The Shortest Night
Dear readers,
I am a big fan of the time of year where it feels like the sun barely goes down for the night. I am an early riser, and I love all of the extra daylight this time of year brings. The computer work never stops, but that’s okay, it’s a part of life. I just prefer going outside, and this week I had an extra reason for it: Lots and lots of Peonies were waiting for us, and we did our best to put together the best possible, most interesting assortment for the web shop.
Peony Puffed Cotton
This week, I visited Paul van Exel, who lives on Texel, one of the little islands north of the Dutch mainland. We buy a lot of Daffodils at Van Exel on Texel, and I like to take some time to visit them before the bus season starts. Going to Texel always feels like a little holiday. You go on the ferry with your car, and it’s a short journey, but everyone always leaves their car to go up to the deck and look at the sea. Paul and his cousin Thijs have a beautiful company, with Daffodils, potatoes, Lilies, and even cows.
Girl Dinner
We got the Daffodils out of the way first, so we couldn’t forget that anymore, and then Paul and Thijs wanted to show me their new cow-milking machine. It is fully automatic, and at first, I didn’t think it was that interesting, but the longer we looked, the more in awe I was. As we were talking, cow after cow went to the machine. They walk to it by themselves, and when they arrive at the food laid out for them and they start eating, the machine came up to it and milked the cow without any hassle at all. It even recognised the cows that had already had their food and were trying to come in for seconds, and it made sure those cows didn’t block the others from getting their turn.
The Milk Robot
But apparently, the real treasure is the amount of information the machine collects. Thijs showed me an app on his phone, and it told us everything the machine had found out. We could see which cow was at the robot right now, and how they were doing. One of the cows had already given almost thirty litres of milk that day! And if a cow gives that much milk, the machine makes sure she gets extra food: she needs the nutrition. The robot also picks up even the smallest possible changes, like the milk being slightly warmer with one of the cows. That means Thijs knows he should check up on that cow tonight, so he can make sure she stays healthy. He can even make the robot send the cow to him: when the cow has finished the food and the milking, a different door opens, and the cow goes to a separate stable where she can be taken care of.
Sheep are what Texel is known for in The Netherlands
Thijs is over the moon with the new machine. He told me it gives him so much peace of mind to know more about the health of his cows, and while he always makes sure he stays close when the robot is working, he can multitask much more easily now. Like talking about Daffodils with me while we are watching the machine work! And it also helps that the robot means that Paul and Thijs can skip the 5-in-the-morning alarm every once in a while, which is probably also good for their social lives :)
They have a poem in their barn, too. Written by Theun de Winter, a Dutch poet and a friend of Paul’s. He gifted it when they built this new place, and I’ll try to translate it:
First there was grass
Then there was a cow
Then came the milk
But don’t ask me how
Before I knew it, Paul was reminding me about the last ferry home. Time flies, and Paul had promised his wife to be home for dinner :)
Back to the Peonies. It is the third year we are offering Peonies in our web shop, and I have to admit that it has positively surprised me in every single way. I have become a much bigger fan of them myself, too. I planted two of every Peony variety we offer, just like we do with all of our other bulbs, and every year, they get better. All of them (yes, all!) are still going strong, and they’re looking great.
Peony Border Charm (Itoh)
Another surprise are the so-called ‘Itoh’ Peonies. Itohs are the result of hybridising the ‘regular’ lactiflora Peony with suffruticosa Peonies. If you are interested, there is more information about this on our website. There, I will tell you again how well Itoh Peonies grow up to be beautiful big plants. The photo shows a three-year-old Itoh Peony Border Charm in Green Works’ show garden. Mine are only two years old and therefore a little smaller, but I can see how much it has grown in comparison to last year. If you’ve never tried Peonies before, I encourage you to give them a go, whether you choose Itohs or the regular ones. The Itohs are not yet at the regular’s level when it comes to color in the beginning, but their advantage is that they grow into a truly impressive plant in any garden. Or, try both to see which one is your favourite!
Time to wrap it up again, I do hope you’ll fall in love with Peonies like I have.
Kind regards,
Carlos van der Veek
Peony she’s My Star
And some final information from Thijs: You can make 10 litres of ice cream from one litre of milk, and for one kilogram of cheese, you need 10 litres of milk.
PS: Do you already follow us on Facebook and/or Instagram? My colleagues share the most beautiful photos, videos and updates there.
