Anniversary at the Kottgeiseringer Sonnenäcker: What the mayor and farmer Josef Drexler started 25 years ago has long been a success story. From four idealists, the number of Sonnenackler grew to over 40 this year.
Kottgeisering – With eight pointed fingers, eight-year-old Rosa carefully places the pea in the furrow that her sister Eva (12) previously pulled into the coarse-crusted arable soil with the planting shovel. The two read the recommended planting distance from the seed bag. Her three-year-old brother Mathias now collects small stones and loads them with the excavator onto the tipper of his toy tractor. His sister Lilly (15) stuffs the onions that her mother Sabiha got from the bicycle basket. Gardener teamwork at the Bauer family.
"We have had half a bifang for eight years and are still enthusiastic," says Sabiha Bauer. The experience grows from year to year and you learn new things - not least thanks to the professional exchange with the neighboring gardeners. Because the planters are usually sold in twelve pieces, barter also flourishes. "All sorts of things are grown - what you plant also grows," reports Sabiha Bauer, who, as a former "city child in London", enjoys gazing at the edge of the Ampermoose with a view of the mountains.
The fact that it is growing so well is certainly thanks to the water pump that Josef Drexler installed for his tenants at the time. A special feature of the Kottgeiseringer Sonnenackers, which has saved many a harvest in the increasingly dry summers. That's why the bifangs are raffled at the beginning of the season, because the ones on the pump are the most coveted. The Bauer children know this very well: "We are the watering can tugs, which of course is not that great," quarrels Lilly.
Of course, you also learn what doesn't go like this: "We no longer grow potatoes, because collecting and crushing the beetles is annoying," says Sabiha Bauer. Sunflowers are nice to look at, but they take up a lot of space and sun. And submarine-sized zucchini are more of a nuisance than a treat and can only be avoided by constant monitoring.
Very exotic plants can be found on the carefully maintained Bifang by Simon Kim. No wonder, because the 67-year-old Grafrather has the seeds sent from his former home in South Korea. Various salads, Korean radish and Chinese cabbage are pickled in kimchi style with spices after the harvest. "A traditional process that does not require cooling," says Kim. Homemade sesame leaves, plucked salads that are suitable as a decoration, but also German vegetables have been in his Korean cuisine for five years.
Kottgeisering's mayor Andreas Folger is almost a gardener from the very beginning. At that time he and his family leased a bifang from the previous mayor, Josef Drexler, at the Griesbründl. With a normal harvest, he can eat many products over the winter.
"Everything tastes good because you know where it comes from and that it has not been treated with pesticides," said Folger. In retrospect, he realizes that bifang also has an "educational" effect - because a lot of vegetables are growing in the garden of his adult children.
Josef Drexler has now handed over the Sonnenacker to his son Thomas - and he continues to lease. When he sees the many children in the field, it reminds him of the first gardening experiences he had with his grandmother.
"I am delighted to be able to help children get a feel for the value of healthy food," said Thomas Drexler. Last but not least, gardening together would not only bring old and young together, but also different social groups.