Boerderijwinkel Hoeve Ravenstein

Hoeve Ravenstein is a family farm with a farm shop and café on the Groeneveld estate in Baarn, where the family has kept Belgian Blue beef cattle for about 40 years.

The beef comes from their own herd. The cattle graze in the meadow from early spring and spend the winter on straw in the barns, and calves stay with their mothers; their website says the meat is free of hormones and antibiotics. Vegetables and herbs come from their own kitchen garden, grown without synthetic fertiliser or sprays, and honey from their own hives is sold too. Their website calls the eggs and other products biologisch, although the farm holds no organic certificate, and the eggs come from Lunteren.

The shop in the former cow barn stocks thousands of regional, gluten-free and everyday products from other suppliers, including bought-in chicken, pork and lamb. It is open Tuesday to Saturday from 8:30 until 17:00, or 18:00 on Friday. Beef is sold fresh and frozen in the shop and through the webshop, and once a month you can order a fresh beef pack of 6, 10 or 12.5 kilos for pickup in Baarn, with no subscription needed.

The garden and the herd form one loop: once a year the cattle's own manure goes onto the vegetable beds.