INTERVIEW

How lond has the nursery been around and how did it become your nursery?
My great-grandfather Curt Frenzel took over an existing cemetery nursery in 1911. In the years 1920 to 1922, the residential and commercial building as well as the first greenhouses were built on the current company grounds. Later his son Heinz Frenzel took over the business and continued it until the end of 1988. In 1989 I took over the company under my own name.
We produce vegetables and young vegetable plants, bedding and balcony plants as well as cut flowers of the season. Plant protection products have not been used here for many years. Only in this way I do know that I can offer everything that grows and is harvested here to my customers with a clear conscience.

Have you ever regretted your decision?
People who work the soil are down to earth in the truest sense of the word. The harvest is then the reward for it. And it always grows back, which compensates for a lot, even for possible failures.

What do you like best, what is most fun?
To experience nature and the course of the seasons again and again. When the greenhouses are full of blooming plants in spring and it is watered early in the morning: then it smells, sun floods the houses, birds chirp.  I like to enjoy this lavish abundance. Later in the year, the vegetables are sold fresh from the flowerbeds, without long transport routes. The variety of the preparation is far from exhausted, there is always something new – recipes and tips are sometimes sent to customers together with the vegetables or come from them.

What are your biggest challenge?
The range of horticultural products is also diverse in the food trade. In a rather economically weak region like here, many customers mainly buy cheap. Especially when it comes to food, unfortunately, this is often not always the healthiest thing to do. In the interest of each and every one of us, it would be nice if this awareness were to become even more widespread among customers and if customers were also to attach more importance to the sustainable production of their food.

What role does Forst play for your company?
I have been running the nursery for over 30 years, selling from the farm, standing at the market in season and tending many graves in the cemetery since 1989. Forst has become my hometown.

Do you notice a trend towards sustainability in Forst?
Our customers appreciate the taste and freshness of our products. It is clear to many that the products require more manual work than in a large-scale company. But the taste of our products convinces them. And if our way of working protects and conserves our environment, we can all make our contribution to sustainability.

What are your plans for the future?
Our range of vegetables is to be significantly expanded. I would like to be able to process the produce that are not sold by myself and then offer it outside of the harvest season. I can also well imagine offering and delivering a vegetable box on a regular basis. During operation, a significantly water-saving and groundwater-saving irrigation system is installed.
Of course, as in the last three decades, we continue to carry out grave maintenance in the cemetery as well as the laying out of burial sites and produce and deliver floral decorations of all kinds, of course with as many flowers as possible produced by ourselves.

Tip: Day of the open door on the last Sunday of April