The Fields
When ploughed with confidence our fields fall into their winter sleep and wake up in spring spreading proud aroma and answering the call of natural fertility, they possess fascinating strength and energy. We face a truly emotional experience when the Dimdiņi tractor arrives at the field in spring and starts its first plough in order to prepare the soil for the next phase: the planting of seedlings.
Planting takes place in May and June, when all the necessary fields are fully planted. Before planting the soil is carefully processed, ploughed, disked, cultivated, processed against weeds, fertilized, loosened and prepared carefully so that the seedling could take root and grow well.
In order to ensure that the necessary quantity of cabbages is grown all the year round, at least 25 varieties are cultivated. Planting takes place with the help of a special cabbage planting machine, and hand work is used as well. Each cabbage seedling passes through the warm and strong hands of our people, and it allows the plant to root in the soil and build a good harvest not only physically but also emotionally.
To get a really good crop of cabbage, a healthy plant is one of the key prerequisites, that is why our plants are provided with the necessary nutrients at each specific phase of their cycle of growth. Most nutrients are provided at the beginning of the growth through the basic manure and fertilizer, then the cabbage field lines are loosened and given additional dressing. Cabbage needs a lot of Calcium. That is why we offer it Calcium not only with the additional dressing absorbed through the roots, but also through the leaves. The plants are provided with the necessary trace elements, which are also delivered in the form of spray and absorbed through leaves. Each plant is alive, so it is important to understand and work in harmony with nature. If the plants are well fed and well taken care of, diseases and pests will not endanger them.
We understand it in Dimdiņi quite well, and it is our professional job to provide a rich and healthy crop, which gives us pleasure!
The harvest of the early varieties of cabbage begins already in late June, and they are provided for the fresh market. Varieties replace each other according to their vegetation period and characteristics. The main harvest bustle starts from September, when the varieties meant for storing have to be brought into the warehouses before the frost sets in.
Harvesting is a very laborious process that requires special strength and effort. We possess a particularly strong cutting team, and all the cabbage-heads are cut by hand and made into ricks, and later on another team of people pass them over from hand to hand into the tractor trailer, where they are reset into containers designed for storage.
Cabbage-heads need great care just like raw eggs – they should not be thrown, because then they will addle very soon. Handwork during the harvest provides a higher quality of the crop storage than the cabbage gathered with the help of mechanical harvesters. Then the containers are placed in specially equipped warehouses, maintaining the temperature of 0°C, the cabbage is stored there, till the new harvest and gradually used for the production of our processed products.
Each cabbage-head passes through human hands before processing as well, then it is thoroughly cleaned of redundant and damaged leaves, washed and transferred to the fermentation process or trade.
The handwork done by our brave agronomists and all the sedulous and strong production team in order to grow cabbage is very huge at sowing and pallet setting, as well as planting, weeding, loosening, spraying, harvesting and processing.
In our farm every cabbage-head has been kindly touched by human hands at least six times. Cabbage is carried on loving hands in “Dimdiņi”, and the final result is truly delicious!