The Field Guideby Moss & MarrowTuinderij Buitenplaats
- Organic methods: no synthetic pesticides or fertiliser, not certified
Tuinderij Buitenplaats is a self-harvest vegetable garden in Haarlem's Westelijk Tuinbouwgebied, the oldest market-gardening area in North Holland, where members pick their own share of the crops each week from May to November.
More than 40 kinds of vegetables are grown on the field, by hand, alongside a herb garden, and in early October 2026 members were picking pumpkin, sweet potato, kale and parsley. Pigs live on the land and help turn over the soil; they are not sold for meat. Their website describes the garden as organic (biologisch); it holds no organic certificate, and what qualifies it here is the small-scale growing by hand for members who come and pick it themselves.
Joining means buying a harvest share (oogstaandeel) for a year, which makes you a participant in the garden rather than a customer. From May to November you come once a week and pick your own vegetables, on average five or six kinds, and you can help with the work on the land if you want to. Harvesting is on Wednesday and Friday from 13:00 to 17:00 and on Saturday from 10:00 to 13:00, at the field on the Pieter Wantelaan opposite numbers 22 to 24.
The soil is old dune sand (geestgrond), and vegetables have been grown on it for Haarlem for more than 400 years.