Boterhuys Farm

Our farm is located in the centuries-old Boterhuis polders, just outside Leiden. We are an organic dairy farm, ice cream maker, and a picnic and meeting spot for everyone who wants to experience farm life!

A NEW ADVENTURE

We are Gerard and Mieke. In 2019, we moved with our herd from Drenthe to Warmond, to Boterhuys Farm, where Mieke grew up. The farm had been inactive for three years. Now we are turning it into a special place, for us, our family, our animals, nature, and everyone who wants to enjoy it with us.

FARMING IS NOT DONE ALONE

In our view, farming is not done alone. You do it for each other and with each other. Boterhuys Farm connects the countryside with the city, farmer with citizen, people with animals, agriculture with nature, and the past with the future. This is not our land; it is land we are allowed to use temporarily. We have the responsibility to take good care of it. That means thinking about those who will use the land next, about the future. We pay close attention to regenerative agriculture, organic farming, healthy soil, and herb-rich grasslands. We create natural borders and hedgerows full of trees, shrubs, and flowers. Around the farm you will find coppice woods and willow hedges where small wildlife feels at home. We believe that in the polder, agricultural production and nature values should go hand in hand.

We also like to open our land to others. This is a place to live and experience. Animals and nature do good for people, as we have seen over the years on our previous farm. So come visit and experience it for yourself. Taste our ice cream, enjoy the sheep and cows, climb a haystack, see the ice cream production, ask us anything, or think up a special collaboration. You will see: farm life is not always romantic or tidy. It’s full of ups and downs, sunshine and rough edges. We tell it like it is. Sometimes that means a dead cow or other hardships, but that’s farm life. Not everything is a pretty picture, even though we might wish it were.