Organic herb grower Vegobel grows 30 kinds of potted herbs

Vegobel is an organic herb farm in Duffel, a village just outside Antwerp, Belgium. it's a modern family company of 3.5 hectares. 30 kinds of potted herbs are grown, from normal herbs such as: basil, rosemary, celery, dill, thyme, coriander, to real specialities such as lemon verbena, red sorrel or even Stevia. "We have around 30 permanent employees and in busy periods such as Christmas and Easter we get help from temps", says Steven at the Naturelle site.

"We're from a horticultural family and my brother Wim has always grown lettuce. Looking for new cultivations and systems, we started growing herbs in 1995, because we thought it was a good product with a future. In the same year my other brother, Arthur, and I entered the company. Since 2000 we've been growing everything fully organically and we are allowed to carry to European mark of quality for organic production. We are checked by the TUV. It's comparable to Skal in Holland", says Steven.

"We grow different kinds of herbs for the Belgian and Dutch market. Celery, for instance, is very popular in Holland. What makes our products so special is of course the fact that they are so tasty, but also that they're organically grown. We don't use any chemical pesticides in growing our herbs. Our organic herbs also get time to grow in their natural rhythm and have longer to develop their aroma's. This definitely benefits their taste", says Steven.

"From to seeding to packaging; the whole process takes place in our company. The herbs are sown and germinated with much care, the first step for growing qualitatively good herbs. When the seeds sprout, the plants are put in our mobile gutters, neatly in rows behind each other, throughout the greenhouse. The pots are placed on the back row and as the plant grows, it moves forward a row. When the plants are on the front row, they're ready to be harvested. This system means our employees don't have to walk through the whole greenhouse. This makes the work much more pleasant. It's a pretty unique system that we're proud of!"

We spray the plants with a supply off rain water that we store in large water basins. At the bottom of the drains with plants, there are buckets to catch the water. It's then recycled and reused. As soon as the plants are at the front of the greenhouse and are ready to be harvested, they're packaged by hand by our employees. Our employees can immediately check the quality and don't damage the plants; no packaging machine can beat that!

Decomposable pots

The company also offer their herbs in decomposable pots. These pots aren't made of synthetic materials, but of organic waste from corn and wheat and therefore CO2 neutral. The decomposable pots can be recognized by an OK compost label.

Source: Naturelle