Lianne van Genugten &
Joep Brekelmans

At the heart of Lianne and Joep’s endeavour lies regeneration. “We focus on healthy food, a living soil and clean water”, says Lianne. Building on this foundation, they are shaping their gastronomic estate featuring a restaurant, shop and vegetable garden – with every decision guided by their ecological purpose. No synthetic fertilisers or pesticides are used. Instead, natural compost and healthy stable manure enrich the soil. They experiment with homemade mulch, let the land rest, cultivate a wide diversity of heritage seeds, and often leave bolting crops to bloom or seed, boosting biodiversity and attracting swarms of bees. Scattered around the farm are flower‑rich margins, hedgerows and ponds – enhancing biodiversity and, in the case of ponds, contributing to water retention too. 

“We’re also in the process of acquiring fifteen hectares of land around the farm”, Lianne shares. “We want to turn it into a nature reserve to rebalance the entire system and truly become circular.” The land lies nearly one and a half metres below the field and currently pumps out some 50,000 cubic metres of water each year. “As a result, the area dries out – yet it would be ideal for water storage.” Their plan: create nature-friendly banks, dig a pond, and plant woodland. The adjacent corn field would become a herb-rich grain field with a hedgerow. In summer, it would serve as a herbal pasture for their cows; in winter, the straw from the land would enrich the stables, subsequently creating cow manure that nourishes the garden.

Looking to the past for guidance, they draw inspiration from Lianne’s great‑grandmother’s farm: self‑sufficient and with a café under the same roof, serving as a community hub. “Back then, we were pretty bad at manipulating nature and better at following it”, Lianne says. 

“Fatherland should be a place where both people and nature can come home”, Lianne says. “So many people get stuck in the system, lose their way. We hope they find rest here, rediscover themselves – and experience how simple and joyful life can be when you give it space. When you move with nature, investing in health rather than in speed and consumption. I was once a city girl too. Only now I see how far we have drifted off. We no longer live by nature’s rhythm – we have lost the connection with the life around us and with each other. I think it wonderful that we have the opportunity to give this place back to nature and to learn from it. Now I notice how much healthier that makes me. I’ve never worked so hard, and with three children there’s not much rest, but I have more energy than ever. Even my desire for a holiday is less: I miss this place when I’m gone for a week.”

Having full control over their operation means nothing goes to waste. If a hare nibbles on a carrot, they simply remove the top and stew the rest. If a celeriac is too small, no one complains. “Joep turns everything into something beautiful and delicious.” Lianne explains how mainstream farmers cannot sell potatoes that fall outside strict size agreements – and must resort to chemical aids to stay within those limits. “I understand how that system pressures them. I believe many farmers want to do things differently, but it’s incredibly hard to step away. This isn’t easy for us either, but because we create our own market, we are more agile.” 

“We often hear that farmers are wrong-doers. I disagree. After the second world war, farmers were tasked with ensuring we would never go hungry again – and they succeeded. We should thank them for that. Now it’s time to, together, put a stop to the endless scaling, and invest in health: in healthy soils, clean water, nutritious food and liveable environments. In regeneration. A farmer can mean so much for the health of our society. I believe we can do this together, by working from trust, and with health as our communal starting point.” 

Want to know more? Read the story of Arjen and Winny van Buuren, who run a 200-hectare regenerative farm together.