Beekeeper Nienke Boone has been fascinated by bees for years

In 2019, via Woord en Daad, she got in touch with the founders of De Werkbij, headquartered in Veenendaal. When the couple offered her the job at Vaassen a year later, she seized the opportunity with both hands.
“I had already started this part-time course at Dronten at the time, by the way. This was possible because I had already started working fewer hours at Woord en Daad. I hope to finish this training in June. “

What does it look like if you have a college education after an MBO course?
Laugh: “Good and practical! And yet also very difficult. Much more than I expected. In college, I took a lot of boring classes, really worked my time, and wrote so many essays. It is only now, on this training and during my internships, that I have the feeling of being completely “committed”. Growing vegetables, herbs, flowers and fruits is a wonderful job: there is so much to do. During the training I receive soil subjects, I learn to compost, prune, fight against diseases and pests, the importance of biodiversity. But also very convenient tractor driving and connecting irrigation systems. Taking care of the land is what makes me very excited. Also because I am more and more aware of a sustainable food transition. “

Do you have a specific goal in mind with this training?
“Glad to say it out loud, but I definitely have a dream. In the more distant future, I would very much like to create my own urban garden. At Woord en Daad, we worked on solutions to major global problems, such as climate change and poverty. With such horticulture, in which sustainability, biodiversity and “buying locally” are essential, I can help build a solution in my own environment. As a Christian, I find this very important: to try to be a good steward of this land. Last year I did an internship in a care horticulture in Utrecht, now at Tuinderij Eyckenstein in Maartensdijk. The two small horticultural businesses, where people can harvest vegetables themselves – entirely organically grown. There is a big eye for biodiversity here; there are bee colonies on the site, you see birds everywhere, there are hedges, thickets and you name it. At the nursery, children learn that roots grow underground, they harvest a head of lettuce with their parents, and find out that bees are important for pollination. Exhausted people can volunteer in the garden and relax. I think it would be fantastic if I could one day create such a place myself and inspire others.