They know Aad Mostert well at Transavia. Over the last year he has commuted to his wife and cultivation company in Portugal, to return to his nursery in the Westland on Monday. Over the coming winter season he hopes to remain in Portugal with his wife Esther for a bit longer, to grow gourd pumpkins for his buyers Versland Selection. His father is looking after the nursery in 's-Gravenzande. "I've always been adventurous. I love a challenge."
The Mostert family's history in Portugal goes back much further. Around 25 years ago the family settled in the Portuguese Majorca - on the coast between Porto and Lisbon - to grow potted plants and bulbs. A few years ago Aad and his wife Esther took up a new challenge; cultivating snails.
"We had beautiful snails and we developed a snail croquette for the Dutch market. We took them to the Horecava two years in a row. Unfortunately not all links in the chain were enthusiastic and it was difficult to make a living with it," Aad reflects.
This is why they switched in the autumn of 2015 and started growing cabbage. "Our best friend is now our biggest enemy, as snails love them. But we have been able to keep them out, with some difficulty," says Aad. A few broad beans were grown this spring and now there are 2.5 hectares full of gourd pumpkins."
Everything is done in close conversation with buyer Versland. "The snails taught me that you might be able to control the cultivation, but that the rest of the chain has to be organised as well. We therefore concentrate on the cultivation and Versland arranges sales. The challenge is to grow vegetables that aren't available in the Netherlands at that time. In this manner we can achieve the best possible result without being in the way of others," says Aad. "We consciously don't want to grow too fast, but slowly expand the area with the demand."
"We are from greenhouses and didn't have experience of open ground cultivation, but we have learnt a lot in recent years. We harvest the pumpkins with battery powered pruning shears. We employ two Portuguese women full time for the harvest. The demand for gourd pumpkins is growing."
Last year our size sorting was slightly too small, but thanks to a new Sakata Seeds variety we now have larger pumpkins. Then we start the Hokkaido pumpkins, which there is a lot a demand for around Christmas. Then we move back to cabbage cultivation. The customer's wish is central," emphasises Aad.
Meanwhile the Mosterts are having fun in Portugal. "The people are very nice. There aren't that many growers in the region, with the exception of rice fields, so we hand out the first pumpkins to the locals. We are already quite settled and speak some Portuguese. We even celebrated our wedding both in the Netherlands and in Majorca. "We don't just want to grow here, we also want to be a part of the community," concludes Aad.
For more information:
Aad Mostert
0031 (0) 6-13162722
aadmostert@hotmail.com
For sales questions:
Versland
Peter de Koning
0031 (0) 174-225343
www.versland.com