Today is the day I’ve been looking forward to the most. We began by going to Royal Flora Holland, leaving our hostel around 6:15 in the morning. When we got there, I was shocked by how massive the facility was. It was 1.7 million square meters, which was equivalent to 250 football fields. The process was also very neat. There were a lot of workers driving carts of flowers around from one destination to another, and there were also some automated on tracks. It looked very hectic in there, but it was organized chaos. The flower cart drivers were using hand signals and headsets to communicate with others. The amount of flowers they work with per day is 46 million. They also have a large variety of flowers. I was expecting to see mostly tulips, but there were also roses, orchids, chrysanthemums, lavender, and so many more to choose from. I wish I could take home a few bouquets. We also used a table that was kind of like a mock auction. We were able to see more about what an auction looks like on the business side with the bidding and prices. Overall, it was great to see one of the largest businesses in the Netherlands flourish. 

Our next destination is the one I have been looking forward to since I found out I was going to the Netherlands. Actually, this is the main reason why I chose the Netherlands. We went to the tulip gardens! The flowers were very beautiful. We learned a lot about how the tulip farming business works. We learned that when there is a sick flower, it must removed so nothing happens to the healthy flowers. Unlike the healthy flowers that bloom for 2-3 weeks, a sick flower is only in bloom for 5 days.  Something unique is that the water level is so high here that they don’t have to worry about sourcing the water. Also, they use crop rotations in the fields each year. To decide whether or not a flower gets sold or the bulb gets sold, the farmers focus on the demand and pricing. Whichever one will sell for higher will be the choice. When the bulbs are cut, the flowers are composted, which is one way of living sustainably. The farmers have the goal of creating new varieties of flowers. They can do this by intervening, or it can occur naturally. It takes around 20 years to get an entire set of a new variety. When trying to create new varieties, shape and color are at the forefront of the mind. Currently, the black tulip is a big desire in the market. Overall, the tulip fields were a very beautiful and interesting learning experience.

-Kali Burke