News
How great is the loss when someone is no longer here! It is unimaginable how many visits, messages, phone calls, cards, flowers and help we have received following the unexpected loss of Marc. The farewell was moving and poignant and gives us a lot of support and strength. Marc lives on in everyone he knew and we hope we can bear this loss together.
Pictures made by AHA Fotografie
Since last Sunday night/Monday morning, there has been a lot of disbelief and sadness at De Kandelaar. During one of his favorite activities, the straw harvest, Marc died in an accident. We are deeply saddened. We will miss him, dear husband and buddy of Mariska, a very proud father of Marlies and uncle to Kaylee, a helpful brother-in-law for Joris and Lisette, a wonderful son-in-law of Jos and Maria. We will miss his drive, his professionalism and great enthusiasm for our farm.
We will say goodbye to him privately on Tuesday 24th August. It is possible to follow the farewell service via this livestream. You can leave condolences here.
Due to this intense sadness, our Bed & Breakfast is closed for the time being. We hope for your kind understanding and consideration.
Afgelopen vrijdag 2 juli heeft Mariska haar officiële trainingscertificaat voor boerderijeducatie in ontvangst genomen. Samen met een aantal agrarische ondernemers,van pluimveehouder tot akkerbouwer, bieden wij lessen aan om meer te leren over de boerderij. Basisscholen uit Flevoland en omgeving zijn van harte welkom bij De Kandelaar om op boerderijexcursie te gaan en te zien waar het lokale eten vandaan komt.
Op 16 juni is groep 6 van De Zonnewijzer uit Dronten de eerste klas geweest. De kinderen hebben een kijkje genomen en opdrachten gemaakt bij de kalfjes en koeien, de machines en tractoren, bij de melkrobot en op het land. Maar omdat we sinds kort ook kaas maken, was er ook de gelegenheid om een kaasje en boter te maken. Tot slot werd de boerderij-film gemaakt door Kaylee en Marlies en de film over onze kaasmakerij bekeken. Kortom een hele leuke en leerzame woensdagochtend waar zowel de kinderen als wij met veel voldoening op terug kijken.
Meer informatie over onze boerderijeducatie-les,van kalf tot koe van melk tot kaas, vind je hier. Wil je ook een keer een boerderijexcursie met je klas naar onze boerderij, neem dan contact met ons op.
At the beginning of May it was announced that we were one of the winners of “Dronten’s best idea”! Following this win, we will start to organise workshops and birthday parties in our cheese factory. In particular for children from low-income families and children from primary schools in Dronten. We would like to teach and inform everybody about the origin of our food from their immediate environment. The children will take a look at our calves, cows and of course all the other animals we keep at the farm. Then they get to see a film about cheese making, followed by making their own cheese! They will have to be patient as it needs to store for three weeks first before the children receive their “own” cheese at home to enjoy. If you would like to know more about the possibilities of a workshop or organise a birthday party, please send us an email.
Tulip Route Flevoland has now come to an end. In recent weeks it has been very busy at De Kandelaar. Many visitors to Tulip Route Flevoland also visited De Kandelaar to take a look at the farm and the cheese factory. Our farmhouse cheeses and cheese platter-to-go were a great success. In the coming period we will work hard to replenish the stock. If you are looking for a particular flavour, please let us know and we will make your cheese to order.
Finally, work continued on the land as well. The potatoes have been planted, the sugar beets and corn have been sown and the first cut of grass has already been mowed. With the current rain fall, it will not be long before the first plants become visible. Fingers crossed for a nice summer!
This year our patience is being tested due to the slow growth of the tulips as it has been very cold. This means the growth of the tulips is almost 2 weeks behind compared to the other years. Tulip Route Flevoland was due to start on 10 April, but will now start on 16 April. Due to Corona, visiting the routes and the participating companies is limited. If you would like to drive the tulip route, a ticket must be purchased. You can order a ticket via this link.
Bed & Breakfast De Kandelaar and Boerkok are the starting locations for the driving route Lelystad. In addition to your ticket, you can order a delicious home-made cheese board to enjoy on the road. The cheese boards and coffee to go are also available at De Kandelaar. In collaboration with Ice Brewers and Zwaan Outdoor Sports, we have organised an interactive children’s tulip package.
If you would like you can have a look in our small cheese factory. Enjoy the tulips from close by, please take a short stroll in one of the fields. The beautiful tulips are grown by brothers Ad and Erik de Wit. If you would get to know the area better, you can rent a bike and follow the cycle route from De Kandelaar. As you can tell, there is so much to do so why not make it a longer stay by booking a room in the Bed & Breakfast at De Kandelaar.
What a wonderful week we have had! After the cold and the freezing weather, there was beautiful spring weather with a lovely sun. Immediately that means more work on the farm. Our contractor Frens applied our cow’s manure to the land. Let the grass grow!
