Berlin – Germany is the second largest importer of cut flowers worldwide – with a trade volume of one billion euros in 2020. Most of the flowers at petrol stations, in discounters and shops come from the Netherlands. Quite a few have come a long way from Kenya or Ecuador. For example, roses are chilled and shipped by ship halfway around the world in winter to be sold at flower fairs in Holland at the best price. After a short time they end up withered in the garbage. Many of the flowers are also heavily contaminated with pesticides, as studies have shown.
Flowers without chemicals and pesticides
In Berlin, Reuben and Imke Glaser want to show that things can be done differently, seasonally and regionally. You have been running the “Mayda Flower Farm” in a Pankow cemetery since August 2020. The two of them get by on their farm by hand and without any pesticides, herbicides or mineral fertilizers. Whatever is in season grows.
The blooming farm year begins in April with daffodils in all shapes and colors. They smell intense and last a long time. Allium, or ornamental onion, follows tulips, until finally the large summer field blossoms in its fleeting beauty. Mustard carnations, cornflowers, cosmeen, zinnias grow alongside amaranth and others.
Dahlias are the last flowers in the bed
Even if the beds are slowly emptying in November and the nights are cold, winter is not a time when there is nothing to be done. Some dahlias are still standing and little snapdragons are waiting in the greenhouse to get into the ground, and the bulbs also have to be planted. In February, the cultivation of further cut flowers begins.
Sabine Gudath
Dahlias in November in Berlin.
Reuben and Imke Glase have dirt on their shoes and despite the cold this morning they have a lot to do. In America, Reuben Glaser’s homeland, the slow flower movement is already better known, they say. In Germany you still have to search until you find flowers that can grow without chemicals. So far, around 130 flower farmers and florists in Germany, Austria and Switzerland have been organized in the slow flower movement, which Reuben and Imke helped found.
Organic flowers from the region
But they do exist, the shops that sell organic flowers from the region: in Wedding near Blumen Goldbeck, for example, you can find seasonal, regional cut flowers. From April to September they come from organic farms in the Berlin area and are certified organic. Fleur Wüst also sells organic cut flowers next to the entrance to the cemetery on Bergmannstrasse in Kreuzberg. Green Queen Flower GmbH also focuses on sustainability in the vase such as gold leaf near the Hermannplatz underground station or the flower café on Schönhauser Allee.
Organic flowers are also available from the well-known organic cultivation associations Demeter, Bioland and Naturland or with the EU organic seal. They are sold in natural food stores, organic gardeners, markets or farm shops in Brandenburg.
The production of compost is a passion
The property of the Pankow flower farm, 1200 square meters in size, is behind a picket fence and right next to an old cemetery chapel. It’s quiet here, and with a little imagination, the rustling of the cars on the nearby B96 sounds like the sea.
“The Berlin cemeteries are green oases,” says Reuben Glaser. In the beginning, when he hadn’t been in town for that long, he thought they were beautiful parks. The professional musician has now found his calling on the flower farm and is responsible for soil and plant health. Making his own compost and using fermented plant strengtheners to make the flowers even more beautiful – that is his passion. The earth here should not lie fallow anywhere, the glaziers garden according to the principles of permaculture.
Sabine Gudath
Imke Glaser plants tiny snapdragons. They can take the cold well. They will bloom profusely for the next year.
“Wherever possible, we work with the no-till method in the cultivation,” explains Imke Glaser. The soil is left alone, it is not plowed or dug up, but viewed as a living system in which the mycelium of fungal spores, for example, enters into a symbiosis with roots.
Talking to plants helps, says grandmother
If nobody is looking, Imke Glaser may walk through the rows of beds and talk to the growing plants. She learned that from her grandmother. The mother was also a trained gardener with a large, self-sufficient garden. Combining horticulture and creativity is the 32-year-old’s goal.
Reuben and Imke Glaser still have to think about the business model for the second season. What is certain is that there will be a weekly flower subscription again. Cooperations with daycare centers and companies are conceivable. But also workshops in flower arranging and in winter workshops in Advent.
The hidden garden grows with every year, with every customer. Slow, slowly, but sustainable. The sale of flowers will start again in April 2022.