Picking vegetables and fruit in West Zeeuws-Vlaanderen
What could be more fun than getting your vegetables directly from the farmer or picking that bunch of flowers yourself? Well, there are probably some things more fun, but picking gardens and stands with fruit and vegetables on the farm are great. Very nice for the kids, but we also stop when they are not there. Here you will find a selection of just these kinds of good, local places in West Zeeuws-Vlaanderen.
Picking walks, fresh fruit and vegetables from the field and picking gardens are of course seasonal, so always check the website (or call) if you have your heart set on it to see if they are open.
In Retranchement, near the border with Belgium, you will find: Kulderzipke (you may recognize the name from the Flemish TV series of the same name), in the middle of the Zeeland polder and therefore the ideal place for wild picking. Wild plants are often seen as weeds, but they can often be used for cooking or baking and some have medicinal properties themselves.
Before you start picking in the wild around you: first visit Kulderzipke so that you know what you need to pick, where you can find it and what you can do with it. Ingrid takes you on a wild picking walk and explains exactly how it works.
And also very nice: you can rent a house on the site if you really want to into you have become involved in wild picking.
That ultimate we're-really-out-of-town feeling is when you're driving somewhere and along the way you see an unmanned stand where you can buy fruit, flowers or vegetables. No one checks you, because hey: we are fair, right? You will find exactly that at Carien Voogd. This is where you get your fruit and vegetables that were probably just pulled out of the ground that morning. Money in the honesty box and on to the next place. This is a wonderfully authentic place.
More places in Zeeland where you can get your supplies directly from the farmer can be found here. But the best part is driving around and accidentally discovering them yourself.
If you are near Pluktuin Aardenburg in the right season, we would definitely make a pit stop there. Here you will find, besides flowers, all kinds of fruit that you can pick and take with you, plus there is a small terrace for a juice or ice cream. And and and: they also have a butterfly garden! The people behind Pluktuin Aardenburg also organize workshops, such as flower arranging. It is useful to always check the website for these kinds of things and for opening days!
You will find plenty of other picking gardens in West Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. For example, in Cadzand you will find The Essenhoeve farm, where you can pick flowers from July (and where you will also find a mini-campsite, a kind of camping-at-the-farm idea). In Oostburg is Bloemenboerderij Court Zjevernie. Here too, a sea of colorful flowers blooms that you can pick for just 0,25 euros. Entrance is at the wooden gate and then just follow the country road with the sheep gate. Got hungry after all that picking? On Buy Local there are a lot of local addresses where you can eat and drink delicious food.
Fan of picking gardens? We too: Here you will find picking gardens throughout the Netherlands.
