Karin Weng and Martina Bünger

"Besides" the university, activities such as the student working group "Organic Farming", in which we looked at different approaches (e.g. Fukuoka), our theater group with the play "Kuhjoslawien" and the core message "You can get it, if you really want, but you must try, try and try" were important. Unforgettable are of course the tropical festivals, graduation fetes, full moon festivals and Walpurgis nights.

The Gulf War made it clear to us that there were much more important things than studying. After weeks of vigil, a march with donkey, horse and camel started to Frankfurt to turn the airbase into an earbase (wheat sowing on the airbase). It was the early days of the field trials of genetically modified seeds at KWS in Northeim. We were there during the field occupation and the urgency of our own seed propagation became more and more clear.

Nice, nice was the time at the edge of the Werra, where our university was located and exams were waiting for us.

What unites us - peace, ecology, independence through self-sufficiency and craftsmanship, "alpine fever" and alpine experience, social coexistence were and are our common important themes. It was clear to us, in the community with each other agriculture and horticulture, fulfills us more than alone to farm. Our policy is to be a role model on the Scholle, pass on knowledge and promote the common good .

Implementation - After we found our land in Schönhagen with the Kuhmuhne Group in 1991 after the fall of the Berlin Wall, we founded a non-profit association that leases the farmstead and land to farms to this day.

Karin, together with others from the community, has taken care of the animals and the cheese. This has resulted in close cooperation and mutual support of dairy farms in the region . The cows left Schönhagen, but the cheese stayed.

Martina founded Dreschflegel in 1990 with six others and together they sold the seeds they grew . Dreschflegel is now an association of currently 16 farms that produce seed all over Germany and handle the entire farm management together. This means that at our two annual shareholder meetings, all important decisions are made with the approximately 25 participants.

The close living community was dissolved after ten years and a friendly and mutually supportive cooperation has developed . In the meantime, someone has taken over Martina's farm in Schönhagen and she now works in the shipping department of Dreschflegel GBR. In addition, two more seed farms have settled in Schönhagen. The farmland is now mainly managed with a herd of goats for the preservation of the calcareous dry grasslands. Since 2003, the Schönhagen show garden has been operated with subsidies and support from Dreschflegel. Here, a lot of knowledge about cultivated plants and seed production is passed on to young to old.

Since Corona, it has become abundantly clear that there are far too few seed companies like Dreschflegel in Germany. The customers are swarming us and we have not been able to serve all of them this season. The goats are busy eating the sloes and the energetic members of the association are responsible for the preservation of numerous orchids and calcareous grassland flora and fauna. The adult children go their separate ways and the young children enjoy village life.