On the outskirts of the city, a new farm is supplying Munich’s residents with seasonal and sustainable vegetables - and saving the soil.

I arrive a few weeks after the storm. Heavy rain and hailstones the size of cherries have flattened the beetroots, chard and courgettes in the outdoor beds and smashed a glass pane in the greenhouse. The damage is frustrating, not to mention expensive, and has added a considerable number of to-dos to an already extensive list.

It’s chilly outside with a damp fog hanging in the air so Raluca and Johannes Egger usher me into the main building. There’s a pot of hot tea waiting on the new marble-topped kitchen island along with several large jars of preserved tomatoes; they already cultivate 20 different kinds they tell me as I go to take a photo.

The couple took over the plot, an old flower nursery, in 2021 and have since been working relentlessly to convert it into a regenerative vegetable and flower farm. “In the early days, we regularly did 15-hour shifts,” Raluca explains.

How they got here is the result of a long story and a quick email. The pair had always talked about having a small plot of land to grow food for their family, so when an ImmoScout alert popped-up, albeit for 4000 square metres, Johannes figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask for more information.

When the landlords asked for an application, they wrote a concept for a regenerative vegetable farm. “They just needed two crazy people to take over this old structure and vegetables seemed reasonable!” Johannes jokes.

From then on it was baptism by fire, but with the help of books, YouTube and plenty of trial and error, they soon become masters of their new trade. They actually both have backgrounds in a design.

“When we first took over, it was like a desert here,” Johannes explains. “There was concrete and rubbish everywhere, and a few pairs of shoes.” It’s hard to believe now.

From the kitchen area, we head through the main greenhouse and out onto the land beyond, where there are two nurseries and two polytunnels. Their dog Beppe follows us as we walk around his familiar second home.

The cold weather marks the beginning of the quietest season at the farm, when production slows and focus turns to business development and structural improvements, but there are still several rows of salad, kale and butternut squash, as well as mushrooms clinging to different fruiting blocks.

Their goal is to grow high-quality, nutrient-rich vegetables while actively improving the soil and biodiversity. “We want to prove you can make money from healing what is broken,” Johannes explains, “when we started, the soils on the site were heavily compacted and almost completely devoid of biomass.”

They cultivate everything without chemicals or machinery. Rather than ploughing or digging, they leave the roots in the soil during harvest before adding compost and mature manure from local organic farms. This will create a fertile topsoil in just a few years.

Their first fuIl growing season was 2022 but I first came across them a year later when they organised a sold-out event with Caspar Plautz, Broeding and Kulinariat. Coinciding with the Tag der Nachhaltige Gastronomie (Sustainable Gastronomy Day), the lunch saw some of the city’s top chefs join forces to create a farm-to-table menu served on long tables in the greenhouse. All profits went to charities and NGOs.

They plan to host many more lunches and dinners in the coming years, as well as workshops covering everything from fermentation or flower arranging.

Mikrofarm Gräfelfing is also now part of the Slowflower Movement e.V., an association committed to transparency and trust in sustainable cut flower cultivation and flower design/arrangement. For Raluca, the blooms provide a great way to apply her creative skills.

The couple commute to the site from Munich’s Westend, where they live with their two children. Slowly but surely, season by season, their aim to achieve a nine-to-five job is becoming a reality. When I met them last year, Raluca was still working as an interior designer, but has since decided to dedicate all her professional time to the farm. The timing couldn’t be better with the growing season about to kick-off once more and the event programme for 2025 ready to go.

How to get involved

The farm covers their costs with vegetable and flower subscriptions (CSA), with any surplus sold to restaurants or in the farm shop on harvest day. The subscription requires you to commit for one full season (April to November) and collect the deliveries in Stemmerhof, Westend, Solln or Gräfelfing.

Their farm shop is open every Thursday from 15 – 19.

MORE INFO

Address: Mikrofarm Gräfelfing, Bogenstr. 2, 82166 Gräfelfing

Website: https://mikro.farm

Mikrofarm Gräfelfing: A regenerative farm in the suburbs

How to get involved

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