Enjoy working in the bulbs

Hi, I am Bregt Hopman and this week I am writing the newsletter. I am going to tell you about my wonderful life and of course the wonderful work at Fluwel.

I have been working at Fluwel for 2 weeks now, together with one of my best friends Pracht. I also work with Sigge jr, Thijn and sometimes Parel. I worked on the conveyor belt in the barn for a few days, until I was allowed to go to the field with Carlos and Karel at the beginning of this week, which I find very pleasant.


The last daffodils are being collected.

What we do is always the big question mark of the day, as it depends a lot on the weather that day. The last few days we have mainly picked up daffodils and put them in mesh boxes. This seems like very easy work, but it is actually quite annoying, because you are constantly on your knees and your shoes get full of sand. For this story Carlos talked us into working barefoot, at first it is quite uncomfortable but you get used to it. According to Carlos we feel free and at one with nature this way, I don't feel this at all, I just like the fact that there is no more sand in my shoes.


Narcissus Ruby Shu

But enough about work, let's talk about me. I am Bregt Hopman, I am fourteen years old and I go to school at the Regius in Schagen, after the summer holidays I will go to fourth havo which I do not feel like doing at all. Fluwel is not my first job in the bulbs, I was born in a bulb company! Hopman Lelie BV is the family business of my father and uncle. You can already hear it from the name, it is about Lilies , but we also do tulips in the summer, but those are not our own. Coincidentally, this company and Fluwel also have a history together. This goes as follows: My grandfather had already started Hopman Lelie BV together with his brother and had recently moved to the Westerduinweg in Petten.

To the left of the center is Hopman's barn


Carlos was busy starting up Fluwel at this time, for which he needed space, he got this space in the summer at my grandfather's, when no one was working in the shed (a lily is a winter species). During this time Fluwel became more successful and bigger. When my grandfather was done with it, he sent Carlos away (actual words from my grandfather) and the big Fluwel shed was built and the company grew to its current state. I also worked for a spring and summer at Nico Blokker further down the Belkmerweg.

Narcissus Pracht , named after… Pracht

But how did I end up at Fluwel? Well, for this story we go all the way back to 2020 when I was in the first year of high school. At that time I knew the Van der Veek family, but not really well. I don't know exactly why, but Parel van der Veek and I once cycled home from school together and since then we started doing that more often and also started meeting up. Because of this we became good friends. During this time I also found out that Pracht van der Veek is in athletics with me. She is a year younger than me, so we never had training together, but now that we are juniors we train together, which is how we became friends. Pracht and Parel of course work at their family business, so I am now also there. I really enjoy working here, because you feel very welcome and I really like the humor in the canteen.

Tour de France winner, Bregt and Floor Hopman

It also doesn't matter if you're absent for a day. Like last Tuesday, when I was invited to a party where I could meet Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard. Of course I went with permission, provided I wore a shirt with the Fluwel logo for advertising. Of course I didn't do that. Apart from that it was fun and we could have our picture taken and ask questions. After 12 hours I did go to work and I could still work hours. The next day I was asked 'who are you?' by the barn manager Stephan in the canteen, because apparently I'm never there. When I said that I had just come that day, he was quiet again.

Bregt & Pracht

When it rains outside, we all work in the greenhouse. Here we sit at a homemade wooden table and we have to break bulbs, I think they are daffodils . Carlos always asks me what kind we are working on as a test, but I never know the answer. So I started reading the cards, but of course just the time I haven't read the card, Carlos asks again and I don't know the answer. On my first day at work here, Carlos asked me the question 'what kind of bulb are we working on now?' to which I answered ' a tulip '. Which was the correct answer, which I find quite logical, because it is the easiest question in the whole world. Since I answered the question completely correctly and I did my best in the field and in the barn, I have been given the title 'master servant'.

Pracht got the title 'Floormanager' and the rest just didn't get a title. So I think it's pretty special. At home I have 3 goats in my garden that belong to me and my family. First I had 2 brown ones, one of which died, then I had a brown and a light brown one, but the light brown one also died. And now I have 2 brown ones and a white one. They are called Sturla Holm (named after a Norwegian biathlon athlete), Doortje and Miep. In the canteen I was sold goat Hassan, because she is old and has to go. Unfortunately my mother didn't let me take her, otherwise I would have. I also have a cat and 1 chicken at home. I live in the house with my mother, father, my sister and my little brother. My older sister Floor works at the Land van Fluwel , which is the park of Fluwel. But okay, I'm going to end this story.

Kind regards
Bregt Hopman

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