"We are gradually becoming unique with the cultivation of Elsanta"

Last week was definitely not what you'd call strawberry weather in Belgium. After weeks of uninterrupted sunshine since early spring, July 7th has brought heavy downpours. "Yesterday and today, we've already had 40 liters of rain per square meter," says Sien Vermeulen.

It's summer holiday time, and children are happily playing in the yard at Aardbeien Cardoen, the strawberry farm. Even in the rain, they're enjoying the swings and running around. But for Sien, there's no time off just yet. Since the passing of her husband, Ruben Cardoen, she's been managing the family business in Passendale, West Flanders. Things quiet down a bit in January — that's when a holiday is penciled in.

As we arrive at the farm on this wet July morning, Sien's mother-in-law is out stacking crates between rain showers. "Are you here for Sien? Trying to sell something?" she asks cheerfully. We explain we're not selling anything. We're making a spontaneous visit to the strawberry farm, fitting it in before an afternoon trip to Mont Cassel, where the Tour de France will be racing past.

Tours, auction visits, and vending machines for much-needed human contact
Sien's father-in-law is busy driving around the yard on a loader, moving substrate. Her in-laws chip in wherever they're needed. A few moments later, Sien arrives too; she had just popped out to do some shopping. Interestingly, the Tomabel boxes normally used for strawberries are doing double duty today as grocery totes. "Come on in," she says with a warm smile, and before we know it, we're off on a tour of the farm.

Our first stop is the greenhouse. The very first one was built back in 2012. In 2011, Ruben Cardoen took over the family farm and made a major shift, transforming it from a mixed operation with, among other things, pigs, into a full-fledged strawberry business. The farm steadily expanded, even as it became clear that Ruben was terminally ill. He passed away in October 2020.

Sien made the decision to continue running the farm and left her job outside the home. By training, she's an occupational therapist. That background partly inspired her to start offering guided tours of the farm in recent years. As the manager of a horticultural business in a rural area, she sometimes misses regular interaction with people. That's also why she enjoys driving the truck herself to REO Veiling in Roeselare. The majority of Aardbeien Cardoen's strawberry production is sold through this regional auction.

The rest of the harvest is sold via vending machines. One is located in Moorslede, and since early May, there's a second one in Langemark. "I really enjoy the vending machines because they bring direct appreciation for the product, just like the tours I give. Otherwise, you can sometimes feel like all your hard work goes unnoticed."

Unique with Elsanta
Inside the greenhouse, a propagation crop of the variety Elsanta is currently growing. While many growers have phased out this classic variety, Sien has chosen to keep cultivating Elsanta. "I just haven't found a good enough alternative yet," she says. Personally, she still loves the taste of Elsanta strawberries, and with the acreage of this variety declining, her product is slowly becoming more unique. "Prices at the auction weren't great today overall, but Elsanta actually fetched a better price than Karima, for example."

Sien also grows the everbearing variety Karima, alongside Sonsation and Falco, two June-bearing varieties. The more even production curve of Karima is convenient, but as a grower still in her twenties, she's still getting used to its production rhythm. "I can't always predict when we'll have high or low yields, and that makes it tricky sometimes, especially when it comes to keeping the vending machines well stocked."

Expansion with Mini-Air
At Aardbeien Cardoen, strawberries are grown in greenhouses, on tabletops, and, since last year, also in a Mini-Air tunnel system from Meteor Systems. "Adding the Mini-Air has really helped us bridge the gap that used to occur between the end of the greenhouse crop and the start of the tabletop season. The transition is much smoother now."

The greenhouse cultivation is divided into two blocks, one for spring production and one for autumn. The greenhouses can be heated using coal as a heat source. "When we built the greenhouse, Ruben calculated that heating with coal was the most cost-effective option. He really wanted to hit the market early in the season, and heating made that possible. But now, coal has become quite expensive too. So we're currently evaluating whether the heating costs are still justified by the prices we can get for early or late-season strawberries."

This season, harvesting at Aardbeien Cardoen began at the end of March, quite early, considering they don't use artificial lighting, only stretching light. The Mini-Air tunnel crop wrapped up in early July. Sien grows two crops per year in that structure. The tabletop system used to follow a similar schedule, but since introducing the Mini-Air, that's no longer necessary. "We now grow one crop a year on the tabletops, divided into six blocks to spread out production," she explains. With less pressure on the tabletop crops, Sien has noticed a clear improvement in quality. "We've seen fewer issues with diseased plants, for example."

So far this year, Sien says strawberry prices have been lower than last year. "But we'll only really know where we stand once the year is over." Aardbeien Cardoen keeps producing strawberries all the way into December. "Yields are definitely higher this year already," she adds.

Labor is a challenge
The recent expansion with 0.5 hectares of Mini-Air (alongside 0.8 hectares of greenhouse and 2.1 hectares of tabletop cultivation) will be the last for now, Sien says. With the business at its current size, she already has her hands full. In addition to help from her in-laws, the farm also employs seasonal migrant workers, who are provided with on-site housing. The buildings from the former mixed-use farm have been repurposed for this. "We can house up to 14 people ourselves. This year, we're working with a team of 11, all from Romania."

Labor is the farm's biggest ongoing challenge. Finding good, reliable workers isn't easy. In that regard, growing everbearing varieties like Karima is helpful, since the labor demand is more evenly spread across the season. Although Sien remains a loyal fan of Elsanta, she's open to expanding with everbearers. Ideally, she'd like to work with her own mother plants and a propagation crop, though she knows that's not possible with every variety.

With a small expansion of the tray field last year, the farm has already made space to support this direction. "We had a small patch of land available, and it turned out to be perfect for this."

Sien enjoys giving tours at the company.

For more information:
Aardbeien Cardoen
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