About

About me

Hi! I am Will van Twuijver, a designer and farmer working on regenerative design processes. This means that my work is informed by an overarching goal to design and develop systems that integrate environmental restoration and human wellbeing. In practice, my work is focused on the intersection of agroecological food production and grassroots-initiatives.

Focusing on this intersection allows me to explore alternative forms of food production and distribution that are based on solidarity principles, return to a human scale and increase awareness of the natural processes that form the basis of our food system. I have several years of involvement in grassroots initiatives that explore such alternatives, including projects that involve Community Supported Agriculture, waste food processing collectives and home-brewing.

In 2012 I graduated with a bachelor’s in interior architecture at Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam, followed by a master’s in Collaborative & Industrial Design at the Aalto University, Finland in 2019. To further deepen my understanding of regenerative design, I completed multiple courses on the topic. Such as a minor study on Sustainability, a certified permaculture design course and a two-year course in biodynamic agriculture. Currently, I work as a part-time dairy farmer and cheese maker and am active as board member of Toekomstboeren.

Contact

DIY farm tool making 1 3

  • General information
  • Year
    2020 – ongoing
  • Partnerships
    Toekomstboeren
  • Project type
    Self initiated
  • Topics
    Toolmaking, DIY, repair, repurpose, ergonomy, agroecology

Having a background in design and farming I like to combine these two interests to create new farm tools and equipment. In particular, farm tools that can be built with simple tools, a basic skillset and can easily be repaired or modified. Over the past couple of years I have both been developing tools for the Werkplaats Agroecologie, for myself and helping farmers and friends to find solutions for their farms or gardens.

Modular wire weeder

This modular wire weeder made solely from parts found at the local hardware store. It takes about half an hour to assemble all parts using just a few simple pliers. Each item of the hoe can be disconnected and replaced if needed. The system is based on quick release connectors typically used for pneumatic machines.

Development of a modular wire weeder

Simplified wire weeder

This wire weeder is a simplified version based on the modular wire weeder shown above. It was made for Uoma Earth Care, a no-dig market garden Vantaa in Finland, where the farmer was searching for affordable alternatives to existing wire weeder with replaceable heads. The design is based on existing DIY wire weeder modules with the goal of making a robust model, that can easily be repaired or tweaked and used by interns or volunteers. Only two simple techniques are needed to build these wire weeders: bending metal wire and wood carving.

1 The wire weeder can be build using simple hand tools
2 drawing a mould for bending the metal wire in shape
3 example of one of the newly bended wire heads
4 carving the wood to make an indent for the wire
5 using the opinel knife to make an indent for the hose clamp
6 the carved out indents
7 fitting the metal components in place
8 Experimenting with various wire widths and shapes
9 testing out the wire weeder

Germination chamber

The germination chamber was developed as part of the Werkplaats Agroecologie’s sub project of growing seedlings from scratch. In addition to the excursions on creating your own potting mix, we build a germination chamber using a temperature and humidity controller, an old fridgde and a rice cooker. The germination chamber is used at Tuinderij de Mijmering and increase the germination rate of their seeds towards 99%.

Building a germination chamber

Bed gridder

Testing the bed gridder in the field

A bed gridder is a tool to mark a grid on a garden bed to enable equal plant spacing. This one was developed for ‘De Blije Bodem’, a self harvesting market-garden in Groningen, The Netherlands. Learning how to weld was part of the building process. The round metal disks were cut at a local vocational school.

Construction of the bed gridder