The Field Guideby Moss & MarrowGeertjes Hoeve
- No synthetic pesticides or fertiliser (certified)
- Zero waste
Geertjes Hoeve is an organic goat farm near Haarzuilens with 120 dairy goats, its own cheese dairy, a farm shop and a lunch restaurant, and it doubles as an open farm where visitors can walk among the animals for free.
In good weather the goats graze the fields around the farm, most of which belong to Natuurmonumenten and are managed extensively, so the grass is mixed with many herbs; the goats give less milk than average as a result. The milk is made on the farm into fresh goat's cheese, quark and above all Gouda-style goat's cheese, which is brined and matured in a store you can see from the shop. Their website says no pesticides or synthetic fertiliser are used, and antibiotics are given only to a very sick animal, whose milk is then kept out of production. The farm is certified organic (SKAL); we found it in the register.
The farm shop is open Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 17:00 and on Sunday from 11:00. It sells the goat's cheese from young to extra-old, with or without herbs, goat meat and pork from the farm, and products from other suppliers; the beef and chicken on sale aren't confirmed as their own.
The whey left from cheesemaking, about nine litres for every kilo of cheese, goes to the older lambs and the pigs, and the pork from those whey-fed pigs is sold in the shop.