Cultivation change

The locations with lighting started harvesting the last bunches from mid-September. By mid-October, everything is clean again, plus there will be new plants in the greenhouse. These four or five weeks are always very busy. The keywords are therefore: planning, organisation and hygiene.

Labour planning is made and worked out a month in advance. The amount of labour we need during this time is given to the labour office in good time. During the crop changeover, the planning is looked at every day; are we still on schedule? Is everything going according to plan? There are lots of different tasks during the crop rotation, which need to be prepared every day for the next day. A good explanation, including the end goal, is given to all employees.

We also sometimes encounter surprises, when, for example, something breaks down and we cannot continue. Think here of the contractor's shredding machine taking out the old plants. With the right organisation, we then switch to do something else.

Hygiene becomes more important in the greenhouse every year. Removing the plants/mats/foil is the dirty part. Once everything is out of the greenhouse, down to the last tomato or leaf lying on the ground, we start the clean part. The inside glass is cleaned with water. The greenhouse is then completely clean, after which we start pulling new foil. Everyone who re-enters the greenhouse from this point onwards is then required to put on clean clothes. For shoes, it is important that they have not been used in the old crop.

It is a hectic period, but what a beautiful sight it is when everything is clean again, the new plants are in the greenhouse and we enter another growing season.