Grower Jan Janssen already ran his own nursery on a 2.7 hectare site at a young age. He opted for the challenge of growing cucumbers instead of the bell peppers he grew up with.
Cucumbers are more complex because planning and organising growing is more difficult, and he admits honestly that it took quite some time getting used to. ‘Bell peppers are a relatively straightforward crop. They grow very steadily. Cucumbers, on the other hand, grow fast.
With bell peppers you can sometimes take it easy and wait until the next day. It's a different story with cucumbers. You have to harvest them every day. It's a constant process of stopping and starting. It can get pretty frenetic at times.’
The cucumber plants are planted in the greenhouse three times a year - starting in January. ‘The first crop is slower because light levels are still low. The more light there is, the faster the cucumber grows. The second crop is actually the most hectic, when there are six people working per hectare, so fifteen or sixteen of us in total. And then we can switch down a gear again for the third crop.’
