The last few days, I have been working with peasmaker Michael Witjes, also known as Mr. Appel. With his mobile syrup factory, Michael aims to give economic value to high-stem orchards and food forests.
(Please note that this text is translated by Open AI as I write my all my peas in Dutch)
Michael grew up among the high-stem orchards in the Betuwe. Elst has always been his home base, and he is deeply attached to this place. Did you know that the Elstar, Michael’s favorite apple, even derives its name from Elst?
Michael’s mission is to create a landscape that is beautiful and good for everyone. This means, according to him, a landscape that adds value in terms of ecology, education, aesthetics, ethics, and economy. And in high-stem orchards, all these elements can come together.
Mr. Appel now manages his own high-stem orchard, ‘Het Appeland,’ in Park Lingezegen. Here, you will find unique and old apple varieties such as the Venkelappel and the Roosappel, and Michael has a story for each apple. He works according to the principles of permaculture and does everything he can to create the greatest possible biodiversity on his small plot of land.
The orchard is Michael’s little paradise, and he visibly enjoys this place. He is a person full of passion. During syrup-making in his mobile syrup factory, he gets into his flow, and it is a joy to work with him. Michael calls the factory a hobby, but it is much more than that.
Two years ago, Michael began developing the syrup mobile. If you believe that high-stem orchards are a valuable addition to the landscape, then there must be a good destination for the fruit. Syrup is ideal for this, but large syrup factories are not suitable for small-scale orchards.
So now, Michael tours the country during the harvest season, processing apples and pears into pure, sweet syrup. Owners of high-stem orchards and food forests can bring their fruit, and they get it back in the form of jars of syrup. Mr. Appel also presses surplus fruit from fruit farms at the end of the season, as we did last weekend at Fruitbedrijf Horstink.
Syrup-making is a slow and labor-intensive process. Grinding, boiling, pressing, and boiling again… for two days, we worked to make a few hundred jars of syrup. The syrup factory is Michael’s own creation and a work in progress. He is continually thinking about how to make the syrup even tastier and the process more efficient.
Michael has a busy job as an ecologist, and he makes syrup on the side. But he can’t wait until his Appelland is in production, and he can also process his own fruit into the most unique syrups. And maybe then he will become Mr. Appel full-time, which he has, of course, been in his heart all his life.
