2 weeks can be a long time while being a Nuffield tourer.

I was able to take some subjects at a practical agricultural school, here in Ede, The Netherlands. The school is renown for practical demonstration of theory, not just for greenhouse vegetables but across the agricultural sector. I'm doing a few subjects of a 7 week course run for international students, of which I'm doing about 3 weeks. The students that are in the course are from Iran, Jordan, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, India and Nepal! Sounds like the beginnings of a bad joke. We live on campus and the cultural exchanges are vast, they are very interesting people and provide an insight to production in each of their countries. Oh, the subjects are comprehensive as well. The students are responsible for a cucumber crop from planting out through till harvest, using the latest in Dutch production techniques.

Last weekend I caught up with family in the town of Musselkanal in the north east of the country, close to the German border. It was great to visit the place of my father's birth and childhood. I visited the graves of my great, great grandparents, the birthplace of my grandmother, and the family owned shop which is still run by my father's cousin, Gerard. Fortunately most of the relatives could speak English, although it was a struggle meeting a very old aunt. Gerard is also keen on deer shooting and was animated in showing me grazing deer in Germany. Venison on the BBQ on Sunday!

Last Friday, I visited a boiler manufacturer in Belgium. The company is a manufacturer of boilers which burn wastes. The boilers I was shown burn demolition wood waste to heat the greenhouses. They say the net CO2 contribution to the atmosphere is neutral as the burning of fossil fuels is releasing CO2 which would be normally locked in the earth... They claim pay back for their systems in 2-3 years. Based on the current cost of gas and the need for growers here to be highly competitive some growers are going for it!

While in Belgium I visited the port of Antwerp, for Europe second in size only to Rotterdam. If you ever have the chance the boat tour is highly recommended. It gives you a great insight of the supply volumes and issues for Europe. The use of barges in the rivers and canals is becoming popular again as another result of escalated fuel costs. 1 barge can carry 1000 tonnes or as explained to me the equivalent of 50 of their semi trucks. I was also fortunate to visit Ypres, where there is a memorial for the Allied troops including Australians. Every night there are at least 3, we had 4, buglers signalling the last post. There was a number of British school groups and a British battalion visiting making the ceremony crowded but respectful.

Back to The Netherlands, two days of visiting greenhouses, growers and sales representatives before school for three days and the United Kingdom on Saturday.

Time for some more culture