SHORT DESCRIPTION: Ron van Zwet was born as a floriculturist in a small town in the Netherlands. He moved with his family to Almere, an expanding city with continuous urban development, and opened a greenhouse dedicated to the cultivation of roses. Over the years, however, the market has become increasingly competitive and the small production of Ron van Zwet was no longer enough. In 2012, looking around, Ron realizes that it is increasingly difficult for citizens to find spaces where grow even small vegetable gardens so, it develops the concept of "Allotment under glass". Ron allows the citizens of Almere to rent plots of land within his own greenhouse: a 2.0 vegetable garden in which weeds, snails, wind and climate no longer exist.
KEY ACTIVITIES: Onze Volkstuin rents land lots in greenhouses. The big advantage of using a greenhouse is that the season has been substantially extended. The soil in the greenhouse heats up faster in the spring and stays warm longer in the autumn, allowing you to harvest earlier and even longer. In winter it can also freeze in the greenhouse but, since there is no wind blowing through the greenhouse, the temperature is always more comfortable than outside, and you can grow and harvest vegetables all year round. In summer the temperatures in greenhouse are tropical so, Mediterranean and exotic crops such as melon, eggplant etc. grow well. In addition, Onze Volkstuin organizes workshops and workshops on work in the garden and, since 2014, school gardens have also been created.
RELEVANT ASPECTS: garden, urban, community, greenhouse.
BUSINESS MODELS: Experience.
