Miracle crop in the Burkmeer polder
Laag Holland is rich in nature. Green meadows criss-crossed by ditches and canals, vast peat meadows and endless water. Visitors and residents enjoy this special landscape every day.
Laag Holland has not always looked like this, though. Over the years, the area has been developed mainly by human hands. To make life below sea level liveable, large areas were drained and waterways were dug to drain away the water. Every day, people still work hard to maintain the special nature of Laag Holland.
But, where humans first fought against water, it is now the drought that is a pr...
Laag Holland has not always looked like this, though. Over the years, the area has been developed mainly by human hands. To make life below sea level liveable, large areas were drained and waterways were dug to drain away the water. Every day, people still work hard to maintain the special nature of Laag Holland.
But, where humans first fought against water, it is now drought that is a problem. Nature management organisations, governments and local farmers are working tooth and nail to find a solution to this growing problem. To do so, they are not only looking at traditional ways of humidification, but also at alternative methods. In the Burkmeerpolder, for example, where a test is being done with growing Lisdodde. Want to know what growing Lisdodde can contribute to drought mitigation? During your walk, read the story of this polder under the smoke of Amsterdam.
Rural North
This walking route starts at Amsterdam Noord metro station, terminus of Amsterdam's long-awaited North-South line. Here in the capital, the connection to rural issues may be remote. But, after a short walk through Amsterdam Noord, you soon leave the city and an oasis of peace and space meets you.
Walking, you leave the city further and further behind and walk into the varied rural area of Amsterdam North. After the tunnel under the A10 motorway, you are overwhelmed by the wide views of the vast landscape. Here and there, the green meadows are broken up by a picturesque village, bustling farm or local produce shop. In the distance, you can already see the church tower of beautiful Zunderdorp looming.
Rural North is an important area for people and nature. Hectares of peat meadows have been home to special animal and plant species, especially meadow birds, for centuries. Enjoy the wide views, the cows and sheep in the meadow and the local produce along the route. Walking here, you can see perfectly what the agricultural landscape of Laag Holland looks like and how different farmers have organised their farms. Some focus purely on agriculture or cattle breeding, while others have multiple activities. B&Bs, Rustpunten, local produce shops or care farms are not rare on farms in the region. From point 6 in the route, you will discover another surprising alternative way of farming.
Walking through the quiet landscape, everything seems to be in perfect harmony. Under the ground, however, a big problem lurks: subsidence. You may have heard the word passed by before. The vast meadows of the Dutch polder landscape consist largely of peat soil. Peat is actually an ancient accumulation of dead plant remains, which grow back faster than they can be digested by the soil. This creates thick layers of oxygen-poor soil, which traps greenhouse gases such as methane gas and carbon dioxide. To persist, peatland needs water, lots of water. When the water level in peat soil gets too low, the undigested plant remains come into contact with oxygen. Through a chemical reaction, this releases an awful lot of carbon dioxide, i.e. CO2. In addition, the peat dries up and the soil sinks, causing damage to the country's infrastructure. At point 3 in the route, you will learn more about counteracting this subsidence.
Nature managers, governments and farmers are working hard to find solutions to this problem. To be able to enjoy this beautiful area in the future, the dehydration of the peat soil must be countered. There are several ways to do this. One is to grow so-called 'wet crops'. In the Burkmeer, a small polder in Rural North, this wet crop has been experimented with for several years. The result: a sustainable solution from a surprising angle.
This route was developed by Bureau Toerisme Laag Holland, commissioned by the Twiske-Waterland Recreatieschap, the Alkmaarder- en Uitgeestermeer Recreatieschap and the Province of North Holland and is part of the Intergovernmental Programme Vital Countryside.
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Jersey Ice cream parlour
This is where you get the tastiest artisanal farmhouse ice cream in the region! Here on weekends (in summer) and on special holidays, you can get delicious creamy ice cream made from the milk of Jersey cows grazing in the meadow on site.
Jersey Ice cream parlour
This is where you get the tastiest artisanal farmhouse ice cream in the region! Here on weekends (in summer) and on special holidays, you can get delicious creamy ice cream made from the milk of Jersey cows grazing in the meadow on site.
The Jersey Ice Cream Parlour now has seven flavours as standard in its range, and special flavours are often made for special occasions. Stop by and taste for yourself!
Care Farm Our Desire
Just under the smoke of Amsterdam lies the characteristic village of Zunderdorp, surrounded by peat meadows. Here you will find 'Zorgboerderij Ons Verlangen', an organic dairy farm with dairy cows, sheep, horses, chickens, goats, rabbits and pigs.
