white whole grain quinoa
Mudda Natur
We are in off-season.
The project
Adopt {publicVariety} from "{farmName}" in {cityfarm} ({countryFarm}) and receive your harvest in the form of {production} at home. The Farmer {farmerName} will take care of your adoption and take its picture. Also, you will be able to download the adoption certificate and, if you wish, plan your visit to the farm. You do not enter into any long-term commitment: once you receive your harvest and you enjoyed the experience, you may decide to renew and extend the adoption.
What do you adopt?
Adopt {publicVariety} from our farm in {cityfarm} ({countryFarm}).
You adopt an approx. 15m² quinoa plant stock in northwest Germany. The plant Quinoa *(Chenopodium quinoa)* belongs to the foxtail family *(Amaranthaceae)*, thus not to the family of classic cereals (grasses = *Poaceae*), although it has a similar use in the kitchen as a healthy starch supplement, protein and energy supplier. It is particularly popular because it is gluten-free. The genetic origin of quinoa is in Peru, almost 11,000 km away, at the very high altitude Lake Titicaca, where it has been cultivated for about 5,000 years and has traditionally been a staple food. Quinoa is still widely cultivated in South America today. This plant is not only able to cope with difficult conditions such as barren soils or high altitudes, but also with climate change: it is known for its tolerance to extreme pH values in the soil, ground frost, drought and nutrient deficiency.
We have been growing quinoa on our family farm in Germany for nine years now and do not use chemical pesticides or mineral fertilizers for cultivation. You can download the analysis of our harvest below. The care and cultivation of quinoa here in the Münsterland region is very similar to traditional cereals such as rye or wheat, i.e. it is sown, tended, flowered, matured and finally threshed with a combine harvester.
The productive life of {publicVariety} is around 3.5 months. For as long as you want to keep it and we can continue taking care of it, you can renew your adoption year after year. If your {variety} dies, we will replace it with no additional cost and assuring the delivery of your harvest from other trees.
Each {variety} bears an average of {masterUnitsMax}kg per season.
What will you receive?
Each season we will send you a box of 3kg with:
6 x __white whole grain quinoa__ (500g bags)
What is special about our whole grain quinoa is that it does not need to be washed/rinsed, peeled or soaked before cooking. So you can prepare it directly and create delicious dishes like quinoa salad, warm dishes like quinoa fritters or breakfast porridge. There are many recipes!
In contrast to the usual South American imported goods, our quinoa does not contain any bitter substances (so-called saponins). On the contrary, it tastes pleasantly mild and slightly nutty. This saves water, work and preserves valuable nutrients in and under the shell, which is so appreciated in whole grain products. When you receive your quinoa, you can either store it directly in the coated paper bags in a dry and cool place, or you can transfer it into an airtight container. Quinoa doesn't actually have an expiry date, but for legal reasons we do specify a minimum shelf life of two years.
When will you receive it?
Please, check the deadline for participating in this project (deadline for adoption) below. As of this date the Farmer will start preparing the orders that are to be shipped.
You may select the delivery date of your box as suggested by the Farmer at check-out.
Quinoa is harvested in late summer. Afterwards it has to be dried so that it can be stored permanently. Furthermore the harvest is cleaned - plant remains and components of herbs (which sometimes arise because we do not use pesticides) must be removed.
Afterwards everything has to be packed and in autumn the delicious grains are finally ready for shipment to you CrowdFarmers.
Why should you adopt?
* Learn who produces your food, how and where. Receive your food in a conscious manner.
* Buy directly from the farmer. Help to generate wealth and better jobs in the rural areas.
* Plan ahead and enable the Farmer to produce on demand. This way we can avoid overproduction and fight food waste.
* Reward Farmers who make an effort to use environmentally-friendly packaging and cultivation techniques.
How does it work?
Meet the Farmers
Adopt and plan your harvest
Let the Farmer and nature work
Receive your harvest at home
Carolin Drerup
I am Carolin Drerup, one of the three founders of Mudda Natur. Together with my husband Philipp Drerup and Johannes Grenzebach as partners we grow quinoa in Germany.
