Marlene Herzog and Marc Grawitschky

We gained the knowledge and expertise we needed from the Department of Organic Agricultural Sciences in Witzenhausen. The information day at Witzenhausen encouraged me, Marc Grawitschky, to choose my degree course: a clearly structured, informal department, committed, enthusiastic students and the idyllic landscape of northern Hesse made my choice easy. I didn't have a specific career in mind before I started studying. Regional development and the promotion of organic farming in my home region, the Ore Mountains, were my vague ideas at the beginning of my studies. As one of the first bachelor's degree students, we had a free choice of subjects in the main course. So I decided on a mixture of plant cultivation, soil fertility, agricultural sociology and agricultural policy.

Even as a child, Marlene Herzog wanted to pursue a career with animals or plants. I was practically born with a critical approach to the way we treat nature and its creatures. So after secondary school and a few internships, it quickly became clear that I wanted to study organic farming in Witzenhausen. My focus was on organic crop and arable farming. Thanks to the wide range of courses on offer, I was also able to benefit from the fields of livestock science and international agricultural policy. My bachelor's thesis in 2008 was entitled: "The milk delivery strike in May/June 2008 and associated interests".

After completing our bachelor's degree, our path led us - from then on together - to Münsterland, where Marlene completed a traineeship at the independent Bauerstimme and Marc worked on an organic vegetable farm in Münster. Our daughter was also born in Münster in 2009. The birth of our second daughter in 2012 then moved us close to our grandparents in Saarland.

After some time working on other farms, it soon became clear to us that we wanted our own farm so that we could put our own ideas, ideals and experiences into practice. After some searching, we finally found the Wahlbacherhof near Zweibrücken in the southwest Palatinate in 2014, where we were able to work as employees for a year. Our third daughter was born there in 2015. After this trial year, we finally took over the diverse mixed farm by founding a limited partnership (KG). We were able to maintain and develop the farm by setting up a solidarity-based farming system. Since then, the old farmers Manfred and Marianne Nafziger have supported us with a great deal of idealism, patience and willingness to compromise. Both live with us on the farm.

The community-supported farm employs six people and provides around 300 to 400 people with around 40 different vegetable crops on a total of 2 hectares of vegetable land (including 1.5 hectares of open field vegetables and 1,000 square meters of foil tunnels). We grow cereals and crops such as millet, lentils, camelina, buckwheat, linseed, red wheat, spelt and others on around 30 hectares of arable land. We keep a small herd of 10 suckler cows on around 20 hectares of grassland and a total of 400 laying hens in two barns (including 1 mobile henhouse). Every year we have apple juice pressed from the apples of around 300 apple trees. We also harvest our own strawberries. The site includes 15 hectares of forest.

Organic farming, as we learned it in Witzenhausen and implement it on our farm today, is the right way for us to farm. Through solidarity farming, we can guarantee ourselves and our employees a regular and fair income. At the same time, we have the opportunity not to lose sight of the values and goals of organic farming. While many organic farms have to follow the path of specialization and growth, we have the opportunity to keep diversity, animal welfare, fair working conditions, nature conservation and soil development in mind.