Tim Hicks - Managing Editor

Ties Ruigrok drives a team as he rakes hay on the Flowers farm.

Tim Hicks - Managing Editor

Ties Ruigrok, left, and Jelmer Albada wear the traditional wooden shoes for which Netherlands is known.

Tim Hicks - Managing Editor

Jelmer Albada carries a hay bale the way Dutch farmers do, he says - by pitchfork.

Tim Hicks - Managing Editor

Jelmer Albada, right, pictches a hay bale up to Hannah Flowers.

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Their work boots were gouged with chips and splinters.

But then again, their shoes were wooden and shod the feet of two Dutch men.

Jelmer Albada (pronounced Yel-mar Al-ba-da) and Ties Ruigrok (pronounced T-eez Roo-grok) have been in Barnwell County since June 17 learning horse farming techniques as guests of Tommy and Cindy Flowers.

Albada, 26, and Ruigrok, 22, are students at Warmonderhof, an international agricultural school in the Netherlands that teaches "bio-dynamic" or green farming skills.

The Warmonderhof has students from other countries, including Canada and England, Albada said.

Ruigrok and Alabada will be with the Flowers for several weeks and in the United States for three months.

Tommy Flowers first met Ruigrok and Albada in 2007 when he traveled to Europe to buy a draft horse and struck up friendship. The three men met at a farming exhibition, Albada said.

Both men speak English, so language was not an obstacle.

However, while here, the two Dutch men learned some American sayings.

"We learned ‘git-r-done,'" Albada said.

Albada is from the Friesland province of the Netherlands while Ruigrok is from the town of Vorden, near the German border.

Albada grew up on his family's dairy farm where his brother is already farming the land, he said.

"I hope to grow herbs and garden crops," Albada said.

Ruigrok's parents worked on a bio-dynamic farm where Ruigrok was born, he said.

The farm was set up as a place where handicapped people could learn agriculture, Ruigrok said.

"Agriculture is a very good place to raise work for the handicapped," he said.

At seven feet tall, Ruigrok stands out in a crowd.

"I've been asked I don't know how many times how tall I am and do I play basketball," Ruigrok said since his visit here.

The Dutch men will accompany her family to the 16th annual Horse Progress Days July 3-4 in Odon, Ind., said Cindy Flowers.

While in the Mid-West, Tommy Flowers arranged for the Dutch farmers to spend time with several Amish farmers to learn farm techniques from them as well, Albada said.

For Albada and Ruigrok, their days with the Flowers family have been ones of work and learning.

"Tommy teaches us a lot on harnesses and the animals. He's taught us a lot of new things and how the Amish do it," Albada said.

Likewise, Ruigrok praised Tommy and Cindy Flowers' for their horse and farm knowledge.

"They are good teachers to us," he said.

While on the Flowers farm, the family has been teaching Albada and Ruigrok about hay production, including mowing, raking and tedding, or turning the hay so it dries properly before storing it, said Cindy Flowers.

"In Holland, we don't (make) hay, the weather is not stable," Ruigrok said. "We don't have enough dry days."

Three days of dry weather are unusual in the Netherlands and for hay harvesting, at least five days of sunny weather are needed to properly dry it, he said.

Both Dutch men have been amazed by the large sizes and large quantities of things in the United States.

"Everything is king-sized - big trucks, the supermarket, the animals," Ruigrok said. "Everything in Holland is small."

"We went to Wal-Mart and they were surprised at the big quantities we have," said Cindy Flowers.

"Everything is in bulk packaging," Albada said.

The larger quantities that American shoppers in which buy their groceries would be reserved for restaurants in Holland, Albada said.

Cindy Flowers introduced her guests to a few American and Southern items, like homemade ice cream and grits, she said.

"They've enjoyed the Southern cooking," she said. "They've never churned ice cream or shelled corn before. They are amazed by posthole diggers."

Posthole diggers are not a common Dutch farm implement, but the two farmers are going to be taking some back with them, Flowers said.

"They are not a primitive country, it's just a different culture - different methods," she said.

The humid Southern weather was also a new experience for the two men.

"The humidity and warmth make it really warm here. In Holland - it's not as bright - the sun - and the woods - there's not as much forest (in Holland) as here," Albada said.

Albada said he is enjoying seeing the United States in the fashion he is experiencing it as opposed to being just a tourist.

"It's nice to meet the Flowers family and not be a tourist," he said.

"We thought all Americans used drive-ins and McDonalds (to get food)," Ruigrok said. "The Flowers family is very kind to us and letting us use their horses."