The Field Guideby Moss & MarrowDe Coöperij
- Organic methods: no synthetic pesticides or fertiliser, not certified
De Coöperij is a market garden in Soest that grows more than 60 crops on 0.6 hectares spread over three plots, on the Insingerstraat, the Dorresteinweg and the 2e Heezerlaantje, for about 125 households with a harvest share (oogstaandeel), helped by a circle of volunteers.
The vegetables are grown without pesticides, synthetic fertiliser or slurry. Instead the growers feed the soil, keep it covered, walk only on the paths and avoid turning it where they can, and they raise almost all their plants from their own seedlings. Vegetables are harvested on the day they are handed out.
A harvest share runs for 30 weeks, from mid-May to early December, with five to seven kinds of vegetable a week, and is collected on Wednesday afternoons, when the growers are there with coffee and tea. Shares for 2027 go through a waiting list, and shorter summer shares are sold in their webshop. The garden also grows more than 70 kinds of flowers, sold as subscriptions, pick-your-own cards and bouquets.
In summer the three plots produce enough that the surplus goes to another 25 families on top of the regular members.