Apple Blossom Time with Hubert Bois
On 23rd April, Sascha Suler and Regina Kerz from BioTropic paid a visit to Meckenheim – the “apple paradise” on the Rhine near Bonn. Their destination was the agricultural facility of Hubert Bois, a Demeter farmer with extensive experience and BioTropic shareholder. In the sunshine and Spring temperatures, Bois’ apple trees are now in full bloom. The numerous blossoms promise a good apple harvest this year.
Hubert Bois and his son Kazim showed us various apple tree plantations. Bois currently cultivates 25 varieties. There are newly planted cultivations as well as established plantations on around 30 hectares. Now – at the end of April – we don't expect the temperature to drop below zero any more. But in 2017, Bois was caught out: An unexpected frosty period destroyed the early apple blossoms and with them, almost his entire harvest.
There’s a lot of variety at Bois: Fruit and vegetables are regionally grown there to the highest Demeter quality. Aside from apple trees, Bois is growing pear trees, currant bushes and gooseberry bushes in meadows and fields nearby. You can also find stone fruit varieties such as cherries, damsons, greengages and mirabelles. Hubert Bois’ products also include light vegetables such as salad, herbs, squashes and much more. He’s proud of his newly built hall with vegetable washing facilities for spring onions and lettuce, for example. In total, he grows his products on over 70 hectares of land.
We're very impressed by the variety that this demeter operation has to offer and look forward to the great products that we can expect later this year. But how much work goes into this each day? Kazim Bois explains it to us – in each fruit, there's an infinite amount of preparation, care and passion. Skill and good organisation are necessary, because plants must be planted, cared for, harvested and coordinated in different fields all at the same time. Countless hands cut trees, plant lettuce, water the earth and bring the finished products into our shops.
Thank you for letting us see it! It's important to know where our basis is and where our products come from.