From Internship to education

After a very successfull Internship, the stars aligned so I could return to get my education at the hof, for the practical part, and then take the school part in Denmark, as the education for EST, ”Property service manager” dont exist in Germany – so luckely with the help of Erasmus, a combined education was setup, so for the next 3+ years I will be danish/german, and work with something I find very fullfilling, at a place with a big heart and statement for the safety of animals, and hopefully learn alot at the same time. Both practically and with German language and history aswell

I will for sure try alot of different things, things I might have tried before to some extent but also alot of new things as the farm will evolve from what is was until the summer of 22, an old farm used as a traktor repair shop to a modern animal sanctuary, with a fresh produce shop, and a place where people can learn about eco farming and animals.

Also a place where you can vacation in your camper in the middle of the forest and the animals, and at some point rent a tiny house to vacation in aswell

Alot have been made since my Intership, a new kitchen and communal area/office, doors in the barn as the big things.

Also the hof had 2 new souls, 2 calfs born in november from cows that were pregnant when they came here - its not otherwise a place where animals will breed as the numbers would explode, but a place they can live, so most will be neutered to avoid breeding but pregnant animals will be welcomed, and the offspring will be raised with the mothers, and not for milking in this case.

The first thing when i started the 23 of january 2023, was we setup a routine for the animals, so everyone was on the same page - how to feed them and let them out in summertime and wintertime, and how to lock up for the night, with all animals secure and feed , as that will be a job for those in the morning and evening before the rest is startet up, as the animals come first.

Also a new entrance gate and secure front area is being buildt, cleaning the front up, and securing the area.

An area in the barn will be made into a dog introduction area, so potential adopters can meet the dogs inside in a nice warm enviroment, at the place that will eventually be the shop if all goes to plan, but theres alot of permits to get first before you can sell fresh produce and alot of work before the area is ready for a shop, as it have functioned as a storage so far, but 2 new places where made for that, and all the stuff sorted between materials and items for the store.

End of January, start of february was very busy, a professionel Landscaper  came to make bricked roads ,sidewalks,  terrace and parkingspots to make it easier to move around and ready for summer, which meant we had to help with cleaning up, moving cement, laying the big sidestones. helping where its needed so they can fokus on the big parts and the big machines, and we fill the rest.

Also the main room that will eventually be the shop was cleanied out, dusted down and the floor and walls was leveled and will be painted.

A few upgrades for the animals, nets for hay that makes the donkeys and sheeps work  for their food, and making an old jacussi into a drinking tub for the mother cows and calfs, which were approved by one of the calfes even before I was done installing it - some big drinking pools are needed as cows drinks up to 80 L a day, and the tubs even with wood covering is easy to handle, can hold alot of water and is easy to clean.

February 11th,  8 guys went to work on the brick laying, leveling the area with sand, and then funnel bricks to the brick layers, around 80 square meters for the first part, the entrance area and parking zone, the next days we finished, all in all around 500 square meters, except for the fine sand to stabilize, as rain and the storm Otto made some troubles in that area, aswell as turning over a fence dividing the sheep fields.

The last bit of February will focus on cleaning up after the brickwork, cleaning out the cow stable, replacing 4 months of straw and shit, which isolates in the winter, so the cold from the floor dont affect the hoofs, but its full now about 30 cm high and around 40 square meters has to be replaced. 

 Repairing the fences brought down by the storm, and taking all out of a tiny house and make it all new from scratch, so all is nice and up to par with the Eu/german standards.

Also finishing 2 more rooms for eventual interns, most of the basics are done, but they need furniture, curtains, lamps and small stuff.

No rest for the busy bees :)

                              Operation Tiny House

Everything had to get out even plumbing, bath and most walls, a few parts salvaged for use elsewhere, but most where turned into office firewood or burned in a barrel outside.

Build with heavy wood and as a hunting cabin, so it was way to heavy and  not very usefull for a vacation home or B n B at the farm, so everything came out, and it will be remade from scratch with new materials, lighter in weight and more usefull in the woods, with a outdoor terresse, fireplace and a natural well, which was just digged out and is now clearing up, electricity will come from the farm aswell as from solar panels, the bathroom will be connected to the sewer system, as it is made to stay in one play but with the possibility to move it.

