Time flies—2025 is already almost a month behind us, so it’s the perfect moment to reflect on the past year. Although fewer news updates were shared due to circumstances, a great deal has happened on the farm. Last year, Joris took a step back from the daily work. To give him more space, Wouter van der Mannen became our dairy farm manager. With his background as a DeLaval engineer, he is very familiar with the milking robots. Wouter is a true cow lover, and the cows love him too! Every day he provides fresh feed, and their care is in excellent hands. We are proud to say that in 2025 we produced 1 million litres of milk!

Henny has also completely found his feet on the farm. Together with Mariska, he regularly looks after the cows and calves. Even more, he and Wouter take care of repairs and many technical improvements in and around the farm. Whenever time allows, we still enjoy making cheese. Recently, we produced delicious young cheeses in three flavours: natural, Italian herb, and cumin. They are available in the farm vending machine next to the milk tap in the little dairy hut by the roadside. We hope to have more time in 2026 to make cheese regularly, so we can keep our stock well supplied.

To promote our Bed & Breakfast, we occasionally sponsor local clubs. As proud southerners who never want to miss Carnival, we always advertise with CV de Bokken in Sint Hubert, and recently a lovely sign was also placed with CV de Zelfkant in Haps.

Now we look forward to 2026—a year in which we will celebrate love with the upcoming wedding of Henny and Mariska on 20 June 2026. Plenty to look forward to! We wish everyone lots of happiness and good health in 2026!

The autumn work on the land is in full swing. Last week the potatoes were harvested and the week before that the silage maize went into the pit. Today the first sugar beets are being harvested. Some will remain and can continue to grow until the end of November. The sugar beets will be loaded with the crane on Friday and sent to the Cosun factory in Groningen.

The milking robots have been working perfectly since they were started up. The cows are happy with them and regularly walk through the robot. The milking technique has improved enormously and the machine is also much quieter. And we, as farmers, are happy with it, because there are far fewer malfunctions and the quality of the milk has improved.

We make our own cheese every week. Are you looking for a Christmas package, let us know. A nice regional package or just a tasty cheese board. It is possible to place an order for Christmas packages until the end of November at the latest.

Mother Nature cannot be controlled and as the Dutch saying goes “April does what she wants” the same is true for the tulips.  Due to the warm winter, the tulips started to bloom around 2 weeks earlier than usual for the time of year.  Partly due to the heavy rain and high temperatures the tulips are growing very fast.  More and more fields are being topped (removal of the flower).  After all, the tulips which are grown in Flevoland are for producing strong tulip bulbs and not for the tulip itself. The closing date of the Tulip route was initially on 5 May, however the tulip splendor and beauty will most likely end before the end of April.  For the latest news, please check the website Tulpenroute Flevoland.

For those who would still like to enjoy the beautiful tulip fields, visit this weekend or early next week, otherwise you will have to wait until next year. For the time being, until the tulip season ends, we are still open daily from 10:00 to 17:00.  You can visit our indoor tulip market where you can score nice tulip underpants, tulip bags, other tulip gadgets or exclusive tulips.  Of course coffee and cake is served.

Despite the cold, rainy weather, there is always plenty to do at De Kandelaar. In recent weeks, we have made plenty of cheese in various flavours, which are now available in the farm vending machine in our milk house.  More and more people find their way to our delicious milk for cappuccinos, lattes, hot/cold chocolate or pudding and other products.  The milk house with the milk tap and farm vending machine can be found along the road, indicated by the flags and is open daily.

We are also in full preparation for the Tulip Route Flevoland 2023.  This will start on Saturday 15^th April.  De Kandelaar is again the starting location, and also along the cycle route.  You can relax on our covered terrace, visit our mini-market which has some nice gadgets or take a farm-tour!  There is also plenty of information about tulip cultivation.

During the Tulip Route we are open daily from 10:00 to 17:00 for 3 weeks.  Starting date is Saturday 15^th April and the last day will be Sunday 7^th May 2023. We look forward to meeting you during the Flevoland Tulip Route!

Dit keer een supermooi bericht vanaf De Kandelaar. Vrijdag jl zijn wij door Ondernemers-vereniging De Driehoek in Dronten genomineerd als Detaillist van het jaar 2022.  Wij zijn volledig verrast door deze mooie nominatie.

Begin november kregen we bezoek van de jury van de OVDD. We waren voorgedragen als bedrijf om genomineerd te worden als Detaillist van het jaar. Tijdens het bezoek van de jury werd gevraagd naar wie we zijn en wat we doen, uiteraard gaven we ook een rondleiding.

Door het jaarlijks toekennen van de prijs wil Ondernemersvereniging De Driehoek haar bewondering en waardering tonen voor alle, zeer uiteenlopende bedrijven in de gemeente Dronten. Daarnaast wil zij met de verkiezing Detaillist en Onderneming van het Jaar het belang van goed ondernemerschap voor de economie en de werkgelegenheid in de gemeente Dronten onderstrepen.

Afgelopen vrijdag na afloop van de ledenvergadering van de OVDD werden de genomineerden bekend gemaakt. Naast onze nominatie zijn ook Hairwish uit Dronten en Klamer fietsen uit Biddinghuizen genomineerd in de catagorie Detaillist van het jaar. Voor de titel Onderneming van het jaar zijn genomineerd: Flipse Makelaardij, Metafoor Vastgoed en Software en Mooiwater.

De nominatie vinden we een geweldige eer en een enorme waardering voor  het werk dat we doen op de Kandelaar. Zowel voor ons melkvee- en akkerbouwbedrijf met Bed & Breakfast, de kaasmakerij en natuurlijk onze onlangs geopende melktap met boerderijautomaat. We wachten nu in spanning tot de OVDD-feestavond op 7 januari a.s. waarop we zullen horen of we daadwerkelijk de titel in de wacht gaan slepen. Maar op dit moment zijn we vooral trots op de nominatie.