During our studies of agricultural sciences we got to know Quinoa during an excursion together. A friend of ours is suffering from coeliac disease (gluten intolerance). People with coeliac disease can only tolerate our gluten-containing standard cereals with little or no tolerance. As a pseudo-cereal from another plant family, quinoa is gluten-free!
So our first idea was to grow quinoa for our friend and thus cover her year's supply. In the meantime this has grown into much more and we have gradually developed further products.
When we started growing quinoa nine years ago, we had no experience with this crop, but over the years we have developed a feeling for the plant and the growing conditions here. In the meantime we have organised ourselves in such a way that I, Carolin, and Johannes take over the day-to-day business. Johannes is increasingly responsible for the sales of our products and customer service. All the paperwork comes together and I take care of marketing at all levels. Philipp supports us in all areas and always has the big picture in mind.
Now that we have quinoa cultivation well under control, we are excited about this new way of marketing and the direct connection to the consumer through CrowdFarming. We see the future of our business more in differentiation than in intensification. In order to achieve this, we are not afraid to break new ground. Now it is of course a big concern for us to spread the word that quinoa is also available from Germany - even still free of bitter substances. Our quinoa can therefore be taken directly from the field to the pot without washing.
Carolin Drerup
"Quinoa is delicious and also very healthy, it doesn't have to come from far away! We would like to offer you CrowdFarmers a much closer alternative to imported goods from far away and to delight you with our quinoa produced here in Münsterland."
Mudda Natur
Mudda Natur
Mudda Natur is a merger of two agricultural enterprises. One is the Drerup farm from the Münsterland and the Grenzebach farm from the Wetterau. In both regions agriculture has always been practised.
The quinoa sent to CrowdFarmer will come this year from the Münsterland. The quinoa from Johannes' farm we transform, e.g. to pasta. The farm Drerup in the west of the Münsterland, which was first mentioned in 1752, is located at the foot of the Baumberge, in Havixbeck. The Baumbergen is a forest area with a size of about 324 ha.
Thanks to the location of our farm at the foot of the Baumberge, the arable land, on which the family has been farming for generations, is sandy loam. Compared to the sandy soils otherwise found in the Münsterland region, our soils are characterised by a good water retention capacity with a high fertility and an active soil life. Our farm also includes several flowering areas and a large orchard.
The Münsterland is a very agricultural area in Germany, so agriculture is strongly connected to the population. Many people appreciate the beauty and cultural landscape of the Münsterland. And quinoa as an exotic and as an interesting and beautiful field crop now contributes to its attractiveness.
I, Carolin Drerup, met my husband Philipp Drerup while studying agricultural sciences in Bonn and we quickly decided to spend our lives together. This is how I ended up on the Drerup farm. Of course, the older generation still lends a hand and the children are always there when it comes to doing work on the farm.
The responsible treatment of nature is part of our daily work. In order to operate as environmentally friendly and sustainable as possible, we produce a large part of the electricity we use ourselves on the photovoltaic systems on our roofs. In addition, we use beech and oak wood from our forest to heat our house and water. We also live this sustainability in our fields: we cultivate our land in such a way that fertility and biological activity of the soil are not only preserved but also increased.
Quinoa is a very frugal and resistant plant, perfect for the ever-increasing fluctuations in weather and periods of drought: Therefore, it does not require artificial irrigation. Rainwater from the sky is the only source of water for this crop. As with conventional grain, harvesting is done with a combine harvester, which of course has to be specially adjusted. Then we take our quinoa to a special grain cleaning facility and then we bottle it. The cleaned out plant remains such as stems and leaves are mostly used for energy production. So nothing is lost. My husband Philipp and I grow quinoa on our farm according to organic standards and cultivate our land in such a way that fertility and biological activity of the soil can not only be maintained but also increased. Weeds are allowed to grow - if they get out of hand, they are mechanically regulated. Our best helpers are ladybirds, which use the lice as a food source and simply eat them up.
Technical information
Address
Mudda Natur, Havixbeck, DE
Location