When you turn into the Luger-Hof in Katsdorf, you are first greeted by a stone shrine. “It was a gift from the children for their 50s – out of joy and thanks that I’ve gotten completely healthy again,” says Elfriede Lesterl. The now 55-year-old, who runs a dairy farm with her husband Gottfried, had a pulmonary infarction at the age of 49, from which she only slowly recovered. “I must have suffered from the physical and psychological consequences for six months. Above all, the fear didn’t let go of me for a long time,” says the farmer. And also that the garden would have helped her through the dark times. “The work was like a return to life for me, I found my joy again,” says the mother of three adult daughters.
A swimming pond as the centerpiece
The garden itself has grown over the decades, the centerpiece is a natural swimming pond with a waterfall and a cozy hut. “My parents used to love to sit in there, they really enjoyed it.” Everything was built with their own hands – with Elfriede Lesterl being the main source of ideas – and husband Gottfried the craftsman. “For example, he made all the iron stands for the many rose bushes that Elfriede planted around the house.
Some are several meters high – and each one exudes an incredibly good scent. There are also peonies in her cottage garden. “These are among my favorite flowers, we must have 20 varieties,” says Lesterl.
In addition, there are 34 cows, two pigs, many chickens, three cats and a dog on the farm, of course, and a vegetable garden where everything grows “that we like,” says Elfriede Lesterl. “I only grow what we like to eat, no experiments.” This includes potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, leeks, lettuce, of course, and all sorts of herbs. “By the way, one of our absolute favorite dishes is a zucchini cordon bleu, which uses zucchini slices instead of meat. It’s wonderful.”
Strawberries for grandson Hanna
There is also a wedding tree with a romantic bench in the yard – and many, many strawberry bushes.
These are all for grandson Hanna, who loves to go into the garden with grandma. Just like many other children, by the way: Elfriede Lesterl offers school on the farm. “It’s a three-hour program in which the boys and dirndls can experience everything that’s going on here. You can pet the animals, but you can also help feed them, take the eggs from the hens and have a good snack with everything we produce here also have it. That way the children can see where the food comes from and how much work went into it. And when one of the little visitors says something like, ‘That was the best day of my life’ when we say goodbye, that’s when it hits you the heart open.”
Source: Nachrichten
