</p>
<p>The structure of the roof construction is as follows: A supporting structure supports a multitude of metal profiles. These, in turn, carry the many small glass plates that overlap like roof tiles. The metal profiles and the majority of the glass plates have been recycled, the state of the supporting structure was unfortunately too bad to be reused. The association 3WPlus, located in Brussels, specializes in the construction and restoration of such greenhouses and will assist me with tips and advice.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/632162/Druivenserre-1574004156.jpeg" width="100%" /></p>
<p>In order to successfully grow plants from seed, the nursery must be heated during certain periods of the year. Around the time when lots of plants need to be sown (early spring), the temperatures are too low, even in a greenhouse, to achieve good germination. The construction of our greenhouse in colaboration with the surrounding thermal mass ensures that this heat is used optimally.</p>
<h2>The numbers</h2>
<p>What we need to achieve all this:</p>
<ul>
<li>Support structure: € 3700</li>
<li>Extra glass plates: € 550</li>
<li>Waterproofing the glass plates: € 800</li>
<li>Wall with entrance: € 550</li>
<li>Nursery tables: € 650</li>
<li>Heating: € 2800</li>
<li>Irrigation: € 450</li>
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<p>Total = € 9500 (5% KKBB commission, 3% bank charges)</p>
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Rewards
Thank you e-mail + E-book with vegan recipes
€15
- 13 contributions
A personal thank you email from team Lincelam, because our gratitude is great and you receive an E-book with delicious vegan recipes!
Thank you e-mail + E-book with vegan recipes + Package of potatoes
€35
- 12 contributions
A personal thank you email from team Lincelam, because our gratitude is great and you receive an E-book with delicious vegan recipes and a package of organic potatoes!
Thank-you mail + E-book + Small package of seasonal vegetables
€50
- 19 contributions
A personal thank-you email from team Lincelam, because our gratitude is great, you receive an E-book with delicious vegan recipes and a small package of vegetables fresh from our field!
Thank-you mail + E-book + Large package of seasonal vegetables
€75
- 5 contributions
A personal thank-you email from team Lincelam, because our gratitude is great, you receive an E-book with delicious vegan recipes and a large package of vegetables fresh from our field!
Preceding rewards + New fruit tree carrying your name.
€100
- 22 contributions
A personal thank-you email from team Lincelam, because our gratitude is great, you receive an E-book with delicious vegan recipes and a large package of vegetables fresh from our field! + Choose a fruit tree for our edible forest garden and it will bear your name. Or dedicate your donation to a loved one, whose name will be connected to this tree forever.
Package of vegetables + Come to the festive opening of the brand new nursery!
€250
- 5 contributions
To thank you for this generous donation, you are more than welcome to raise your glass and enjoy a nice snack at the festive opening of our brand new nursery!
Package of vegetables + Exclusive tour and festive meal on the field!
€500
- 3 contributions
For this generous donation you can count on an exclusive tour by farmer Bert himself and you can enjoy a delicious and exclusive meal on the Lincelam field! Also you receive a package of fresh vegetables from the field to enjoy at home.
Accommodation for four people with breakfast in our Lincelam house
€1,000
We are eternally grateful for your support for our project. We offer you a residence for four people in our Lincelam house, a straw-bale/mud house with a surprisingly organic architecture. You have a beautiful view of our field, across the new nursery !
Accommodation two nights for four people with breakfast in our Lincelam house
€1,500
- 1 contribution
We are eternally grateful for your support for our project. We offer you a two-night-stay for four people in our Lincelam house, a straw-bale/mud house with a surprisingly organic architecture. You have a beautiful view of our field, across the new nursery !