A STEP BACK IN TIME

                                     A Different Way of Life

      It was a scenic ride to the town Broek op Langedijk, the Netherlands, established in 1063.  The area was swampy and after building a 4-mile dike people settled along it. Originally there were 37 islands and after digging and dikes, started in 1100, the number of islands climbed to 1500.   Originally the area covered 50 square kilometers. The canals are used for transportation by punt---flat bottom boats.  
     In the 17^th century pig farming gave way to vegetable farming. The soil is very rich and there is no need for fertilizer. The area is noted for its vegetable farming, primarily root vegetables plus cabbage. A huge amount of cabbage is grown here which used to be stored in cabbage attics. Most houses  had hoists on the side of the house to lift the cabbages up for storage.
      Because of water plants the canals need to be dredged every three years. If they are not, it’s not long before the plants close the canal and two islands will join each other to form a larger island. The canals are one-meter deep, and the lake is seven-meters deep in the center. All the islands are named.
      Auctions started in 1887 when the auctioneer stood on a wooden platform and vegetables were sold from small boats. In 1903 a clock was added and the auction building built.  The last auction  was in 1973; then all of the area plus buildings was turned into Broeker Veiling Museum.
     Built over the water, the impressive mooring halls, with 1,900 wooden posts to support the imposing wooden structure, is a national monument. The boat hall was covered in 1922. It was massive with wide sturdy walkways throughout. Moving from one part of the museum to another we stopped in the boat hall to see how the boats were constructed.
      Made of oak, they were  painted with tar containing crushed shells making the decks less slippery.
      Following a museum tour, we enjoyed a boat trip to the interesting Realm of the Thousand Islands where we were introduced to a fascinating area in the province of North Holland. Many of the islands are owned by the state for a nature reserve. Over 2500 people live in the Realm. While on the boat we noted the definite aroma of potato chips and learned the stack belching smoke was a Lay’s factory. They sure smelled good!
      We had an intimate lesson on Dutch trading in the 1912 historic auction room. It was fun to experience and witness the excitement of a traditional auction. The auction room was very light with large windows and a roof sky light. This was the oldest water vegetable auction in the world. I wonder where there might have been other ones.
      It was an interesting afternoon learning about another way of life.