Care Farm Our Desire
Just under the smoke of Amsterdam lies the characteristic village of Zunderdorp, surrounded by peat meadows. Here you will find 'Zorgboerderij Ons Verlangen', an organic dairy farm with dairy cows, sheep, horses, chickens, goats, rabbits and pigs.
The vastness and tranquillity of the surrounding countryside is truly unique but this needs to be maintained. The care farm has about 70 hectares of land and in the vicinity of the care farm, Zorgboerderij Ons Verlangen maintains several natural grounds. They do this maintenance together with their auxiliary farmers.
The care farm started in 2005 with the appropriate name 'Ons Verlangen'.
The care concept is simple and effective. Enjoy being on the farm together doing useful work. Care farm Ons Verlangen works with auxiliary farmers, who carry out daily chores together with the farm family in a relaxed atmosphere. The farm offers a huge variety of suitable fun work, for anyone who enjoys rolling up their sleeves. Daily rhythm and structure are indispensable elements on the farm. This clarity also offers people frameworks within which they feel comfortable and relaxed. This way, Zorgboerderij Ons Verlangen offers its clients a full, varied and meaningful day's work that they can look back on with a satisfied feeling at the end of the day.
Farm vending machine
Get your fresh dairy products here and pay contactless from the 'Grab and Go' vending machine: Liergouw 68, 1016 BW Amsterdam. The vending machine is open 7 days a week from 08.00 to 20.00. From Wednesday to Sunday, the vending machine is staffed by one of the employees. Here you can buy fresh dairy such as our farmer's milk, buttermilk, yoghurt, quark, hangop and farmer's cheese. They also sell goat, cow or pig meat while stocks last.
Wet cultivation in the Burkmeer polder
Keeping a peat soil wet is therefore essential to combat subsidence, and hence CO2 emissions. This is easier said than done.
Wet cultivation in the Burkmeer polder
Keeping a peat soil wet is therefore essential to combat subsidence, and hence CO2 emissions. This is easier said than done.
Keeping the groundwater level low is important for effective agricultural land use. As a livestock farmer, a wet peat soil is not useful. Cows and sheep cannot walk properly and the farmer cannot take large machines onto the land without sinking into the soft soil. A water table of up to about 30 centimetres below ground level is basically good for farmer and soil. The downside is that, in periods of drought, the water table can suddenly drop by as much as a metre. This causes problems for the peat soil, which dries out and settles. But this is not good for the farmer either; too low a water table has negative effects on the quality of the grass, and thus on the products produced by the cattle.
A number of measures can be taken to maintain groundwater levels in dry and wet periods, trenches or pressure drains for example. Effective interventions, but costly and labour-intensive. Ideally, the peat soil would be completely flooded. Then there would be no risk of the soil drying out. But then farmers would have to find an alternative source of income.
Wet crops
One of these alternatives is growing 'wet crops', also known as paludiculture (from the Latin 'palus', meaning swamp) . You've probably seen it before, the rice fields of Asia and Africa. Vast fields or terraces with shallow pools of water, in which rice plants grow row by row. This is an example of paladiculture. Crops grown at a water level above ground level. In the Netherlands, conditions are not ideal for a rice plant, which prefers to grow at temperatures above 24 degrees.
Fortunately, there are also native plants in the Netherlands that are willing to grow in water. For example, Lisdodde, widely known as reed canary. This plant occurs naturally in marshlands and therefore very much likes to grow in a layer of water. From where you are standing now, you have a good view of the Burkmeerpolder. In this small polder, Lisdodde farmer Aldert van Weeren has been conducting a trial of growing Lisdodde for several years on behalf of the municipality of Amsterdam. What is the best way to approach this, and how can it be profitable? For this trial, the Burkmeer is an ideal location. The polder is still relatively young. Only 150 years ago, the lake that lay here was drained, which is why the peat soil is still very wet. If you look closely, you can see that the polder is like a 'bathtub' because it is deep. This ensures that the area can easily be flooded, while the dykes on the outside remain dry. About 30 hectares of the polder are suitable for growing Lisdodde.
Want to know more about the miracle crop Lisdodde and why it is being deployed in the Burkmeerpolder? Then continue along the route and learn more about this special project.
Bulrush as a miracle crop
As you can see from this point, part of the Burkmeerpolder is now densely covered with Lisdodde plants. The tall stalks with the iconic brown cane spikes are a pretty picture, swaying in the wind.
