Information about care nursery Nollestee

About us and our mission

Care-nursery “The Nollestee” was founded to supply a good aid program for people, who need care and assistance in their livelihood.
16 people in total – 12 people on average per day – with their abilities and limitations are working here on a professional nursery.
These people are not able to participate in the regular labour market. The clients  are here from Monday till Friday. They start at about 9.00 AM and leave at 16.00 PM.

There are many jobs to do through the seasons. We work in small groups and we select the work carefully for each client, so that everybody can cooperate and has a happy day and contributes to the nursery.
Each person is stimulated to improve their personal abilities and we support them daily to get this achieved.
Working together in harmony in a secure and reliable environment is essential. The clients are daily supported by two professional supervisors and volunteers.

Name and place

Where do we live and work? The activities of the Nollestee take place in and around an old farm, called “The Nollestee”.
The farm is situated on the outskirts of a small village, Melissant,  on an isle called Goeree Overflakkee in the south west of the Netherlands.
Melissant is about 10 miles away from the North sea coast and we live in an typical Dutch agricultural area, close to a fishing port.

In the farmhouse of The Nollestee: there are three workshops, a canteen / office / kitchen, washing and changing facilities, a place for the gardening tools and a cold store of 70 m³.

Outside, there are 2 greenhouses, 2 polytunnels , a field for the “mother-plants”, a number of exposure tables, 2 water basins and 10 special borders to show the visitors how to create a nice garden. The total area is about 4 acres.

The meaning of the name “The Nollestee”: it is a combination of two words: “Nolle” is the name for a dike on this isle and “stee” is the local name for a farm.

The farm was built in 1800 and in the past the farm used to be an agricultural business, growing and selling seed potatoes, sugar beets , onions and wheat. The care nursey was founded in 1996.

The activities

–          We do not grow from seed , but multiply by using cuttings of so called “mother-plants”. We offer a variety of more than 300 different kind of garden plants.
The plants grow up in greenhouses and polytunnels and are exposed on special tables and growing fields for sale. Both tunnels, greenhouses and exposure tables are equipped with drip irrigation system.
We use rainwater that we collect in two basins of 250 m³ and 500 m³. We are self-supporting for water. Also for electricity we are self-supporting by using 112 PV panels.

–          The clients take care for the whole process: strike cuttings, place the cuttings in the special soil, place them in trays, bring them to the tunnels / greenhouses and they change the pots from small to large, when required in the growing process.

–          Finally, the clients help to sell the plants to the customer. We sell to private persons, professional gardeners and to the local governments for public gardens.

–          During the winter time we grow a lot of bulbs  like grape hyacinths and we use – to stimulate the growing process – a special cold store hereafter the plants grow up in the greenhouse.

–          In addition to the specific “nursery jobs”,  there is a lot to do in and around the nursery: maintenance of the buildings and the gardens around the greenhouses.
Everybody is also scheduled to carry out the orderly duties: cleaning of toilets / canteen activities etc.

–          There is also time for relaxing: for instance playing football, darts and we organise courses to improve the general knowledge.

Responsibility

Our vision is to give love to people and build a society on this place where people can be happy and grow in a healthy selfrespect. We do this from our christian belief.
We have achieved  the official approval for the execution of the care – nursery. We meet all requirements as demanded from the Dutch government. An official audit takes place every year.

Organisation

–          Since February 2019, The Nollestee is a foundation, this will guarantee the continuity for the future.

–          General management: Cor Joppe

–          Management of the nursery and day to day coordination: Hannie Grinwis

–          Team of supervisors and volunteers