https://reasonstobecheerful.world/tiny-farms-berlin-young-farmers/
"They are quite something, the eclectically planted beds near Fürstenwalde on
the Spree River, east of Berlin. Very close together, lettuce, beans, onions,
chard, carrots, cilantro, parsley and much more are thriving. Poppies and other
wildflowers bloom at the edges of the beds. And in two unheated greenhouses,
dense rows of peppers and tomatoes slowly ripen.
It’s all unfolding on less than one hectare — a new kind of farm for a new kind
of farmer: one who is likely younger, lives in the city and holds another job.
These “tiny farmers” commute to the countryside, do the necessary field work,
and then, from back at home, manage their farms via smartphone. It’s
agriculture customized for the work-life balance generation.
The farmers are people like Dana Ruth, 27, who studied political science in
California, and Bronwyn Carter, a visual artist and writer from Australia. Only
29-year-old Nathan Levenson is trained as a farmer. He studied sustainable
agriculture at Evergreen State College and then worked for several years at
Market Gardening Farms in Washington State.
All three live in Berlin. Three days a week they commute to Fürstenwalde by
train and bicycle, to work the land owned by Tiny Farms, which pays them for
their labor. They are part-time farmers, so to speak, alongside their other
occupations in the capital. “I’m working in agriculture, which is something
I’ve always wanted to do, and I can still be part of the international cultural
scene in Berlin,” says the 47-year-old Carter, bending down to cut a fresh head
of lettuce from the soil."
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
