Clogs Out

Yes, we keep it tidy in the tractor.

Major operation at Jan Hein's company; a piece of land is being drained. For the newer members of the Fluwel newsletter club, I should probably explain who Jan Hein is. Jan Hein lives in our village, Burgervlotbrug, just across the canal and Jan Hein is a bulb grower. He grows our Daffodils and, honestly, I have to say, he does it terribly well. All in all, there are 80 different types of Daffodils at his nursery and many of them are available in the Fluwel webshop.

Drainage, is that so special? Yes and no, on the one hand it is just pulling a hose through your land that on the one hand ensures that the excess water runs into the ditch and on the other hand serves to let water run from the ditch into the land via the hose during dry periods. Sounds simple but it is a bit more than that.

The hose that is pulled into the land is a plastic hose with many holes that is wrapped with a layer of coconut fibers. You see the hose disappear into the ground via the top of the cabin of the 'Drainmaster'. On top of this hose, about 20 centimeters of shells are scattered in the trench to give the water good access to the hose.

Then a layer of coarse sea sand is sprinkled on top of the shells to provide even better access for the water to the hose.

And finally, there is Jan Hein with a measuring tape to check whether everything is at the right depth. Stay sharp and check everything well because draining is something you probably only do once in your life. A well-constructed drainage system can last 35 years, but then everything has to be in order down to the last detail. Hose, shells, sand and depth, everything has to be present everywhere in sufficient quantities.

If you think about it, it is actually these drainage systems in combination with the sandy soil that make our polders along the coast so unique. Excess water flows via the drainage to the ditches and these ditches can get rid of their excess water in the North Holland Canal. If the canal is too full, we open the lock gates in Den Helder at low tide and the water is gone. If it is too dry, like last summer for example, we let the ditches from the canal fill up so that the water can enter the land via the drainage. The canal is kept at the right level by water from the IJsselmeer that can flow into the canal at Amsterdam.

As you can see, Jan Hein will be growing the best Daffodils for the Fluwel webshop again next year.

Breath of Spring

One of my favorite Narcissi that Jan Hein grows for us is the Breath of Spring . Truly a fantastic color spectacle in various shades of yellow on a beautiful flower that, loosely translated, goes by the name 'A Sigh of Spring'. If you are going to order bulbs, I would like to heartily recommend this Narcissus, you will not regret it.

Also don't forget to plant lots of Crocuses . It is not scientifically proven but we suspect our Hocus Crocus mixture of making people happy. So plant them well, don't be too frugal.

Hello Sunshine , another beautiful Narcissus at Jan Hein's nursery. That makes you happy.

I don't have to tell the real flower bulb fanatics, they have already submitted their wish list long ago. But if you want to plant bulbs, don't wait long, now there is still a wide range of beautiful bulbs.

A Million Kisses

Kind regards,

Carlos van der Veek