–
They were untouched in cold stores throughout the Netherlands: 150,000 pear trees. Normally the trees are sold to fruit growers, but due to the corona crisis this has not been possible and there is a surplus. Fortunately, the Brabant Millieufederatie (BMF) came up with a smart solution: enthusiasts could pick up a free copy at the Regte farm in Riel on Friday.
–
Lola Zopfi
—
According to Jesper Bekkers of the BMF, the call for free pear trees is generating a lot of nice reactions. “We receive a lot of messages from people, including phone calls. For example, interested parties wonder whether they can perhaps bring more than one tree. There is a lot of interest in the pear trees. ”
–
And that interest is a good thing, otherwise the unsold trees would be destroyed. “All pear trees now get a second chance,” says Bekkers. “If we don’t give them away, they will be thrown in the incinerator or destroyed in the shredder.”
–
It is a Conference tree, a low trunk that grows about three to three and a half meters high. “This tree works well with people in the garden, but also in the schoolyard, for example. And of course it is nicer to have extra greenery in the garden, it is fresher and cooler ”, says Bekkers.
–
––
Fish from the pond
Those who are interested will have to make some effort to obtain a tree upon arrival at the farm. “The pear trees are now in a pond so that the roots stay wet. So people have to fish out the tree first. Once at home, the tree can be planted. ”
–
Fortunately, most people experience removing that tree from the water as a challenge. In the yard the visitors walk in wellies, so that they can easily enter the water. “It’s great fun,” says a woman who has just brought a pear tree, “digging around in the water until you have one and helping each other a bit of course”, she laughs.
–
Waiting for privacy settings …
–
The started on Friday morning at nine o’clock, in the afternoon, around one o’clock, the very last tree was removed from the water. “It was really unprecedented,” says Bekkers, surprised. “We never expected that we could give away so many trees. In total there were four thousand trees in the pond and they are all gone now.”
–
‘I had already dug a hole in my garden’
Yet even after one hour, people still come to the yard to pick up a fruit tree. They turn around disappointed when they hear that the trees are gone. A woman is very disappointed. “I drove all the way from Bladel here and I even got stuck in traffic”, she sighs. Another woman can laugh about it. “I had already dug a hole in my garden, but now I’m going back without a tree.”
–
The surplus of pear trees was not only given away in Riel, there was also a possibility in Brabant to pick up a tree in Breda at farm Overa. There were also about four thousand trees ready for a second chance.
–
Waiting for privacy settings …
— .
