Read more about Annick below the video
“I am an economist by training and worked in the petroleum sector for fifteen years. Middle management position, children, high standards (especially for a woman)... My body literally shut me down. The word burnout didn't exist yet. I then decided for myself: I'm going to take back control of my life.”
Annick stopped working, trained as an herbalist, and started bringing children into contact with nature. “My graduation project was a herbal game. We did herbal classes using only materials from the garden: we worked with clay, made paper from nettles, I even went to collect elephant dung at the zoo! Children learned how to pick herbs, make herbal teas, and cook soup. And they absorb everything you tell them like sponges.”
After the children came the teenagers, and then the mothers. Eventually, Annick became a teacher at Velt. “I know the Velt message and can spread it through our garden.”
“Our garden is actually an open garden. It is used for lessons, and every three years we participate in the Ecotuindagen. I always show what grows here spontaneously. Many people want everything to be neat and tidy, but the plants that grow here on their own are often stronger. Spontaneous development gives them greater resistance.”
Annick shows visitors flowers such as the yellow evening primrose, which attracts insects, blooms for a long time, and has seeds that provide food for robins in winter. “They know that, you know. They sit on the dead flower stem to extract the seeds. So, a plea not to tidy up your garden too much in the fall. We have lost a lot of knowledge from the past. We need to rebuild what our grandparents knew.”
Her advice: “Make sure you have flowers in your garden, preferably twelve months a year. And think: should I buy this (imported) bouquet, or can I just pick it myself?”
The plants that grow spontaneously are the plants that want to grow here.
“We try to eat as much as possible from our (vegetable) garden throughout the year. When we buy additional items, we consciously choose organic products. Not only for our health, but also for the environment. Coffee is a luxury product, so you go for quality.” Annick got to know Ray & Jules through Velt. “The concept is spot on: good coffee and ecological ideas are part of it. They also want to support organizations like ours. That's why it fits perfectly with how we drink coffee.”
“For us, coffee is a moment. We bought a grinder because coffee is about aroma. Slow coffee, pouring slowly... We usually only drink one or two cups, which are moments of real enjoyment. I rarely drink coffee alone anymore. Even when we have visitors, you don't have to talk about the coffee, but it's still different than without it!”
“Quickly filling a thermos and drinking all day long is not how we do things anymore. Coffee is something you drink consciously. The aroma, the grind, the way it is brewed: all of that has an impact on the taste. And the fact that you make time for it.”
Annick enjoys the slowness. “I would like to teach here more often. When people have been sitting behind a screen all day, they don't want to sit in a classroom in the evening. It's nicer to walk around the garden for two hours, drink a tisane, and go home feeling inspired. To apply those principles in their own gardens, which may have places where more plants could be added or where less mowing is needed... "
This is why Annick is a sunny person
"There is a lot of negativity in society. I have encountered it myself. But you don't always have to fight; you can also go with the flow without losing yourself. Just stay focused on what you want and make adjustments here and there."
"For me, it's important to be able to contribute to nature restoration. When we have Open Garden Days, people spontaneously come to help. That's the flow I'm talking about. Making it bigger, broader. Going with the good flow. That's what being ‘Sunny’ means to me."
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