The Field Guideby Moss & MarrowRozenbotteltuin De Put
- Organic methods: no synthetic pesticides or fertiliser, not certified
Rozenbotteltuin De Put is a rosehip garden of two hectares on the Broekweg in Wijk bij Duurstede, run by the second generation of the family that planted it in the early 1950s, which turns its harvest into rosehip purée for cooks and chefs.
The bushes are botanical roses, selections of Rosa alpina numbered 2 and 5 and a type called Haematode, budded onto Rosa laxa rootstock. The garden has been grown by organic methods since it was replanted in 1979, though it holds no organic certificate, and the family do the planting, pruning, feeding and mowing themselves. The hips are picked by hand and sold mainly as frozen purée to restaurants, ice-cream makers and brewers.
For home cooks the purée comes in 1 kg tubs, and a small part of each harvest is made into rosehip jam by a jam maker in Nieuwegein. The garden can be visited from May to October by appointment only, and their website lists further sales points. Each year the hips are picked on four Sundays from late August through September by friends and volunteers, followed by a shared buffet; in 2026 enough pickers had signed up by the end of August.
The garden began as a supplier of hips for the rosehip syrup Karvan Cevitam, and when the commercial gardens were cleared in 1979 the family kept two hectares going.