Wij-Gaarde is a meeting place where learning, working and staying come together in a green environment. The principles of regenerative agriculture and permaculture are central to the self-picking garden, harvest festivals and, above all, in shaping the site. This makes the insights and knowledge of regenerative agriculture and permaculture accessible to a wider audience.
Wij-Gaarde offers a diverse range of seasonal organic vegetables. It also provides a space for events, self-development, and practical challenges.
In 2019, a group of event organizers with a passion for good food decided to join forces. Inspired by documentary maker John Liu and the collaboration with the Eco Restoration Camps movement, they came up with the plan to create a place where future-proof agriculture and events meet. Knowledge from books is applied and together they discover how the principles of regenerative agriculture and permaculture can be applied. What started as just a lawn is now an abundant garden with strips of tiny forest, a self-picking garden, a tree nursery, living tipis, hedges of pear trees and a tree hub for Meer Bomen Nu.
In the summer of 2020, Meer Bomen Nu saved 60,000 pear trees. In the winter of 2021-2022, another Meer Bomen Nu tree hub was organized at the Wij-Gaarde. From mid-November to mid-March, seedlings are stored on the site where the most delicious vegetables and herbs grow from spring to autumn. These seedlings come from the overabundance of young trees and shrubs produced by nature each year.
Wij-Gaarde aims to be climate neutral by farming on a small scale, delivering directly to its members, and avoiding artificial fertilizers. They strive to capture CO2 in the soil, which benefits soil life and the yield of vegetables and fruit.
The self-picking garden allows visitors to harvest their own produce. The farm maintains the garden and indicates what is ready for harvest each week. You can sign up to come and harvest weekly, taking as much as you need. The organic vegetables are grown seasonally, both in open ground and in a greenhouse. There is a more diverse and larger selection in the summer than in the winter.
Wij-Gaarde aims to make the practice, challenges, advantages and disadvantages of regenerative agriculture, permaculture and regenerative communities accessible to a wide audience. This is done by opening up the site for events, creating a self-picking garden, entering into land-bound collaborations and setting up a regenerative organization. Wij-Gaarde offers a platform for meetings, events, lectures, courses, harvest dinners, focus groups, inspiration sessions, campfire talks and camping weekends.
What visitors say
Apparently, this user found the location so appealing, they effectively brought it home, remarking it’s now “in their garden.” This implies a high level of satisfaction and a desire to replicate the experience or atmosphere of the place in their own private space.