Tuinderij De Volle Grond

Tuinderij De Volle Grond is an organic market garden in the historic walled kitchen garden of the Nieuw Amelisweerd estate on the edge of Utrecht, where growers, volunteers and trainees have raised vegetables, fruit and herbs since 1986 for members of a community-supported farm (CSA).

Almost all the work is done by hand so that heavy machinery doesn't damage the soil structure, and their website says no synthetic fertiliser or pesticides are used. Instead they rely on a wide crop rotation and compost made from wood chips and hay from the estate, and raise as many of their own seedlings as possible. The garden is certified organic (SKAL); we found it in the register.

There is no shop. Members buy a harvest share for the season, in a small, medium or large size, and share the risk of a poor harvest with the growers. The bags run for 32 weeks a year, from early May to mid-December, and can be collected after 15:00 on Wednesdays from the cold room at the garden in Bunnik or at five pickup points in Utrecht, and on Fridays in Houten, De Meern, Leidsche Rijn and Utrecht Overvecht. Occasionally a bag is topped up with organic crops from a local arable farmer, and this is always stated.

Members can help decide the costs and the planting plan through a core group.