Their guiding belief is simple: what we eat builds our bodies. That’s why they focus on nutrient-dense, clean vegetables and transparent methods. Just as important, they farm in a way that gives back. Every season they enrich the soil - rotating crops, sowing green manures, and returning organic matter - so the land is not exhausted but renewed. The result is food that nourishes people today while keeping the ground fertile for tomorrow.

Joining the Hardest Club

Dennis, how did you become a farmer - and why did you choose the biodynamic Demeter path?

I actually started out as an electrician and finished that training, but it felt like I was just a small part of a huge machine. I wanted to work outside and do something that could change the system, not just keep it running. I then trained to be a Waldorf teacher, giving garden lessons and helping kids learn by doing. Before becoming a teacher, I thought: if I’m going to teach about nature, I should really live it. So I began farm training - specifically not conventional. I found a program through Demeter, Germany’s biodynamic association. That was my first real contact with biodynamics, and I loved it. Demeter also has the strictest standards, which appealed to me. That’s how I became a biodynamic farmer.

Did you grow up in a farming family, or was this a personal calling?

My parents aren’t farmers - this path is mine.

What values get you out of bed and onto the field each day?

Dennis: First, passion. I need to wake up wanting to do the work. Second, I love that I share this life with my wife - we get our days together. Third, of course, we have to make a living. And beyond that, I want to leave something behind - something good for nature, people, and the environment.

In practice, how is biodynamic different from “regular” organic for you?

Dennis: In German we call food “Lebensmittel,” literally “what keeps you alive.” We forget that sometimes. Without healthy food, you don’t have healthy people - or a healthy environment. Biodynamics is a way of taking that seriously. Demeter has the hardest requirements, which helps keep our standards high and our purpose clear.

Which biodynamic preparations do you use, and what do they do for your soil and crops?

Dennis: This year was the first time we did most of the Demeter soil and crop preparations. I can’t claim scientific proof yet that the plants or soil are “healthier,” but it feels right. And there’s a social side: we did many of them together - with buyers and workers - so it builds community while we work.

Can you give a concrete example?

Dennis: Sunflowers are a good one. We sow sunflowers and legumes not to harvest them, but to enrich the soil. It’s our way of giving something back, of saying “thank you” to the ground that feeds us. That’s the spirit of the preparations and green manures: we take a lot, so we should give back.

What does your crop rotation look like?

Dennis: We rotate heavily. Brassicas like cabbages come back to the same plot only about every four years. Potatoes too - roughly every four years - because they’re demanding and take a full season. Fast crops like salad are different: eight to twelve weeks, then we’ll re-sow with sunflowers and legumes to re-feed the soil. Some crops can repeat sooner than two years, others need longer; we try to keep the soil’s needs first.

Growing What Customer Want

What do you grow - and what do you deliberately avoid?

Dennis: We grow 40-plus vegetables - pretty much everything our soils and climate can handle. We skip asparagus and strawberries; they’re beautiful crops, but strawberries are hard to store within our weekly CSA rhythm. Ginger didn’t work for us, so we stopped. Melons we don’t do either. No fruit, and we don’t do processing at the moment - just fresh vegetables.

What’s the biggest challenge you face?

Dennis: Honestly, it’s people - keeping enough CSA members and keeping them happy. We don’t want to lose 10–15% every year. Members fund our work and receive what we grow, so serving them well is the key.

How do you plan planting and harvest around member preferences?

Dennis: Six seasons in, we have a good sense of what works, what doesn’t, and in what quantities. But we still ask every year. It’s simple feedback - “More kale? Fewer potatoes? More carrots?” - usually via WhatsApp. That loop makes our planning better and helps members feel heard.

How does your CSA pricing and pickup work?

Dennis: We offer a small share for €79.50/month and a big share for €124.50/month. Members pick up weekly at our farm and two nearby points, and we’re adding another location soon - likely a café. Regular rhythm, predictable logistics - that’s what makes CSA work.

Do you sell outside the CSA?

Dennis: A little. We have a self-serve farm shop with trust-based payment; people help themselves. We also supply another farm shop. And if we have surplus - potatoes are a good example - I sell to other CSA farms so they don’t need to grow them. It makes sense for both sides.

Fearless Farmer

There are lots of flowers in your fields. Are they for the soil, for sale, or for Demeter requirements?

Dennis: They started as an answer to a financial problem: green manures like sunflowers and peas are essential, but members understandably don’t want to “pay for something they don’t eat.” So we turned flowers into a bridge - when people buy a bouquet, they’re also supporting the green manures that keep the veggies thriving. That idea became its own business line. Natalie is going self-employed with flowers next year. Florists buy from us, members buy from us, and we even have a flower vending machine in Ratzeburg. Flowers fund soil health - it’s a virtuous loop.

What role does digital - social media and online tools - play in your business?

Dennis: Instagram hasn’t brought a huge number of new customers, but it’s fantastic for member engagement. Short videos and posts put people “on the field” with us; it’s more vivid than email. For awareness and acquisition, we try to be everywhere - local newspapers, WhatsApp, community channels. It’s not any one thing; it’s being visible and consistent.

How do you balance yield with soil health and ecosystem care?

Dennis: For me, farming must be good for the soil. We should always give back at least as much as we take - ideally more. The preparations, green manures, rotations - all of it points to that balance.

What are your biggest hopes for the future?

Dennis: To own our farm - just Natalie and me. That would be a dream, and we’re working on it, so maybe soon. I also want cows - big-horned cows - integrated with our vegetables. They may not be the most profitable line, but they belong in the system: cows, manure, compost, vegetables - it all connects. And I want to keep doing this with Natalie for as long as we can.

And your fears?

Dennis: I don’t carry a lot of fear. If I think hard, sure - an accident would be tough. Not being able to work would be annoying. But life brings problems; you find solutions.

Last question about the broader system: what support do young farmers need most - policy, community, finance?

Dennis: In a perfect world, less dependence on subsidies and more fair pricing from customers. If people pay the real price for real food, we can pay fair wages and build good lives for our workers without government money - and without paying layers of admin around subsidies. That said, the system is what it is, and we are partly dependent on it today. But my preference is clear: fair prices, strong community, and dignity in the value chain.

One proudest moment?

Dennis: The end of each season, looking back and knowing we fed our people the whole year. That’s enough - for me, that’s success.

That’s powerful!

Solidarische Gemüsegärtnerei GmbH