The Field Guideby Moss & MarrowVoedselbos Vlaardingen
- Organic methods: no synthetic pesticides or fertiliser, not certified
- Permaculture
- Agroforestry
Voedselbos Vlaardingen is a food forest open to the public on the edge of the Westwijk in Vlaardingen, designed on permaculture principles and planted from 2015 onwards.
The forest was designed by the Rotterdam Forest Garden Netwerk: ditches were dug, the soil from them was raised into mounds (terpen), and trees, shrubs and lower plants were set in several layers so that more of the ground is used. Their website says the planting is built around self-reinforcing cycles, so that pesticides and synthetic fertiliser are not needed, and that biodiversity is meant to keep pests and diseases in check. A volunteer group works in the forest on Friday mornings.
The harvest grows each year and is sold mainly to restaurants and food makers, so you are more likely to eat it at Restaurant Rotonde, Restaurant Fermin or Aloha in Rotterdam, Brasserie De Eenling in Schiedam or De Deegkneders than buy it raw. Friends of the Food Forest can collect a share of the harvest, and once a year the Oogstfeest opens the forest for a harvest market with their own stall, held in 2026 on Sunday 6 September. The entrances are on the Zuidbuurt and the Van Boendaleweg.