Salut! My name is Michel Postma.

Nature was my first love, I guess ; -) I grew up in the Netherlands and spent my childhood in the watery “wilderness” of Gouda, on the nearby farm and devouring books and films on nature. Nature was and is my playground and my main source of inspiration.

I did a Master in Tropical Landuse at Wageningen University. Realizing that sustainable farming is key to nature conservation, I specialized in plant production systems. My major thesis focused on agroforestry, which means growing trees (fruit, nuts, wood) combined with arable crops (grass, cereals, vegetables etc).

But during my studies I decided the academic world isn’t mine; I definitely prefer plants over computers ; -) So after graduation I started to explore the practical side of organic agriculture. I worked on vegetable farms, visited permaculture projects, milked goats and cows, made cheese as well as picked apples, pears, grapes, strawberries and blackberries.

A very formative period in many ways were the four years during which I coordinated the vegetable gardens of ECOlonie, an ecological centre and community in France. The last two years I worked on a permaculture farm in Germany, together with my girlfriend Sina.

By joining the Which?Garden project I hope to fulfill 3 of my dreams:

• To be part of an intentional community of inspired people and to show people that sharing resources and combining our individal strengths is another and possibly more fulfilling way of living;
• To work in human-scale, sustainable agriculture with a minimal input of machines and fossile energy;
• To be able to research and develop efficient and innovative agroforestry systems… in other words to be a scientist in my own garden ; -)