Afraid of vampires?

The spa town of Bad Erlach is “knofelt’s” again

For a few days now, the residents of Bad Erlach have been wondering why there is such an unpleasant smell of garlic in their town.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Doris Seebacher, ZVG Privat, Pixabay)

In Bad Erlach in the Bucklige Welt, a somewhat unpleasant smell reminiscent of garlic has been wafting through the streets for a few days now. The "Krone" has now found out why it is actually garlic and why this is a particularly good thing. 

For over a week now, an intense smell of garlic has been hovering over the small community of Bad Erlach in the district of Wiener Neustadt with a population of 3,300. The residents are curious and wonder what the reason could be? The honest answer comes from the "cause" himself. Namely from organic and berry farmer Reinhard Piribauer. He and his wife Marie-Luise run a 3.5-hectare field in the village, where they started fertilizing the strawberries again just a few days ago - with garlic fertilizer

The finest organic garlic from Burgenland
But not just any garlic. "We use 15 tons of organic garlic from Sigleß," explains the company boss. Why garlic? "We simply don't want to work with poison," says Piribauer about this completely natural form of pest control. Only garlic and horse manure are used for his strawberries, but no chemical pesticides.

I have children myself, so it is particularly important to me that my strawberries grow without chemicals.

Biobauer Reinhard Piribauer, Bad Erlach

The field was fertilized last week when the ground was still frozen. "The intense smell should actually be over with the next heavy rainfall," explains Piribauer. "It's just a shame that it's not raining at the moment and the sun is shining on it instead," he says with a sense of humor.

About the farm

• Piri's berries are grown organically and can be eaten unwashed straight from the field.
• The use of plastic, plastic film, chemical pesticides and drip hoses is completely avoided.
• The berries are only picked in natural wooden baskets or wooden ground bowls.
• Before the berries are planted,organic garlic and treated horse manure are spread as fertilizer. The garlic repels pests and fungi that are harmful to berries and also serves as fertilizer once it has decomposed. The horse manure contains important organic compounds for building up humus.
• Extensive soil samples are also taken on an ongoing basis. The missing nutrients are supplemented withvolcanic primary rock flour.

The first strawberries are harvested from May. You can also pick your own strawberries in his strawberry country - directly from the field, without having to worry about sprays. And there's no need to be afraid of vampires in the idyllic spa town in the Bucklige Welt either ...