Along with their friend Daniel Linden, Frank Kelleners and his son Maximilian run a small self-sufficient farm with horses. The farm is located in Heimbach in the south of North Rhine-Westphalia, close to the Eifel National Park.
They cultivate about 1,5 hectares of arable land and about 10 hectares of grassland. The arable land is farmed exclusively with horses. For this purpose they work with 3 Ardennes, 1 Brabanter cold-blooded horses and Icelandic ponies for the maintenance work. The implements they work with are time-proven historical implements from their region.
In 2023 they grew wheat, oats, barley, potatoes and beet.
They cultivate the fields in a biodynamical way and ascribe great importance to natural cycles and soil health.
In addition to arable farming, they also farm a large kitchen garden. They keep cattle, pigs, chickens and turkeys as farm animals, which are also fed with their products.
Alongside the production of healthy food, the cultivation of customs and traditions as well as the preservation of almost lost practical skills and knowledge about farming with horses is one of their main goals.
Insights into the planting of potatoes at Luisenhof:
Planting potatoes with horses.
The Niemeyer planter ‘Klick’.
