Introduction
The parameters and goals for
the internship I selected were to design a cropping plan in space and time
while considering the historic value and aesthetics of the garden. The client
wanted a garden that would have a high yield with less work. We decided to
accomplish this through a combination of crop rotation, intercropping, mulching
methodologies and a historical component after meeting with both Wageningen and
Zuylestein. The program was under the management of the Farming System Ecology
Department at Wageningen University and Research (supervisor Dirk van
Apeldoorn) and Landgoed Zuylestein under co-supervision with owner Jemima de
Brauwere and garden manager Thea Dengerink. The internship started October 4,
2017 and concluded May 9, 2018, with 4 additional check-in dates throughout May.
I was considered part-time until period 5 (March 19, 2018). Until this point I
worked 100+ hours on items such as plant lists, planning charts, soil sampling,
manure quantity for C:N ratios, and composting methodologies. Afterwards I
worked on-site to create and plant/maintain the garden, specifically the 3 test
beds (4, 6A, and 8).
