Forget the Keukenhof and the Bulb Region. You don’t have to leave Brabant for flower fields: in Sint-Michielsgestel, farmer Frank van Wagenberg accidentally sowed 85,000 square meters of poppies instead of grass. Annoying for him, because the damage amounts to at least 10,000 euros. But it produces beautiful pictures and attracts visitors from far and wide.
The barrier tapes were quickly hung at Frank’s pasture on Thursday afternoon. His poppy field has now become a real attraction. People come and go to admire the red sea of flowers with their own eyes. “You have people who stand right in the middle of the field. We also want others to enjoy it,” says the farmer.
Mother and daughter Mariëtte and Nienke Verberne from Vught did not let the rain shower that passed on Thursday stop them. They waited for him for a moment and then got straight into the car. “The poppy is my most beautiful flower. The colors and its beauty: beautiful. And nice and close to home. Completely ideal,” says Mariëtte.
Nienke also has a special bond with the flower. She has a tattoo of a poppy on her arm. “It is August’s birth flower, but also my father’s. And the poppy is also my mother’s favorite flower. Everything comes together so beautifully.”
Nienke Verberne loves poppies so much that she has a tattoo of them on her arm (photo: Wilco Zonneveld).
Between all the clicking of cameras, Frank explains how it came to be. His pasture should actually have grass clover, intended as feed for his cows. “Last year there was barley. For the crop rotation, we thought we would go for grass clover this year. Because we farm organically, weeds are no strangers to us. But now it has become a different crop.” He thinks it is probably due to the storage of seeds in the ground.
An older couple who come especially from Knegsel are amazed. “More people should do it this way.” A Belgian couple also cycles by. “The red color is immediately noticeable. You can see it from afar. We often encounter tulip fields, but we have not seen this yet.”
A photographer takes shelter in his car during the rain, but gets out again as soon as it is dry. “The photos don’t look good with the sun either. The view is great. What you see here is unique.”
Despite the damage estimated at ten thousand euros, Frank laughs like a farmer with a toothache. “We turned it into a fun activity: together we make the environment more beautiful. We are biodiverse, but perhaps a little too much. But at least we have compensated ourselves for ten years,” he jokes.
