The Field Guideby Moss & MarrowZorgboerderij De Hondspol
- Cattle, sheep or goats graze on pasture in the grazing season
- Pigs and poultry live free range: outdoors on pasture, in woodland or a run
- Heritage breeds
- No synthetic pesticides or fertiliser (certified)
De Hondspol is a biodynamic care farm on the Gooyer Wetering at the edge of Driebergen-Rijsenburg, where farmers, a grower and residents keep a dairy herd and grow vegetables for their own farm shop.
Sixty horned dairy cows of the old Dutch MRIJ breed graze herb-rich pastures, and the farm's own dairy turns their milk into milk, yoghurt, kwark (fresh curd cheese), cream, sour cream, buttermilk, butter and several kinds of boerenkaas (farm cheese). The bottled milk is pasteurised but not homogenised and is processed as little as possible, so its fat and taste change with the seasons; raw milk can be tapped straight from the tank. The farm also keeps pigs, hens, sheep and goats, all outside as much as possible with roomy, light barns, and sells eggs and frozen beef, lamb and pork cut by a butcher they describe as organic, plus bouillon, pesto and hummus from the farm kitchen. The farm is certified organic (SKAL); we found it in the register.
The shop is open Wednesday and Friday from 10:30 to 16:00 and Saturday from 9:30 to 13:30; for raw milk, bring a clean bottle on Friday or Saturday. Vegetables are picked the same morning, with a wide choice from spring to autumn and a small winter range, and on Fridays there is bread from De Veldkeuken.
The farm keeps hedgerows, flower margins and toad ponds across the land.