[Advertisement]

Florian Böck and I in front of a delivery car from the Böck nursery

A visit to the Böck nursery in Neufarn – The Böck nursery in Neufarn has been around for 125 years and is now run by the fifth generation, Florian Böck and his family. The nursery originated in Schwabing. Now headquartered in Neufarn, it supplies retailers, garden centers, and Munich's wholesale market, as well as people in the region, with fresh, custom-filled vegetable boxes. But first, let's take a look inside the nursery. I was fortunate enough to spend a morning there and see everything for myself. Come along!

The Böck nursery – then and now

The origins of the Böck nursery date back to 1896, when Georg and Anna Böck began making wreaths, cultivating ornamental plants, and growing vegetables for local residents and beer gardens. Demand for the nursery steadily increased, the cultivated areas expanded, and what once began with a few scattered beds for a handful of vegetables has now grown fivefold under the leadership of Florian Böck and his approximately 150 employees. After 1945, the company was modernized and acquired its first state-of-the-art greenhouses – even by the standards of the time. Today, approximately 90 hectares of open fields and 10 hectares of greenhouses are cultivated on a total area of 100 hectares in Neufarn.

The nursery, including open areas and greenhouses, seen from above

Thirty-five years ago, in addition to vegetable cultivation, the growing of culinary herbs and young plants was added – today, 15 different organic culinary herbs are offered for home use "on the windowsill" and 60 more organic herbs for the "home garden." You've probably already used fresh potted herbs from Böck for cooking – keep an eye out for them next time you're shopping, whether at the supermarket or the farmers' market, in farm shops or well-stocked fruit and vegetable stores.

Also interesting: Since 2006, the nursery has been powered by a biogas plant built in partnership with four local farms, which was expanded in 2012 with a 3.7 million-liter water tank. This intrigued me, so I inquired further and learned that the heat generated by the plant is used within the business. This means that the electricity and heat energy produced in the tank are fed back into the plants in the greenhouses during the day. Furthermore, the expansion of the biogas plant with the new heat storage tank eight years ago meant that the CO2 emissions from the gas burners are now used entirely to fertilize the vegetable plants. This ensures that absolutely no energy is wasted, and the nursery's particularly high demand for heat during the winter months can be ideally met. Pretty great, right?

One of the first breathtaking views during my visit to Neufarn

The nursery is becoming increasingly well-known, and its high-quality vegetables, grown not only with expertise but also with a great deal of heart, are becoming ever more popular – right up to the present day. Now, renowned hotels and top restaurants are among the clientele of the Böck nursery. I'm almost certain that every one of you who enjoys eating vegetables has already tried something from Böck. But now, it's time for me to enter the inner sanctum.

My walk through the nursery

Not all vegetables are created equal, and so the nursery's offerings are divided into fruiting vegetables, fresh vegetables, herbs, and young plants. From the very beginning, I was fascinated by the amount of organization, planning, timing, technology, and knowledge that goes into each individual vegetable variety. For example, the fruiting vegetable plants—including 14 different varieties of tomatoes, various peppers, different types of lettuce, radishes, kohlrabi, and much more—grow and thrive at the Böck nursery behind well-protected and technically sophisticated glass. Hail, storms, and cold, as well as pests and diseases, are thus kept at bay. Large temperature fluctuations are also avoided thanks to the glass and the biogas plant—this benefits the vegetables and, ultimately, their flavor. All the vegetables at the Böck nursery are only treated when necessary, and not, as is unfortunately often the case, preventively.

Who can identify which type of seedlings are currently growing and thriving here?

Fresh vegetables are defined as vegetables grown in open fields, not under glass. The Böck nursery, along with approximately 100 other farms, is one of those that preserve Munich's "green belt." This means that, in addition to producing high-quality vegetables, they are committed to the preservation, ecological use, and maintenance of undeveloped land. Böck cultivates around 90 hectares of fresh vegetables (such as cabbage, lettuce, fresh herbs, fennel, celery, radicchio, etc.), planting and harvesting them exclusively in accordance with the seasons.

