A centuries-old brick country farmyard in mint condition.
High up in Northern Germany, in the small, idyllic village of Eitzendorf, you will find the organic farm belonging to the Cordes family. Known by the name ‘Smüllershof’, the farm has existed since at least 1645. The farm is now run organically by the Cordes family, probably just like it was 300 years ago. In the middle of the 1980s, Heino Cordes did not want to be part of the price-oriented conventional sugar beet market and switched to organics.
Today, a variety of herbs grow on their farm, which is built in the brickwork style typical for the area and is now run by Heino and son Mortens. Wheat, spelt, rye, potatoes, various vegetables, fennel, caraway, poppy, peppermint, and apple mint for SONNENTOR flourish in good, clay-rich soils with the right amount of rain and valuable fertilizer from suckler cows.
With up to 80 centimeters in height, apple mint and peppermint are the tallest farmed mint varieties. The area is popular with cyclists who often stop and marvel at the sea-like fields of mint and the beautiful scent emanating from the plants. This led the family to open a Bed & Breakfast at the farm. The hospitable Cordes family has certainly opened the ‘Sonnentor’, the gate to the sun, for us in the far north.
