Hello, I am Ignac. Farmer through and through. A Sorbian through and through. That was probably laid in my path, because we Sorbs have always been a very down-to-earth people who have lived from agriculture. After training as a farmer on a conventional farm - I was just 16 at the time - the idea of having my own farm matured in me. But since my father did not want to expand his hobby farming, I had to take the management into my own hands. Already as a 19-year-old entrepreneur, I began to realise my dream and build up a business. It was very difficult, but my drive and idealism helped me. Especially the struggle for land to farm cost me a lot of energy and nerves. I had only been able to take over a small piece of land from my father, that was all we owned. I had to painstakingly acquire, buy or lease everything else piece by piece. From the very beginning, it was important to me to have an ecological farming system. For this reason, I passed the examination to become a master in organic farming in parallel to founding the farm. Over the years, my farm has grown to a respectable size, and I can look back on the hard years with pride. A modern vehicle fleet and innovative machinery make my daily work easier, even though there is still a lot of manual labour to do. I guess I must give thanks for my inventiveness and the perseverance I have. I have always had an inexhaustible vision: to produce healthy food ecologically, sustainably, in harmony with nature. The whole family supported me actively. We also have an apprentice: In August 2022, the farm's first apprentice will successfully complete his training. And another development is on the agenda for 2022: the conversion of the entire farm to the biodynamic farming method of the Demeter Association.

Welcome to Lusatia, welcome to the Lusatian Sorbian people! Our farm is a young family business and is in Sorbian Lusatia, in the tranquil village of Crostwitz. The farm and the surrounding area are characterised by the culture and language of the Sorbs - a small West Slavic nation, mainly settled in the eastern part of Germany in Lusatia. We are also Sorbs, as well as all the people working in the company and our apprentice, who will successfully complete his training with us after this summer. I am Ignac Wjesela, farm manager and master of organic farming. In 2014, I took over my father's farm, which was still more of a hobby at the time, I found my dream and built up my own farm with a lot of energy and effort. Even before I founded the farm, it was clear to me that I wanted to run it organically. Currently the farm, which I now run together with my wife Anna-Rosina, is undergoing a further development: the conversion to the biodynamic farming method of the Demeter Association, which we understand as the optimal completion stage of organic farming. All in all, we cultivate a total of about 100 hectares of arable land. In summer, our "Glücksrinder" graze on about 10 hectares of meadows, which are a mixed herd of cows that are allowed to enjoy their existence as living animals on our farm and are lovingly cared for by us and the Glücksrinder e.V. association. We are a family business with traditional structures. This shapes and influences our everyday work in a particularly positive way, as work tasks, planning and organisation can be taken over by different members of the family. This guarantees us the highest efficiency and, of course, a lot of joy in our daily work, because ultimately, we all enjoy "ploughing" together for a naturally good harvest. There are four of us: Anna-Rosina, my parents, and me. I take care of the field work and the general coordination, the others help me with everything that comes up. When working the fields, we do without deep ploughing and increasingly use what is known as hilling cultivation to grow our crops. On the one hand, this is gentle on the soil and very earthworm-friendly; on the other hand, thanks to the capillary effect, the plants can better manage the available water in the little hills. This helps us to prevent crop failure and damage caused by prolonged drought. We do not irrigate. Our field margins are a paradise for bees and insects. Every year we sow a mixture of regionally adapted seeds for flowers and herbs around our potato field. These insects help us to control pests and diseases, as organic farmers we don’t have so many options for pest control. We market our harvest products completely regionally. The grain is processed into baked goods in a nearby mill. We market the potatoes directly from the farm and in the organic shops in the immediate vicinity. We attach great importance to well-functioning partnerships in the region. However, to broaden our horizon a bit, and also to bring the beautiful, Sorbian Lusatia closer to more people, we are looking forward to becoming farmers on CrowdFarming!