In the Farmers' Association of South Tyrol (Südtirol Bauernbund), the agricultural spirit of optimism is being embraced and pushed forward. "We have intelligent, resourceful farmers," says Ulrich Höllrigl, Vice Director of the Farmers' Association of South Tyrol, with great satisfaction. For years, the Farmers' Association of South Tyrol has been trying to make supplementary opportunities for income generation more appealing to mountain farmers. The most promising ones seem to be the farm holiday model, refining produce on the farm and experimenting with niche crops such as vegetables, herbs, berries and, more recently, cereals. A year ago, an innovation desk was established where farmers can get advice. New cultivation options and business areas are being researched together with the South Tyrolean research institutes Laimburg and TIS.

His parents were a great help in providing him with practical experience. "You have to spray," said his father. "You have to water," said his mother. Harald did neither. He was determined to find the best ways of doing things by himself. He  became convinced that if the plants were not watered much when they were young, they would develop deeper roots and extract valuable minerals from the soil. In addition, he was confident that non-sprayed vegetables taste better, because the bitter chemical substances are missing. Today, on 3,000 square metres of land, Harald Gasser now grows 400 mostly forgotten varieties of vegetables. "With some varieties, it took me seven years before I harvested them for the first time.

Experimentation, that's what matters most to him. For a while, Gasser was not bothered about who would buy the products.

According to Ulrich Höllrigl of the Farmers' Union, nowadays farmers also have to think about marketing. For many, this is a major problem because many farmers are not natural entrepreneurs. "Fortunately, South Tyrol has a good cooperative system," says Höllrigl. It is not possible for every farmer to cover the entirety of South Tyrol alone. Nevertheless, more and more farmers are trying to get in touch with their customers, offering their seasonal products at farmers' markets or selling directly at the farm. Höllrigl: "Selling at markets or on the farm itself is costly and time-consuming, but the farmers are satisfied with the result." In doing so, farmers are fostering relationships with their customers. Local products are in high demand as long as they are affordable and look attractive.

Small mountain farmers in particular are looking for new ways to cultivate and sell their produce. This goes for young farmers as well. Farms no longer yields enough to feed several generations. Many children of farming families learn other professions, go to university, return to the farm as inheritors at some point and want to do many things differently. Höllrigl: "They wonder how they can achieve a decent standard of living as farmers."

To be different, to stand out. Harald Gasser turned this concept into his philosophy of life. For a long time he worked as a social worker in a school. He never planned to work as a farmer. Now he is both, growing plants that are encouraged to be a bit different, imperfect. His vegetable garden at the Aspingerhof farm looks like a garden of weeds. Gasser is an advocate of mixed cropping, having long tested which plants thrive together side by side. “Plants quarrel just like people do,” says Gasser. He sounds calm as he explains, but he wasn’t always this way.

When things were bad at Aspingerhof farm and Harald Gasser was stuck with his vegetables, Herbert Hintner ordered 150 kilos of tomatoes and a lot of other vegetables from him in one go. "What did you do with so many tomatoes?" asked Harald Gasser later. "I threw them away," said the chef, "but otherwise you would have given up." Harald Gasser gives a knowing laugh. He is right of course, he would have.