But there was much more activity at De Kandelaar, because we participated in “Rondje Zuyderzee” (Tour of Zuyderzee). Jurgen and Bert Jan van Zwaan at Outdoor Sports had set out a wonderful puzzle tour in Eastern Flevoland – adhering to all the COVID regulations. It is a super fun initiative for young and old. Upon registry you received the route and at De Kandelaar you could also take part by throwing tennis balls in a milk can. Plus, of course, you could take a look at our new cheese factory. It was great to meet so many nice people from our region. Our “on-the-go” cheese platter has proven a big hit and we even ran out of cheese on the last day.
Have you not yet participated in this fun puzzle tour and you also want to get hold of the only “Rondje Zuyderzee” cheese platter? This trip will be organized again this weekend, so sign up quickly! More information can be found here.
Sometimes small thoughts can suddenly become reality. Joris and Marc would like to get more value for their products, Lisette enjoys cheese making and Mariska likes to serve her guests products from their own company during breakfast or lunch. What could be better than cheese made from the cows’ milk of De Kandelaar.
And so Lisette started with a starter kit for cheese making at the beginning of December. To learn the tricks of cheese making, we made a visit to Texel, where Mascha, a friend of Mariska’s, has a cheese factory. We couldn’t wait to taste our first cheese and we were blown away by the delicious taste. We added the cheese molds, a cheese press was sought and bought and production was switched from a pan to a preservation pan. Family and friends responded enthusiastically to our cheeses, which increased production with an extra preserving pan. The cheese factory moved to the garage and Marc made a beautiful press table. But the garage also became too small, especially to store all the cheese properly.
Fortunately, RIVM (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment) had left a unit with climate control. This unit was used to carry out studies into air quality and the weather. This unit emerged to be the perfect space for cheese making and storage. When the sugar beets were finally collected, the unit could be moved to where the weighbridge used to be. Via ‘marktplaats’ we found a suitable oak cheese cabinet for the design of our cheese shop. Today is the day, 1st February 2021, the cheese factory and shop has opened its doors. We are open from Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm. If you would like to receive nice promotions from our cheese shop, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
De Kandelaar’s residents wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year with hopefully lots of fun and activities.
In November, the last sugar beets were cleared and the land was plowed. The beets are waiting in the yard to go to the Cosun factory next week. Despite the fact that it is not that busy in the winter period, we have not been idle. We are working hard on our new plans. We want to add more value to our beautiful milk product. Lisette, Joris’ girlfriend, works in a large cheese factory and that’s how her hobby in cheese making started. What could not be better than being able to offer our guests a delicious piece of cheese made from our own milk.
So recently, we started to study cheese making and started looking for cheese molds, large pans and everything that is required to make a delicious cheese. Marc has made a beautiful press table. At the moment, we are tasting our first batch of cheese and it tastes delicious! Meanwhile, the storage is starting to grow with pounds and kilos of cheeses, including cheeses in the shape of a heart. Perhaps an idea for a nice cheese platter at Valentine’s Day. We are still in the testing phase, but it will not be long before cheese from Flevoland is available at De Kandelaar!
On Friday 16th October our Jack Russel, Pukkie, made us happy with 4 beautiful puppies; 2 dogs and 2 bitches, all taken good care of by ‘mum’ Pukkie. Their eyes are now open and it will not be long before they will run around. Pip, the black bitch, will become Kaylee’s buddy. We are looking for a nice place for the other 3 puppies where they get a lot of attention and room to run around.
Last month, we have been very busy with the harvest. At the beginning of October, the corn was chopped and ensiled. After the many rain showers, the potato harvest followed. A lot of the potatoes that have been brought in will end up as fries.
Tulpenboer ‘tulip farmer’ de Wit was also busy on the land during the nice weather. We have again plowed almost 15 ha and planted uncountable tulip bulbs. It promises to be a lot of colour in the spring!
After many years of waiting, we have finally been connected to the fiber optic network. What a difference to the ADSL connection! With thanks to Greenet, we can now offer our Bed & Breakfast guests many different channels; including German, English and French channels. Something for everyone!
This month, 12.5 years ago, we officially started a Bed & Breakfast. After a thorough renovation we created 4 bedrooms with en-suite. Recently, De Kandelaar B&B was again awarded with 4 tulips by the Bed & Breakfast Nederland organisation.
Walk-in day
In the last 5 years, Mariska has also worked as an advisor for Optidee. All the beds in the Bed & Breakfast have the wonderful bedding from Optidee; from the comfortable mattress cover with fitted sheets to pillows with beautiful and comfortable pillowcases.
On Saturday 26th September, we are organising a walk-in day from 10:00 to 16:00 where everybody can get acquainted with the latest Optidee products. Each visitor receives a ticket which gives a chance to win a wonderful Optidee article.
Jubilee
This month our Bed & Breakfast is officially 12.5 years ‘old’. In the early years we were a member of “Friends on the bike”. There was an increasing demand for rooms with an en-suite (a private shower and toilet). To this end, we renovated the former office building of the test farm. In recent years we have welcomed many visitors from the Netherlands but also abroad.
Farm
Meanwhile, work on the farm is in full swing thanks to the beautiful weather. The onions are harvested and stored in the shed. The harvested land is immediately enriched with solid compost and sown with grass. It will stay busy the coming period, because the maize will soon be chopped, the potatoes can soon be harvested and the tulip bulbs will be planted in October.
