Wageningen Student Farm
The development of The Field coincided with that of Wageningen Student Farm, an initiative of a group of plant science students. Their intention was to put the theoretical knowledge gained by their study into practice. The Field offered a great opportunity.
The soil in the Field had been heavily disturbed (and mixed with building sand) due to all the construction over the past few years. As a result the soil currently had poor structure and low fertility. This however offers a wonderful opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge and experience about soil regenerative growing techniques.
At first the students choose to focus on six families of vegetables and had a mix of varieties in order to see what does well in the Field. They highlighted varieties of the Fabaceae (Leguminosae) family because of the nitrogen fixing potential and because 2016 was the international year of the pulses. In addition to experimenting with different varieties they will also be experimenting with innovative fertilization techniques and plant-plant interactions. In the last years Wageningen Student Farm has grown into a society for students of all kind of disciplines that are searching for hands-on experience.
If you are interested in learning more about what these ambitious students are planning or want to be involved in one of the experiments, visit their site.
You can also find out more about Wageningen Student Farm by checking out their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/wageningenstudentfarm/.