Onwards to Lubeck city

The 20 Marts I moved into an apartment owned by the Hotel, which together with about around 15 more needs to get restored, after some years rented out to the city for refugees, and now they will go back into the B n B rotation for the summer rush of tourists.

Most apartments just need a quick paint, while a few have some bigger damages that needs repair.

In one of the buildings, most of the hallway needed new plastering 10-15 cm high at the footlistings duo to a accident while moving out. Half the appartments is longtime rentals, the others hotel rooms, and in these old houses where the inner isolation is hay matts, it takes just a proper hit to damage the wall.

Lübeck in general is an old city, with mostly old houses, tho alot was damaged duing ww2, it was rebuild on the foundation that was already there, as if possible as it was, And being surrounded by water in itself gives the old buildings problems with small cracks soaking in water, fracturing the walls. And algae and mould grows rapidly, especially when theres been so much rain as these last months, so theres always something to fix, and when we are done inside we can start outside, cleaning for algae and moss mostly, but theres some potential cracks that needs a tjeck when its dry, and alot of gutters to clean as most is still oldschool tin gutters and heat and stale water can damaged these quiet fast - especially in the back alleys.

 Lübeck in general is a very clean for a tourist city, but in the shadows its dirty as all other bigger cities, and the new trash regulations with the many different ways of sorting, with as many different places to deliver the trash makes it harder to control.

And 2 of the recycleplants in inner city is closing down, to make the inner city more green, and to avoid the waterways to get damaged, which means the closest recycle stations is bigger, and made for bigger trucks with alot of stuff, and not a lot of small vehicles with stuff. And onlike in DK where theres free recycle stations in every city for residents, here youll get weighed and pays for the load no matter how small the load is.

Green areas of the hotel, the apartment buildings and the house of the Boss - right now theres alot to do, preparing for the summer to come, getting things cleaned up, remove moss and other growths

Easter Break - Tour de Lübeck

Green Areas

Beginning to change some of the outdoor areas, at the hof im trying different plants, first 3 different wines, 2 kiwis with froststrong roots and a raspberry, to find out which one can best be used for the many fences, to cover and to benefit with crops aswell, they are set up and have some time while im back in school, maj and june to get startet. Already the raspberry is growing fast and the other have gotten the first green leafs, its been a somewhat cold and wet spring so far, but its clear to see the mornings are good now and the sun is getting into action,. At the same time 3 areas have so far been deisignated for bird refuges, so they will have shadings, water and sand bath, and will be made so it gathers rainwater from a gutter that drains into a barrel on one side and a bath on the other side.

In Lubeck at the hotel, I started changing the inner yard atm disignated smoking area, into a  calm green area. The main struggle here is its affects naboes, and the restaurant have tables that looks into the yard, which was just a smoking area, bike parking and had alot of green wild weeds.

Startet with the inner part which at one point served as a herb garden, but that part dont get enough sun to be functional for that, so getting everything out, and is making a stone garden with a few pots with shadow resistent plants, in this case Bigleafed Magnolia "Magnolia grandiflora (Le Nanrais)" so its easy to maintain. Lubeck have several spots with Magnolia trees of different sorts, sp besides doing well in a semi shadow inveroment, they fit the city.

And I can get all stones we need from the farm, where we have tons, and at the same time move the old shed to the farm as it is not used anymore in the hotel, remove some big bushes and make an sitting area on the sunny side of the yard, so guests can sit and enjoy the sun or take a book from the library , and  eventually make a Petanque  game area as well - but first part before school is the garden.

Dug out the end part, so instead of an L shape, made an I shape, making some more room to get around with, got the earth to the farm, 70 x 20 L buckets, cut down a lot of the bushes, mostly to get into the water drainage system in the back to clean it up, so the water can get out - many years had blocked it with earth and sproutlings - discovered it was all based around another bricked garden so could only clean it out and clean around, as its time to go back for 2 school part, 7 weeks home, away from home....See you in the summer Lubeck and Lebenshof.