Ewald Koller

Passionate fruit and vegetable farmer Ewald Koller grows around 300 different varieties in Heinreichs near Vitis in the Waldviertel region of Lower Austria - thanks to his customers from all over the world.

Waldviertel tigernuts, tomatillos, sliced cucumbers, gherkins, sweet gherkins, stacked onions - Ewald Koller rattles off the varieties growing side by side in his vegetable patch. "People are not machines", he announces in his red shirt, but he is certainly a walking encyclopaedia of varieties. We walk past his 26 apple varieties to the field, where every square centimetre is used. You will search in vain for a row with just one variety, instead everything grows in a criss-cross pattern. He stops every two metres, picks a little from here, a little from there, takes a bite and describes the special features and flavour of each individual variety with a mischievous smile and a smile on his lips.

25 years ago, Ewald and his wife switched from cereals to a colourful variety of fruit and vegetables. The now successful attempt to cultivate the four hectares of land he inherited from his parents in such a way that the family can make a good living from it. Today, he drives his harvest to Vienna twice a week in a fully loaded car boot: "What is harvested is what is ripe, not what someone orders."

The seed experts Arche Noah and Reinsaat know the experimental farmer very well. For Ewald, no variety is too exotic that he won't at least try it out. It is often his customers who ask him about certain varieties or parts of plants that they remember from their homeland: Pumpkin sprouts for those with Pakistani roots, coriander roots for fans of Asian cuisine. Ewald and his wide range of varieties flourish in direct dialogue with consumers.