Sfeer van Willems

Sfeer van Willems is a self-harvest garden of one hectare on the north-eastern edge of Wijchen, where members pick their own vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers through the year.

The garden grows a wide range of vegetables, herbs and soft fruit, among them forgotten varieties (vergeten groenten), and their website says no synthetic fertiliser or pesticides are used. The seed and young plants are of organic origin, from nurseries such as Bolster and kwekerij Jongerius. Because members harvest straight from the beds, the produce travels no further than their own bag.

Joining means taking out a yearly subscription as an oogstgenoot (harvest member), priced per person with lower rates for children and payable in instalments. Members may then come every day of the year from 8:00 to 19:00, or until 17:00 in autumn and winter, and pick whatever carries an orange tag; the week's harvest is also sent round by email. Tools, a scale and a sink for washing vegetables are on hand, and members bring their own bag or crate. The main season runs from May to December, with some crops carrying over into the new year. Outside the subscription they sell only by appointment, and the garden is also a pickup point for the egg subscription of Boer Stan, a farmer whose meat members can collect on set days.

Chicken runs, beehives, an insect hotel and a group of runner ducks share the hectare with the crops.