Boeren in het Bos is a nature farm located in Nijeberkoop, Friesland, dedicated to regenerative agriculture and natural food production. The farm’s philosophy centers on creating a healthy ecosystem, where animals and plants thrive, contributing to healthy food for people. It operates with a mixed farming system, integrating cattle, pigs, chickens, sheep, and other animals that fulfill natural functions within forest, grassland, and vegetable garden environments.
The farm offers a self-picking garden, known as a “zelfoogsttuin,” which is open seasonally from May to December. Members can harvest their own unsprayed vegetables, herbs, and flowers directly from the land. Produce available throughout the seasons includes:
- Early spring: Spring onions, arugula, spinach, chard, radishes, and various types of lettuce.
- Later spring: Peas, capuchin peas, broad beans, chives, parsley, fennel, carrots, green beans, leek, and beets.
- High summer: Tomatoes, eggplants, zucchini, pumpkins, sweet corn, cucumbers, and different kinds of cabbage, such as bok choy and broccoli.
- Winter: Brussels sprouts, kale, lamb’s lettuce, winter purslane, parsnips, and winter carrots.
In addition to self-picking, the farm features a shop and an online store. Here, customers can purchase natural, grass-fed meat (beef, pork, and chicken) and eggs from the farm’s own animals. The shop also offers other pure, minimally processed, and often organic products from the farm and partner producers, such as bouillon, fats, wild game, wild-caught fish, raw milk cheeses and butter, fermented and frozen vegetables and fruits, raw honey, and sourdough bread.
Boeren in het Bos also serves as a demonstration farm for regenerative agriculture, sharing its knowledge through courses, workshops, and tours on topics like natural animal husbandry, permaculture, no-dig vegetable cultivation, and agroforestry. They are committed to working without pesticides, artificial fertilizers, or unnecessary additives, promoting biodiversity and animal welfare as core tenets of their operation.
What visitors say
This farm and its associated shop are predominantly highly rated for their commitment to offering high-quality, organic, and natural products. Customers frequently praise the delicious organic beef (notably 100% grass-fed), pork, and chicken available. The farm shop is consistently described as beautiful, clean, and efficiently run, operating on a self-service basis and open daily, including Sundays.
Visitors appreciate the comprehensive farm experience, which includes engaging guided tours led by the farmers, Mariska and Richard, as well as opportunities for scenic walks amidst freely roaming animals like pigs in the forest. The enterprise is lauded as a commendable initiative, championing sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices that foster a strong connection between consumers and their food sources. The farm also provides good accessibility for disabled visitors and ample parking.
While the exceptional quality of the meat is widely acknowledged, some customers consider the prices to be high. The owners address this by explaining that their pricing reflects the true cost of producing organic, Demeter-standard, or natural meat in the Netherlands, emphasizing animal welfare, lower animal density per hectare, and the regenerative impact on soil and biodiversity.
However, a notable area of strong criticism concerns workshops that allegedly involve the slaughter of chickens. Several reviewers express profound moral outrage, deeming these activities barbaric, unempathetic, and a trivialization of animal life. Additionally, one customer reported dissatisfaction with the meager amount of meat on a wild duck purchased, feeling it did not justify the price.