It is a cold spring and in our phytorefinery this is particularly evident in the difference between the plants that are inside and the plants that are outside. While inside the hop was already two meters high, the hop outside barely rose above ground level. And rightly so.

Speaking of hops: we have now brewed the first fully circular beer with our partners Vet and Lazy. Beer whose hops are grown on Brickz and enriched with brewer’s grains. So hops are grown on the waste of beer, which in turn is used to brew beer.

We are conducting a similar trial together with Bavaria, where we grow hops on the sludge from the treatment plant. But the moment we write this and we have had a few nice days, we also see this hop shoot up.

Speaking of shooting: the book we are writing for the Animal Protection (Dierenbescherming) is nearing completion. Tom and Dagmar Bade have finished the lyrics and the concept of ‘chasing away’ (rather than shooting) is rock solid. Firm ‘The Evil Eye’ (Het Boze Oog) is now busy with the final editing and we expect to finish the book in June.

Speaking of June: that is the month that we will finalize the ‘Easily sustainable’ (Met gemak duurzaam) project. But it has already been established that the project has laid the foundation for a system with which we can extract fibers, proteins and sugars from paper disposables and use the residual material in Brickz. Together with our partner Conpax, we will investigate where we can best scale this up.

Speaking of scaling up: we have finished our MixTool and we even gave a demonstration to a representative from the province of Gelderland who came by to see the progress of the project. Together with the province of Gelderland, we are going to see whether we can also apply the technology in other places.

Speaking of technology: we have heard from the Brabant Patent Office that our European patent for the Brickz has been definitively approved. That is good, because Brickz is also in the spotlight internationally.

Speaking of internationally: we now have contacts in Morocco to see if we can contribute with Brickz to a project aimed at reforestation of highly degraded land. One of our partners is Seven Waves from Rob Wolters to whom we owe these valuable contacts.

Speaking of valuable contacts: our digital symposium about residual flows from nature management as a basis for Brickz has aroused interest among many people and we now receive weekly visitors to phytorefinery ‘The Growing Place’. In addition, the visit to our mycoretum is always the highlight of the guided tours.

Speaking of guided tours: you can also take a digital tour, because there are now several clips on our YouTube channel. The clip ‘Brickz explained’ is in English. View on:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYkWYkgklUbIQVo1tv4nTng

Speaking of Triple E: even though the weather was sometimes difficult to grow, everything is in bloom here. More beautiful than ever before.