What a wonderful harvest afternoon! On September 26, we celebrated the end of the season at the Weltacker in Pankow together with about 500 visitors. The weather was perfect, and there was plenty of activity in the field all afternoon. At many stations, people experimented, discussed, harvested, cooked, printed, and played. There was something for everyone—young and old alike.
A particular crowd-pleaser was the booth for the “1 m² Faserlein” project, where visitors could try their hand at the process. The dried flax was broken up and combed until soft fibers emerged. These were then woven into small bracelets. And of course, there was plenty of fun and laughter along the way. We’ve now spent an entire farming year working with Katrin Töpfer and “1 m² Faserlein”—it was great to have the project join us at our harvest festival.
There was also a large turnout for the screen-printing workshop with Marie Basten. Participants spent the entire afternoon printing, and numerous T-shirts and cloth bags were transformed into colorful souvenirs, printed with the Weltacker logo, plant motifs, or an soil-dwelling animal.
Of course, the harvest itself was a highlight. Together with our guests, we dug up purple, pink, and yellow potatoes from the ground. Some had to be examined more closely before they ended up in the harvest basket. Later, we enjoyed the potatoes as jacket potatoes with herb quark and edible flowers. Anyone who wanted to could also take a few potatoes from the harvest home with them.
A big thank you goes to our farm team, who tended to the potatoes all season long. Our gardener, Judith, had selected various potato varieties at VERN—the variety was truly impressive.
At the Weltacker booth, children and adults designed herbarium postcards and bean mandalas. And, of course, they also tested how much they knew about plants. Anyone who needed a break could lean back on the hammock bike from the Böll Library in Pankow and do a little reading.
Monse from Tlayolan was also hard at work. Together with the children, they harvested and chopped vegetables from the milpa. Some of the corn plants were four meters tall this year! They also used salvaged food to make a big pot of soup. It was devoured quickly, so the Tlayolan booth was bustling all afternoon. Soon, the milpa will be prepared for winter. But we’re already looking forward to Tlayolan gardening with us again next season at the Weltacker in Pankow.
The farm tours with Judith and Micha were also very well attended. Together, the groups explored the Weltacker and learned fascinating facts about global agriculture, food, and equitable land use. Particularly striking was the comparison of our land use: While each person worldwide has approximately 2,000 m² of farmland at their disposal, average consumption in Germany accounts for about 4,000 m², and in the U.S., as much as 6,000 m².
At the milpa plot, participants learned more about this traditional farming system, in which corn, beans, and squash grow together and support one another: an example of diverse and resource-efficient agriculture. There were also other fascinating insights into global vegetable production: Only about four percent of the world’s arable land is used for vegetable cultivation. A large portion of our winter vegetables comes from the Almería region in Spain, where vast greenhouse landscapes are created under plastic sheeting and production often takes place under difficult working conditions. The topic of animal husbandry also highlighted how closely food production and land use are linked.
The Harvest Festival is a special moment for us every year: an opportunity to say thank you—to our dedicated team, our volunteers, our supporters, our partner organizations, and to all the living beings that bring the Weltacker to life. At the same time, we were delighted to welcome many new and familiar guests who spent the afternoon with us. District Councilwoman Manuela Anders-Granitzki also attended the festival with her family and struck up conversations at the various booths about the work at the Weltacker.
The afternoon flew by. Digging potatoes out of the ground, processing flax, cooking soup, printing, solving puzzles, sharing stories—and all the while, familiar and new faces were everywhere. The harvest festival demonstrated once again just how diverse the Weltacker is: a place for learning, getting involved, exchanging ideas, and enjoying oneself.
We’re already looking forward to the next growing season!
