De Kandelaar’s residents wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year with hopefully lots of fun and activities.

In November, the last sugar beets were cleared and the land was plowed. The beets are waiting in the yard to go to the Cosun factory next week. Despite the fact that it is not that busy in the winter period, we have not been idle.  We are working hard on our new plans.  We want to add more value to our beautiful milk product.  Lisette, Joris’ girlfriend, works in a large cheese factory and that’s how her hobby in cheese making started. What could not be better than being able to offer our guests a delicious piece of cheese made from our own milk.

So recently, we started to study cheese making and started looking for cheese molds, large pans and everything that is required to make a delicious cheese. Marc has made a beautiful press table.  At the moment, we are tasting our first batch of cheese and it tastes delicious!  Meanwhile, the storage is starting to grow with pounds and kilos of cheeses, including cheeses in the shape of a heart.  Perhaps an idea for a nice cheese platter at Valentine’s Day.  We are still in the testing phase, but it will not be long before cheese from Flevoland is available at De Kandelaar!

This month, 12.5 years ago, we officially started a Bed & Breakfast. After a thorough renovation we created 4 bedrooms with en-suite. Recently, De Kandelaar B&B was again awarded with 4 tulips by the Bed & Breakfast Nederland organisation.

Walk-in day

In the last 5 years, Mariska has also worked as an advisor for Optidee.  All the beds in the Bed & Breakfast have the wonderful bedding from Optidee; from the comfortable mattress cover with fitted sheets to pillows with beautiful and comfortable pillowcases.

On Saturday 26^th September, we are organising a walk-in day from 10:00 to 16:00 where everybody can get acquainted with the latest Optidee products.  Each visitor receives a ticket which gives a chance to win a wonderful Optidee article.

 

 

Jubilee

This month our Bed & Breakfast is officially 12.5 years ‘old’.  In the early years we were a member of “Friends on the bike”. There was an increasing demand for rooms with an en-suite (a private shower and toilet). To this end, we renovated the former office building of the test farm. In recent years we have welcomed many visitors from the Netherlands but also abroad.

Farm

Meanwhile, work on the farm is in full swing thanks to the beautiful weather. The onions are harvested and stored in the shed. The harvested land is immediately enriched with solid compost and sown with grass. It will stay busy the coming period, because the maize will soon be chopped, the potatoes can soon be harvested and the tulip bulbs will be planted in October.

 

On 21^st June 2020, it was exactly 20 years ago that the first cows were milked with the “VMS” at De Kandelaar.  Definitely a moment to remember with the people of the first hour at DeLaval, Steenwijk, and our current dealer Van der Sluis Agri.  We were surprised with a delicious cream cake, flowers and a BBQ.  We made it into a great reunion and everybody was there who have helped us during the setup of the “VMS”.

Twenty years ago milking a cow with a milking robot was still in its infancy, however, the milking robot has now grown into a reliable milking machine.  Thanks to the “VMS”, we have a healthy herd with increased milk production and less udder inflammation.  We are happy with the flexibility that the milking robot has created for us; more time for social activities and meals at regular times.

Our “VMS” is the oldest DeLaval milking robot in the world and has now completed 1.9 million milking cycles.  With two major updates in recent years, we are well on the way to the 25^th silver anniversary.

What a turbulent time we are experiencing. The world has been affected by the misery surrounding the Corona virus. It is very quiet at De Kandelaar; no visits from guests or meetings in the Bed & Breakfast and no visits from representatives.

The girls are home from school and do the tasks they have been given. Fortunately, they can play outside and there are still the animals to look after.

The organisation of Tulip Route Flevoland has also been affected by the Corona virus. All work has been halted and the decision has been made not to plan any routes or organise activities. We really sympathise with the people affected by the Corona virus, but also with the entrepreneurs, including the tulip farmers. Fortunately, our tulip farmers can enjoy all the beauty

that is currently blossoming on the land. We are waiting for enough drought and will then start sowing sugar beet and corn and planting potatoes. If everything continues to grow, the first grass cut will start in April. The “dry” cows have already taken their first steps outside and enjoy the sun and their walk outside.

In short, life does not stand still on the farm, but it is quiet. We wish everyone a lot of strength at this time, take care of yourself and your loved ones!

 

 

During the second “heat wave” I wrote this new message from De Kandelaar. In Flevoland we also reached temperatures of 39C. Fortunately it remained 10 degrees cooler in the stables with the help of two large fans and a small sprayer. The cows remained calm hence milk production has remained equal.

With the showers from time to time we have been able to cut the grass for the 5th time this week (normally half is the standard). In the meantime, the grass seed harvest is more than a month ago and we now wait for the month of September (removed comer) when we will harvest corn, potatoes and onions.

Today we made a start on the construction of a new path to reach our fields better; a nice smooth concrete path which will soon be used to bring in the harvest..

This week we were also mentioned in the local newspaper ‘Flevopost’ with an article written by Flow Media about our guests who have been staying with us each year during the Lowlands for more than 10 years. You can read the article from Flevopost.

Finally a photo of our young kittens; Nala, Simba and Sarabi were born on 4th August.