Foodforest Ketelbroek

Please note our vulnerable food forest is only open for visitors after permission (as joining a guided tour). To visit please make an appointment via kenniscentrumvoedselbossen@gmail.com.

Dutch: Ons kwetsbare voedselbos is niet openbaar toegankelijk. Wel is bezoek op afspraak mogelijk, zoals deelname aan een rondleiding. Neem daarvoor svp contact op via kenniscentrumvoedselbossen@gmail.com.

Foodforest Ketelbroek is located in the Netherlands, about 12 kilometers south of Nijmegen (actually very close to the border with Germany). The landscape around the spot is beautiful: countryside with some wooded hills and a swamp (both nature reserves) are nearby. In 2009 in this area 2.4 hectare of bare land was purchased. We created a food forest.

Hedges have been planted, for beauty, biodiversity and windbreak. Many fruit trees (for instance peach, pawpaw, Japanese plums, kaki), nuts (chestnut, hazel, walnut, heartnut, hickory) and shrubs (as gooseberry, Nanking cherry, Siberian peatree) do offer rich harvests in future. In between, some open spaces are created. Two of them have become small ponds (with noisy frogs) and one is in use a school veggies garden for the nearby primary school Op de Horst.

We, Pieter Jansen and Wouter van Eck, are the initiators and farmers of Food Forest Ketelbroek. Even though we are first of all inspired by nature in our own garden we are grateful for the pioneering work in forest gardening by Martin Crawford from the Agroforestry Research Trust in England. We have especially learned a lot form his book: 'Creating a forest garden. Working with nature to grow edible crops', which we highly recommend for anyone interested in forest gardening in temperate climate. You can visit the Agroforestry Research Trust website at: http://www.agroforestry.co.uk

Please note the following. Ketelbroek cannot be visited without prior admission. First of all we want to secure a safe and quiet place for the many animals living here. Also some of our unknown edible plants may look like weeds (even for experienced people). For hygienic reasons it is better not to trample upon them... However, we do organize guided tours. Please contact us if you want to participate.