The Farm

Origin

In Wierden, I, Pieter Vliek, started keeping one goat. After this hobby began to get out of hand, we moved from Wierden to Nagele, where the farm had a chance to get off to a good start. There was no land of its own attached to this place at the time. Starting in 2001, two new rules came from the EU, forcing us to move again:

• Organic farming must be land-based
• Goats should not only have an outlet, but should also be able to graze.

In 2002, a farm became available on the Twickel Foundation estate where an organic farm was to start. This farm included 19 acres of land. After a year of permit applications, remodeling and new construction, we moved the entire company to Ambt Delden. Here we were able to expand our livestock from 150 goats to 300 goats.

Current situation

Since 2002, the goat farm has been located in Ambt Delden. It runs 300 organic dairy goats, which are milked twice a day. We process most of this milk ourselves, into packets of 500 ml organic fresh goat milk and organic whole goat yogurt. The farmhouse itself functions as a residence and office. A large barn was built at the farm to house the 300 goats. Next door is a lambing pen, where lambs can run carefree from February to December. On the other side of the barn is the dairy department. This is where goat’s milk is processed. Since 2014, we have employed an employee, who now works full-time on the farm.

Twickel Estate

Since 2002 we have leased a farm with 20 acres of land on the Twickel Foundation estate. The farm is called “Erve Dassehaar” and is one of 150 farms on the estate. The farmhouse dates back to 1896. Twickel’s estate surrounds Twickel Castle and is 4,000 acres in size. In addition to this castle and its beautiful garden, there are several attractions on the estate, including a sawmill, several mills and a museum farm. The beautiful surroundings offer great hiking and biking.