Bulrush as a miracle crop
As you can see from this point, part of the Burkmeerpolder is now densely covered with Lisdodde plants. The tall stalks with the iconic brown cane spikes are a pretty picture, swaying in the wind.
This photogenic image is the reason why the Lisdodde appears frequently in ancient and contemporary art. It is also popular as a cutting plant. The cigars can be dried well. Put some dried stalks of lisodd in a pretty vase, and you have a beautiful decorative piece that will last a long time.
But replacing animal husbandry with growing Lisdodde requires more than its use as a cut flower or inspiration for artists. To be a realistic alternative, it must yield more or as much as raising livestock and selling animal products. At first glance, lizzard looks like a weed with few uses. Nothing could be further from the truth! This native, primal Dutch plant can be used from head to toe in an awful lot of sectors. Continue your route to find out more about the applications of Lisdodde.
Lisdodde in construction
Its fibrous stems and leaves can be used in a variety of ways. The plant is naturally non-flammable, making it ideally suited for sustainable building materials.
Lisdodde in construction
Its fibrous stems and leaves can be used in a variety of ways. The plant is naturally non-flammable, making it ideally suited for sustainable building materials.
The dried lisodode fibres can be pressed into insulation boards, for example. With the growing demand for sustainable and safe building and insulation materials, farmers can earn quite a living with this diaphragm. The same fibres can also be used for paper, baskets, hats, mats or compostable packaging materials, for instance. Lisodde can even be processed into bio plastic for 3D printers!
It is not only for insulating houses that you can use the Lisodder. Have you ever taken apart the fruit of a Lisdodde, better known as a cane vine? Then you know that it explodes into thousands of fluffy seeds! This allows the plant to reproduce well. The seeds fly with the wind and land a little further away, where a new plant can emerge. This fluffy, soft mass used to be used in the northern provinces to fill mattresses or pillows. Now this material is still used to insulate survival clothing such as jackets and shoes. The fluff is also used in life jackets.
Bird watching screen | Volgermeerpolder
The Volgermeer is a particularly wetland nature reserve that is home to many rare plants and animals.
Bird-watching screen | Volgermeerpolder
The Volgermeer is a particularly wetland nature reserve that is home to many rare plants and animals.
The Volgermeerpolder is an area north of Amsterdam, which was in use as a rubbish dump and where toxic dirt was dumped for years. The dirt is embedded in the old peat soil. Thirty years after its closure, the dangerous dump has turned into a wetland nature reserve with sawas and watercourses, where there is room for rare plants and animals. The area is not a polder. Originally called Volgerweren, it was erroneously named as Volgermeerpolder by a mapmaker in 1853.
The wall and bench are made of Amsterdam trees.
Volgermeerpolder: the protective bog
Where you are standing now is a special place, because here you are standing exactly between the Burkmeerpolder and the Volgermeerpolder. A misleading name, because the Volgermeerpolder is not actually a polder at all.
Volgermeerpolder: the protective bog
Where you are standing now is a special place, because here you are standing exactly between the Burkmeerpolder and the Volgermeerpolder. A misleading name, because the Volgermeerpolder is not actually a polder at all.
A mistake by a mapmaker gave this area its name, but it is actually actually higher than the surrounding area. This is because the Volgermeer was used as a rubbish dump for many years. Initially 'innocent' household, garden and kitchen rubbish, but from the 1960s also harmful substances such as poison from pharmaceutical companies. Meanwhile, where the residents of Broek in Waterland walked and picked fruit for years, thousands of barrels of poison were dumped.
After one of these barrels of poison was discovered, the Broekers revolted. Around the turn of the last century, a plan emerged. The swamp forest was cut down, leaving a barren plain. As it turned out, the peat had a protective effect against poison. The thick, oxygen-poor layers of peat soil had the effect of a bucket: the poison could not escape the polder. The soil was sealed from above with new soil, a thick layer of foil - as thick as a shampoo bottle - and a living layer, where plants could grow again. As a result, there is no risk of the poison spreading further, and nature can take its course again. Just look at the unusual shape of these polders, with its various Sawa's - pools of shallow water - it is a special sight.
Now, more than a decade after the area was completed, biodiversity has skyrocketed. The Volgermeer is an oasis for people, plants and animals. Besides the 'normal' peat vegetation, you can even find wild orchids there nowadays. Dragonflies, butterflies and wild bees enjoy everything this 'polder' has to offer. (Meadow) birds also abound here - just look through the bird-watching screen and see which ones you can discover!
