Sorry for not giving more news last week. We are totally busy because we are thinking about our farm sustainability. We bought an organic farm because of our conviction but that is not enough! We want to be proud of our farm and to have a clear conscience. We know that we have only one planet for us and our children; we have to do all we can to keep it in good condition for future. Nearly all resources we use are limited and because of the rise of the world population we must save all our resources. So we were thinking about plan like a set up solar panels or wind turbines to get the electric autonomy or to use our organic waste to make biogas.

On the farm we have buildings with large root surface. We can use those roofs to make power. If we set up solar panels we can easily meet the energy requirement to heat our houses. If we do that we’ll need 60 000€ to pay the panels and the work and that only for our houses. We could also warm the piglet that will be a beat more expensive. We counted at least 100 000€ for them so we’ll need 160 000€. Hitch of us paid nearly 1 000€/ year of electricity and we need 10 000€ to warm piglets. With this system we save 12 000€/ year so it’ll be paid back in 13 years.

We also were thinking about recycling our organic waste in biogas. That will reduce the amount of waste. We could use the town waste to to pay back the project faster. We don’t really know the cost of this project because it depend on how many waste we use.

We are still thinking about that!
Have a nice week.I must go, today I have a lot to do

We have a pig production. We have only the maternity without the fattening of piglets.
In the farm, there are fifty sows runed in 3 groups. The first sows where are in maternity in individuals parks and suckle its piglets during eight weeks then they are weaned and sold at on other farmer. The second group of sows is in a building where we do the artificial insemination after the weaning until the verification of gestation. And the third group of sows is in a park, separeted in lots (smallers and biggers).

All the piglets are not sold but they are fattened in us farm. This pigs are slaughted in a specific slaughterhouse and then, the meat is sold in the farm.

Our farm :

She’s located in the hamlet of Brokenhoek a part of the town of Sint Denijs. We are near big towns like Kortrijk, Wevelgem, Zwevegem or Rijsel (Lille) allowing to Jean Bertrand to selling our products on the markets. At Brokenhoek, we are a little more than fifty inhabitants. There is seven farms, they produce cereals, sugar beet, endive, potatoes and they raise dairy and meat cows and pigs. Our farm is the only in organic farming but we are also the only at doing beer production. We have a close relationship with one of these farms because we have some of our machinery in common (combine harvester, seeder,..). Our productions:

The pig breeding: Cyrielle and Nolwenn manage our pig breeding on straw. They use their agricultural training. They are in charge of the preparation of the food, the motherhood, the fifty mothers and fattening. The crops production: We cultivate 130 hectars, we mainly produce the food for our pigs and for the beer production. The crops are: - Barley: 26 hectars (to feed the pigs and for making the beer). - Maïze : 25 hectars (pigs). - A mixture of peas, oats and triticale: 33 hectars (pigs). - Faba: 26 hectars (pigs). - Endive: 18 hectars (for the firm of Warcoing). - Grass: 1,5 hectars. - Hop: 0,5 hectars. - A little garden. Products processing: Each week we cut 1-2 pigs by a butcher and we made the tapas and delicatessen ourselves. Gautier who works in a brewery in the past, is in charge of beer production which represents 100 liters per week (one working day is accumulated per week). To conclude: This is the boss Jean Bertrand who travels the roads of Belgium from market to market for selling our famous tapas, the delicious beer and some vegetables.

A Belgium story !

Belgium is a 30 513 km² wide country. It situated in center of Europe between France, Germany and Netherland. Thanks to this situation Belgium enjoys of the economic dynamism from this area. Industry and factories are well developed. But farming is still an important field. They are a lot of crops base on silt soil extremely fertile. In western where our farm is located weather is soft with low gradient in temperature. So Belgium is a great place to bread and grow crops.

Nolwenn and me (Cyrielle) are sisters and decided to go in Spain to celebrate our success in examination. Jean Bertrand is an ex trader who had come in Spain with his wife for their holidays. And Gauthier had come to help his brother to manage his bar hanging a few days. Evening of June 27th, 2010, Heliogàbal bar organized a free concert. This event gathered lot of persons such as Jean-Bertrand, Gauthier, Nolwenn and I. At the end of the evening, we all get together to discuss in the bar of our lives and our envy and our dreams, around a good Belgian beer and pig based tapas. After a few hours and having redone the world, we thought that we can change our life, to make what we always wanted to make. Tapas and Belgian beer conquered us. A few months later we dashed on the project to take back a farm in Belgium. Before, Gauthier was working in a brewery. So, he could help us to hops production and beer manufacturing. My studies and that of my sister in farming allow us to have a good approach of the animal production. Jean-Bertrand, could be the manager of the farm. We shall inform you of the continuation of our adventure.