Maker · Tuinpark Laakzijde, Amersfoort · Vegetables
Voedselbos Amersfoort
Six thousand square metres of edible forest on the edge of Amersfoort, planted in layers as a real forest grows. Not a field in straight rows, but tall trees, shrubs, small fruit and nut bearers and soil full of herbs that strengthen one another. What you get here sits in no standard catalogue: stinging nettle, lemon verbena, fig leaf, cardoon, hawthorn blossom. Extraordinary greens that shift week to week, that you set fresh on a menu nowhere else.
The story
Who's behind it
Voedselbos Amersfoort sits at Tuinpark Laakzijde, on Achterhoekerweg. It's about 6,000 square metres and is run by Stichting het Aardmannetje, with a manager and a group of volunteers who plant, prune and harvest. Since early 2024 it's been open to visitors. It's pointedly also an education project: there are guided tours and work days, and part of the paths are freely accessible.
A food forest is neither a vegetable garden nor a field. It's a deliberately planted forest where almost everything is edible, built in layers: tall trees at the top, below them shrubs and small fruit and nut bearers, and on the ground a layer of herbs and ground cover. These layers work together. Plants that aren't for humans are there for the pollinators and birds that keep pests in check. The idea is not thinking in monocultures but in plant communities that strengthen one another.
What makes it different
For you as a chef the difference lies in what grows here and how fresh it arrives. This is not standard vegetables. Think stinging nettle, lemon verbena, chocolate mint, cardoon, fresh horseradish, fig leaf and hawthorn blossom. Ingredients you'd have to wild-harvest or import yourself, here from just outside the city.
The range shifts week to week and by season. You harvest what stands at that moment, and some species are there only briefly. Hawthorn blossom and fig leaf come as pre-order, in a window sometimes just a few weeks long. That demands planning, but it delivers something your colleague down the road doesn't have: a menu that moves with what's happening outside, with extraordinary greens harvested at their peak.
How to stand out with this
Put the extraordinary ingredient centre stage, not at the edge. A plate built around charred nettle or infused fig leaf tells itself. Check in advance what's ready and build your dish around the harvest, rather than holding to a fixed menu. Combine the everyday from your own ordering with a handful of species from the food forest, and you keep it workable yet distinctive. Name the source on the menu: 6,000 square metres of biodiverse food forest near Amersfoort is a story your guests will remember, and it's true to the square metre.
Chef’s tip
Work here seasonally and order on harvest. Hawthorn blossom and fig leaf are pre-orders with a window of sometimes just a few weeks. Check in advance what's available and build your dish around the harvest, rather than holding to a fixed menu. Put that single ingredient centre stage rather than as garnish.
How to use it
Ideas for your menu
Charred nettle
Young nettles into a deep green oil or soup. Earthy, spinach-like flavour without the import.
Fig leaf under fish
Infuse cream or butter with fig leaf for a coconut-like aroma, or use the leaf as a wrap under grilled fish.
Lemon verbena infusion
Intense lemon leaf in a sorbet, broth or dessert cream. Fresher and sharper than lemon peel.
Fresh horseradish
Grated at table over tartare, smoked fish or beetroot. Full and sharp, far from the jar from the wholesaler.
For your menu
“Edible greens from Voedselbos Amersfoort, a biodiverse food forest of 6,000 m² at Tuinpark Laakzijde. Harvested to order.”
Products from Voedselbos Amersfoort
What we carry from this maker
Chocolate mint (after eight)
Mint variant with cocoa notes, for dessert and drink.
Pears Doyenné du Comice
Juicy eating pears, autumn. Order Sunday, deliver Thursday.
Prices and availability are in the portal. Not a customer yet? Become a customer or log in to order.
Taste it in your own kitchen
Book a no-obligation tasting with Niels. No contract, just tasting.