Marie-José
Farmer at Pluk!Boterbloem
Marie-José has been working at Pluk!Boterbloem since 2021. First as an intern, during her Warmonderhof studies. From 2022 as a farmer. She considers it a privilege to be able to contribute to Pluk, with the aim of creating a beautiful place and growing healthy vegetables in a sustainable way. She enjoys being outside and watching the beets come up, the spoonbill flying over, the cabbages looking beautiful in a freshly weeded bed. Nice to share this with the committed harvesters who visit weekly.

Eliska
Farmer at Pluk!Boterbloem
When Eliska read a book on a beach in Sicily about a woman starting a garden in the middle of Dublin, she knew she wanted to know more about growing vegetables. So, in the middle of the pandemic, she followed an online course. Ann Doherty gave the course, and Eliska became more and more enthusiastic about growing food organically. When she visited Pluk! at the Fruittuin van West, she knew that this is what she wanted to do in life! Soon after, she became a volunteer and started at Warmonderhof in 2021. There was no question that she wanted to do her internship at Pluk! Before she knew it, she was part of this beautiful community and never wanted to leave.

Dorien
Farmer at Pluk!Boterbloem
Curious about farming, Dorien left for Sweden to work on small-scale organic farms. She learned more about growing vegetables, keeping sheep and what a joy it is to work and live on the land with a group of people. Her interest in working towards more local, social and nature-friendly food systems grew and once back in the Netherlands this did not wane. One of the Swedish farmers had told her about the Warmonderhof and in 2021 Dorien began her studies there. She started her internship at Pluk! and she has continued to enjoy working there ever since, amid a wonderful community of fellow (-to-be) farmers, harvesters and volunteers.

Internships

We have an incredible and dedicated team of interns at Pluk. If you would like to intern with us, get in touch!

Farmers over the years

Ann - Pluk co-founder
2017-2022
Ann is an urban farmer, educator, beekeeper and worm composter working within the Cityplot collective. She studied urban agriculture at the University of Guelph and at Warmonderhof in the Netherlands, and has a Permaculture Design Certificate from Linder van den Heerik. She was the communications coordinator for the global environmental federation Friends of the Earth International for 16 years before she decided to take the leap into urban agriculture in 2011. In 2017, she co-initiated Pluk!, and worked there until the end of 2022 when she took over the coordination of the Stadsboerderij Osdorp garden. Originally from New England, she has lived and gardened in Amsterdam for three decades.
Contact Ann: ann@cityplot.org

Annie
2019-2021
It was 2015 in India, whilst doing research for her Master’s in Cultural Anthropology that Annie realized she wanted to become a farmer. Looking into how people were protecting their food sovereignty through organic farming practices, she realized that more than research we need people who know how to grow organic food! Since then she has worked on organic farms in the UK and the Netherlands. Arriving into Amsterdam in the summer of 2018 she immediately started volunteering with Pluk! CSA, and went on to become one of the farmers for 3 years here. Pluk! has changed so many people’s lives, and she feels so honoured and grateful to have been part of this incredible community of farmers, harvesters, volunteers, interns and soil life!

Irma
2022
After studying anthropology and working in the social field, Irma’s first encounter with organic agriculture and agroecology was at a CSA in Brazil, and there experienced how the answers to the many problems in the world that we are facing lay right there, in our soil, our food and community building. Already working with food and marginalised people, she then started working with small scale farmers and accessibility of organic regional food. During Covid and back in the Netherlands, it was a good opportunity to start Warmonderhof to learn more about agriculture in the practical sense. With farming, Irma is exploring how we can repair and rebuild our relationship with the land through working with it, and how we can strengthen the position of farmers. She is active in Toekomstboeren and the Agroecology Network.

Hieke
2022-2023
Hieke loved working at Pluk!; it is a privilege to be able to work outside, hair in the wind and with the company of birds, butterflies and insects. By growing organically, she wants to contribute to more biodiversity, a healthier soil and fresh air and she can give people in the city the opportunity to choose vegetables that do not harm the planet. Building communities is very important to her; together with farmer-colleagues, interns, volunteers, harvesters and visitors, she tries to make every day on the land a special one! If you meet Hieke during weeding, sowing, planting or crop care, you can always start a conversation about sustainability, the weather, the state of the world and life in general.