Bulrush as an ecological resource
We already knew that Lisdodde is important for combating CO2 emissions. The plant grows in wet soils, preventing soil subsidence. In addition, couch grass filters CO2 from the air.
Moss as an ecological resource
We already knew that Lisdodde is important for combating CO2 emissions. The plant grows in wet soils, preventing soil subsidence. In addition, couch grass filters CO2 from the air.
But that is not the only way in which Lisdodde combats carbon emissions. In fact, it can also ensure that peat is not excavated in peatlands in other parts of the world. Indeed, much potting soil used at horticultural companies, but also at your home, consists of peat soil. To this end, the Netherlands imports some 4 million cubic metres of peat per year from the Baltic states, Russia and other countries. The excavation of peat, like natural subsidence, releases a lot of CO2. By adding bulrush to this soil, less peat needs to be excavated for the same quantity of potting soil.
In addition, the plant can also increase biodiversity in the area where it grows. The plant purifies the soil and water of phosphate and nitrogen, which has been drawn into the soil by fertilisation. This in turn makes it an attractive area for various (protected) animals, such as ring snakes and natterjack toads. There is, however, a downside to this story. If we start using paludiculture on a large scale in the Netherlands, it will cause many species to become more common, or we will see new species. On the other hand, existing species will have to adapt to a new habitat. These species actually enjoy the relatively dry, green pastures. With increased use of paludiculture, these species will decrease in numbers or disappear altogether from Dutch nature.
Lizzard on your plate
As if sustainable cultivation and building materials were not enough, the Lisdodde is also very suitable for consumption. Not only as animal feed, but also definitely for humans.
Lizzard on your plate
As if sustainable cultivation and building materials were not enough, the Lisdodde is also very suitable for consumption. Not only as animal feed, but also definitely for humans.
Star restaurants have already noticed this special plant and added it to their menus. At restaurant Noma in Copenhagen, you can sometimes try the surprising taste of Lisdodde. This restaurant is known for their searches for wild herbs, plants, nuts and mushrooms. Lisdodde lends itself perfectly to this. Almost every part of the plant is edible. The shoots of the young plant are similar to bamboo. These are boiled, stewed, baked, boiled, processed in soup or raw in salads. The insides of the young shoots are also deliciously fresh and similar to cucumber. The young buds are also called Cossack asparagus, because the flavour is so similar to asparagus.
The roots of a Bulrush plant are very versatile. They are very nutritious and can be prepared in many ways; boiled, baked, mashed or ground as flour or binder. The flavour is nutty, similar to that of a chestnut. Even the flowers are edible in some parts of the year and sautéed as vegetables. You can roast the green cobs on the barbecue, a bit like corn. You can also dry and roast the seeds or press them into oil, but because the seeds are so small this is not done much. In folk medicine, sea lavender has also found a place. For instance, the gel between the leaves is antibacterial, the lint is said to help with burns and the stoppage of wounds, and the leaves are said to be diuretic. To name but a few.
The future of cattail
The uses of lisodden seem endless. The examples described above do not even give the whole picture. So you would think that growing lisodder should be attractive to any farmer.
The future of cattail
The uses of lisodden seem endless. The examples described above do not even give the whole picture. So you would think that growing lisodder should be attractive to any farmer.
Unfortunately, there are still a number of obstacles before lischod farming becomes profitable. For instance, geese in the area find the plant a little too tasty. The young shoots that are planted are eaten just as quickly. In Burkmeer, several tests have been done to scare away these geese, such as with lasers and ribbons. Also, the licorice cuttings can be planted when the surrounding meadows have just been mowed, which the geese find just a little tastier than the young licorice.
There are also still problems in the supply chain; buyers often do not want to enter into an agreement until a stable supply can be guaranteed, while farmers do not want to start growing cattail until off-take is consistent. Thus, a chicken-and-egg story. Also, until recently, the cultivation of cattail was not recognised by the EU. There was no crop code for the plant, making a subsidy application impossible for the farmer. This would deprive the farmer not only of a basic subsidy, but also of additional budgets for nature-friendly agriculture, for instance.
Lisdodde farmer Aldert van Weeren has been championing this future-proof crop for years. For instance, he has ensured that Lisdodde cultivation and other paludiculture crops can expect equal treatment within agricultural legislation and that farmers who grow wet crops can also claim the usual subsidies. The next step is to make growing Lisdodden so attractive that the Dutch farmer can no longer ignore it. Because honestly, we can't let such a miracle crop pass us by, can we?
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