The Field Guideby Moss & MarrowGelukkige Groentes Ooij
- Organic methods: no synthetic pesticides or fertiliser, not certified
- Regenerative farming
- Nature-inclusive farming
- No ploughing
- Zero waste
Gelukkige Groentes Ooij is a self-harvest food garden (voedseltuin) opened in 2023 in the Ooijpolder, behind the greenhouses of Ooijs Moois at Leuthsestraat 3, where members come each week from May to December to pick their own vegetables, herbs and flowers.
Around 60 crops are grown over the season, from leek, carrot and courgette to hakurei turnips, tromboncino, chard and palm kale, with fresh herbs, and for part of the season flowers and some soft fruit. According to their website nothing is sprayed, no synthetic fertiliser is used, the beds are never ploughed or rotavated, and the seed and young plants are bought organic. The garden holds no SKAL certificate and we found none in the register; what qualifies it here is the practice itself.
Joining works per household and per season: each adult takes a full harvest subscription, children of 10 to 17 a half and younger children go free. Members may come seven days a week from sunrise to sunset and take what their household needs rather than fixed portions, since harvest and risk are shared, and nobody has to work in the garden. The 2026 season is full, so new sign-ups join a waiting list for 2027 and are invited to a tour first.
The soil is never turned: no plough, rotavator or heavy machinery goes on the beds, so the soil life is left in place.