Pearl of De Langstraat: De Annahoeve De Moer

Driving to De Moer, to De Annahoeve, I must remember to keep my eyes on the road. My eyes wander. What beautiful surroundings it is! Driving through park Huis ter Heide, I do stop the car for a moment; who knows, maybe I'll see some Scottish Highlanders! But no, too bad. Fast forward, because Paul and Ingrid and of course the cows are waiting for me!

A look back, well, back ...
After a warm welcome, Ingrid and I struck up a conversation. Ingrid comes from a background in education. Unfortunately, the combination of a farm, a family and a job in education turned out to be incompatible. "When I stopped teaching, I was already like: I don't want to work with cows alone, I also want something for myself."

Ingrid likes to be among people. At first they thought of a campsite. There are already quite a lot of campsites in the area, so they decided to provide food for the people at the campsite. Thus was born the idea of the store. Completely away from teaching, Ingrid is not. For the past month, Ingrid has been a class farmer. Through an organization, she promotes the farm to schools in the Tilburg area. Classes can then visit the farm. "A maximum of once a week," Ingrid indicates, because as you will read later, Ingrid does not sit still. In fact, in the spring she will be a teacher almost every week for a while!

Pride!
Ingrid and Paul both do their own thing. Paul loves his cows and knows them inside out! He recognizes the cow by its udders and knows how to tell what its characteristics are.
Ingrid is much occupied with the farm store, where they sell their own meat and fresh local produce. The young cattle are watching from the stalls through the window to see if everything is going well.

In addition to the farm store, Ingrid feeds the calves, directs volunteers at the vegetable garden, gives tours and, as already indicated, is a class farmer. Their children currently have little interest, and only help when needed.
De Annahoeve belongs to the Dune Farmers group, of which Ingrid proudly shows a certificate. In addition, she says she is perhaps even prouder that they have been allowed to supply "Planet Proof Milk" since early October. To be able to deliver this, they have to meet many strict requirements such as animal welfare, sustainability, biodiversity and climate. Certainly something to be proud of. So if you see the Planet Proof logo on your carton of Friesland Campina milk, know that it could come from the cows at the Annahoeve!

Say cheese...just one more picture!
We take a quick tour of the farm and right through the cow patches in the pasture. The cows are outside as much as possible. Still, "The Cow Pasture Festival" is something to look forward to," says Ingrid. In early spring, all the cows run out into the pasture and enjoy the fresh grass and the first rays of sunlight. Meanwhile, the sun is still shining a little bit, as I stayed chatting for far too long. Time for a nice closing photo. Paul was inside quickly shaving and combing his hair, because of course he wants to be beautiful in the photo next to his Ingrid. And even if he hadn't shaved, it wouldn't have mattered, because you are wonderful people anyway, with a wonderful company!

Want to know more about De Annahoeve? Then click here!