Growing crops & taking care of animals
Gelderland
My partner (Roy, 41) and I (Sanne , 41) have 3 hectares (7,5 acres). Here we grow crops for ourselves, family and friends and for our 2 lovely pigs. Also, we provide a habitat for wildlife; for us it is very important to share with all things living :)
We also share our home with others. Isa (25) & Robert (32) have a caravan in the garden. And our collegue Daphne often stays with us during the week (she lives to far from work for daily commute).
We all share the kitchen and bathroom and have dinner together.
Besides our 2 pigs, we have a dog, 3 cats, 4 rabbits and 15 chickens.
And in our fields live many insects, birds (eg. owls and storks) and of course several hares.
We start the day by taking care of all the animals.
The remainder of the day we are mainly busy in the fields; weeding, harvesting, pruning, watering the crops, etc.
We have a greenhouse (3,5 x 9 m) where we grow seedlings and some vegetables and flowers.
(Sometimes I also have a small nursery, where I grow trees, shrubs and flowers - which I plant along our fields and along roads in the surrounding area, or sell to people passing by the farm.)
Weekly extra work includes cleaning pens, mowing the grass footpaths (maintaining a public footpath), etc.
We have a caravan in the garden, a guest room in the house (for short stay) and several tents in the meadow.
We share the bathroom, toilet and kitchen. A warm shower is possible, but only short, because hot water is limited!
Our meals are very divers; often vegan, sometimes vegetarian (sometimes cheese and often eggs) or with game (like deer, from the forest areas where we work).
We are very flexible when it comes to food, but "normal" meat is never part of the menu!
We are both independent contractors in forestry & nature conservation; planting trees, bus also cutting them down, pruning, mowing grasslands, controlling invasive exotic vegetation, building fences and bridges, etc.
And we are also active in maintaining landscape elements like pollarded willows and braided hedges.
Gardening is my hobby! I just love growing plants from tiny seeds. But you can also find me reading a book in the hammock ;)
Roy has other hobby's, like football and cardgames.
And we both enjoy hiking, visiting castles and playing bordgames!
We live near the Veluwe, the largest forest area of the Netherlands, and the IJssel, a beautiful river. So lots of options for hiking and cycling!
And there are many other activities possible, depending on your interests, like waterskiing, visiting castles, museums, markets, cities, etc.
When you stay at our farm, we ask you to work about 4 hours a day.
A morning could look like this:
8:00 feeding the animals
8:30 weeding
9:30 coffee break
10:00 harvesting vegetables
11:00 some other project, like building an enclosure, painting, fixing machines, pruning fruittrees, haying, etc.
12:30 lunch
We are very flexible with the work hours and tasks. Just let us know what you enjoy doing and what you'ld like to learn more about. We often work together a few days a week and then you have several days for yourself.
Only non-smokers or occasional smokers.
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Grain farming
Pig farming
Raising of other farm animals
Forestry
Flower farming
Seed saving or production
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Mechanics / tools / technology
Methods or systems
Biological pest control
Regenerative agriculture
Sanne
Member since 2024
Languages spoken:
Dutch, English
Response rate: 100%
Response time: typically within 1 day
December 2025
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Open
Planned visit
Closed
Gelderland
Olst, Zwolle and Apeldoorn
Reviews
Nina
Switzerland
•
September 2025
it was heel goed and the whole family is so lovely! i’ts a place to have a lot of fun, lern new things, get informations about the region and just truly be yourself. big reccomandation for everyone. it‘s definitly worth a visit.
Daniela
Netherlands
•
September 2025
Ondanks mijn zeer korte verblijf op de woonboerderij van Sanne, Roy en de 'familie', heb ik toch wel een goed beeld gekregen van deze prachtplek! De liefde voor en eenheid van dier, mens, natuur en (leef)omgeving is heel duidelijk voelbaar en is ook steeds het uitgangspunt bij de klussen die er dagelijks gedaan worden.
Zo heb ik de takkenwal verder afgemaakt (dient o.a. als een schuilplek voor insecten) en appelen uit de boomgaard verzameld voor varkens Tinus en Brindle. In de tijd die overbleef heb ik geoogst en met verse groenten gezond gekookt voor de huisclub. Het knuffelen met de rest van de lieve dieren behoort ook tot een dagelijkse taak :-)
Sanne, Roy, bedankt. Hoop tot ziens!
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Kaat
Belgium
•
August 2025
I had a wonderful one-week stay with Sanne. Everyone was kind and welcoming, and even amidst her busy schedule, Sanne found the time to give me clear instructions and share her knowledge and experiences with me :) My tasks included weeding, harvesting, taking care of the sweet animals, and painting bird boxes. I had a generous amount of free time, which I spent walking, biking, visiting nearby sights or simply relaxing in my tent or on the couch. Thank you again, Sanne!
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Danielle
United States
•
August 2025
Sanne and Roy were incredible hosts! This was my first time WWOOFing - I was so nervous, but both of them were incredibly welcoming. In addition to Sanne and Roy, there were 3 other young people living on the property who were incredibly fun to meet and hang out with. I was there for only a couple days, but had a great time staying in the provided tent with a mattress and sleeping bag. It rained some of the days, but during sunny times, we weeded a ton, tarped areas where Sanne wished to kill weeds, and I was able to use my design skills to help translate and create signs for the property in English. Outside of working, they allowed me to use one of their e-bikes - where I rode all day in a nearby forest and ventured into the nearby town. An amazing experience I would recommend to many!
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YingTi
Netherlands
•
July 2025
The environment is awesome, surrounded by animals and being very natural. A good place to learn how to get along with nature. Sanne is also a very warm host that makes the whole experience relaxing😊!
Sumire
United States
•
July 2025
Sanne is someone who embodies “fulfilled by giving”.
She did not call herself “owner”. She is always willing to share what she has; from space, foods, items, and even to knowledge. She has a tons of tangible knowledge about ecology, sustainability and bio-diversity, which is not just the ones from textbook, but also from her many-years experience.
In the enriched soil, many many lives came gather and built their lives lively, receiving from and feeding each other. I cannot forget that sunset where we together watched over the baby stork trying to fly.
Humans too. It seemed Sanne has the energy to bring people back to the state of “nature”. Around her, many creative fairies flied around. music played. painting born. If you come here, you would feel the impulse to create something, and all the materials you would need are here.
Thank you for sharing the beautiful mind with me, Sanne.
I will be back soon!
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