At the Brand in village Zeeland there is a special piece of nature that is also partly edible. It is the garden of regenerative entrepreneurs Sjef and Wilma, who moved there in 2012. It was a bare lawn at the time. They saw the slab land as a possible paradise with the necessary effort and some time.

The back of the garden is full of trees where nature can take its course. By applying the principles of permaculture, they work with nature and also produce an abundance of food. It borders at the Eikenhof building, which is at the main street of the village,  and it is almost unbelievable that it exists this close to the center of the village.

What is permaculture? “Permaculture is a philosophy of working with rather than against nature; of long and thoughtful observation instead of long and thoughtless labor; and of looking at plants and animals in all their functions rather than seeing an area as a monoculture system.'” Source: Mollison, B., Introduction to permaculture. Tagari, Tasmania, Australia (1991).

Sjef and Wilma bought the former farm and approximately one hectare of land with his parents. Their dream here was to be self-sufficient. Sjef and Wilma lived that way in Brazil for a number of years. With that experience they thought they could do well here.

An important reason for returning to the Netherlands was also the health problems that Sjef and Wilma were experiencing. By control over their own food, they hardly have any similar problems nowadays. The dream they had eight years ago has now (2021) been realized.

Sjef and Wilma have a new dream: helping farmers get started with permaculture and agroforestry. To solve climate crises in no time is through reforestation, this motivates the couple enormously. Even deserts can be greened in this way and it restores biodiversity. Sjef sees farmers as the major partner in this undertaking.

Want to know more about Sjef and Wilma? Check out www.fruitzforlife.nl or follow them on their YouTube channel.

Original article in Dutch, can be found here.