My walk continued to the young plants. This is how the nursery enables us to grow our own vegetables at home – whether in our own garden, on the balcony, or even on the windowsill. This is meant to further demonstrate that it's important and possible to have complete control over the vegetables we choose for ourselves. With your own herbs and homegrown vegetables, this is, of course, quite easy. However, the quality (and success) of home-grown produce depends entirely on the quality of the young plants, and so the Böck nursery offers all 100 different varieties (!) of young plants exclusively in professional quality.

For me, it's paradise: tomatoes (varieties) galore. Simply wonderful!

I learned all this (and so much more interesting stuff) during my walk through the greenhouses. If I were to tell you everything there is to know about Böck's vegetable cultivation, it would go a bit beyond the scope of this article. The nursery is definitely a wonderful place, and I felt even more grateful when I stood before all the beautiful and practically invigorating beds. Before me lay rows of various vegetables and salad greens in their different stages of growth, and I wondered more than once if there was a salad growing here that I might have in my own salad bowl in a few weeks.

Intrigued? – Head to the online shop!

So, now I've told you quite a bit, and you might be wondering how you can quickly (and easily) try it out for yourself or get an impression of the Böck nursery, right? That's why I've gathered the most important information for you.

The nursery itself is not open to visitors, although guided tours are sometimes offered outside of pandemic times. The company built its own [unclear text] three years ago. Böck Nursery Online Shop Launched. There you can buy not only the complete range of Böck vegetables, but also various partner products and regional delicacies such as fruit, meat, tea, coffee, honey, potatoes, flour, etc. The shop is clearly divided into relevant categories ("Fruit Vegetables", "Organic Potted Herbs", "Fruit", "Partner Products", "Young Plants", "Seasonal Boxes" and "Miscellaneous") and you will find it easy to navigate.

The online shop of the nursery: gemuese-bestellen.de

A really cool section of the online shop is "„Homemade„"There you'll find exclusively products made by the Böck nursery under the "böckgemacht" label. You can expect delicacies like "Zucchini and Pepper Vegetables," "INGWA Paste"—made from ginger grown specifically at the nursery—"Blackberry Jelly," barbecue and tomato sauces and essences, and much more. Delicious, and I'll definitely try them out in my box test.".

Here's how it works: You choose which vegetables (and other products) you want and receive a customized box, which is delivered to you on different days of the week, depending on your neighborhood. I specifically asked during my visit: When you create your own box, you don't have to sign up for a subscription – unlike with other fruit and vegetable box providers – but rather you decide freely and at your own pace when and what kind of vegetables you want. The super-fresh delivery arrives with a minimum order of €15. I think it's fantastic! If you prefer a pre-made box, click on... „"Seasonal boxes"“ The garden center has already put together a few boxes for those who are undecided or just want to get acquainted with the products. Personally, I always prefer to put everything together myself.

I don't yet know how the boxes and ordering via the online shop work in practice, and I will test it out for you shortly.

Organic basil in a pot

My personal (so far) impression

What I particularly appreciated was that, despite the state-of-the-art technology and the increased size of the nursery, neither the personal touch and values nor the tradition of "honest and fair vegetable farming," which the Böck nursery has cultivated over its long history, have been lost. The vegetables taste exactly as you would want vegetables to taste – I was able to sample some during my tour of the nursery.

I'm impressed by the nursery's philosophy of staying true to the region and focusing on quality rather than quantity. The variety of vegetables is also impressive – you'll see for yourself in the online shop. Over 150 different products are grown at the nursery – depending on the season, of course – and made available to all of us.

It's a shame there's no "smell-o-vision" yet. 😉

After my visit, I'm an even bigger fan of vegetables and already know that in the future I'll pay even more attention to their origin, or even actively choose to buy them from Böck whenever possible. That's why, and because, as I said, I want to see if it really works, I'm going to order a vegetable box in November, like the one I described above.

In the meantime, you can browse the shop. Oh, and because pictures often say more than a thousand words, I've included lots of photos in my gallery today. See for yourselves how beautiful it is here:

+++ This article was created in cooperation with the Böck nursery in Neufarn. Thank you! +++

Contact for inquiries

Böck Nursery, Neufarn | Hochfeldweg 21, 85646 Neufarn
Details: Potted herbs, fruit and fresh vegetables and young plants | Online shop and vegetable boxes
Website

Contact via telephone: 089 9077478817

Pictures: