"It is the cross-pollination that makes Un Bietje Groen interesting"

Tilburg is a city of not dicks but polishes. A city of feet in the clay. We tackle what needs to be tackled. Good, green ideas find their way. In the city and its surroundings, this can be seen and tasted. Regional products are there for the taking. For the Nature on Your Plate series we put on our boots and go exploring in four green areas in and around Tilburg. Areas that give the city and its inhabitants light, air and space. Like Un Bietje Groen, located on one of the most special streets in Tilburg: Koningshoeven.

King Willem II, wool launderer and innovator Isidoor Janssens, dressage rider and circus artist Otto Schumann, war hero Jan van Oudheusden - the members of this eccentric company have a common denominator: all once lived or worked at Koningshoeven. Via this road you now cycle from the city to, for example, the store and tasting room of Abbey Onze Lieve Vrouw van Koningshoeven, or further on to Moergestel and Oisterwijk. But the scant kilometer that Koningshoeven covers is a feast in itself. With beautiful, sometimes spooky historic villas, Scandinavian wooden houses and lots of greenery, you feel like a tourist in your own town. And while you're there, be sure to take a peek inside Un Bietje Groen, which is bursting with green innovations.

Lots of green

Okay, let's start with the name. Un Bietje Groen, understatement of the year, but chosen as a nod to Ut Rooie Bietje, the social garden that used to occupy this site. Welfare organization Traverse left, and the land, owned by the municipality of Tilburg, became vacant. Or no, not completely empty, because entrepreneur Jacqueline van Eerd (ZuiderZwam) was still there. And she had a plan. What if we turned this land into a hotspot for green entrepreneurs? A kind of breeding ground as we already know it from the cultural and creative sector, but for innovations in, with and for nature. Thus was born Un Bietje Groen, a place where currently fifteen different entrepreneurs are experimenting

Photo: Jacqueline van Eerd from Zuiderzwam

Tea with your dinner

What's nice about Un Bietje Groen is that there's so much to learn. Like from tea sommelier Brigitte van Schooten of Art of Tea, who has a green lab here for her own, hand-picked tea. Her message? Leave that bottle of wine in the cellar, and have a tea package with your dinner. "Tea is SO versatile, but many people don't know that at all. I like to show that." Brigittes teas can be found at - as she herself says - the most beautiful Tilburg businesses, such as De Houtloods, star restaurant Monarh, Locals, the Gianotten Mutsaers café, Doloris and at BijdeT. "That tea doesn't all come from the garden here, though," she says. The garden is too small for that. "This garden is mainly for experimentation, tastings and workshops. It allows me to show everything: the picking, preparation and tasting of the tea. That completes the circle."

The entrepreneurs of Un Bietje Groen share a fenced garden for a reason, Jacqueline explains; it is the cross-pollination that makes the ups and downs here interesting. For example, Brigitte, together with Kaatje Floren of Crêperie Natuurlijk (organic crepes on location), offers food pairings, with dishes from all over the world and a matching tea with each course. Dinner ends, how could it not, with a sweet crepe from Kaatje with blackberries, strawberries and berries from her own vegetable garden at Un Bietje Groen. By the way, the zucchini and tomatoes on the menu also come from there, the oyster mushrooms are from Jacqueline's ZuiderZwam. The entrepreneurs organize these food pairings at Un Bietje Groen or at someone's home. Or at high altitude, via Sky Ballooning.

Photo: Kaatje, Jacqueline and Brigitte

Green breeding ground

After two years, Un Bietje Groen is exactly the green breeding ground Jacqueline had envisioned. Entrepreneurs are increasingly finding each other for collaborations, fine volunteers ensure that the common parts of the garden remain tidy and above all: the atmosphere is open, everyone is welcome. Jacqueline: "Now it is: building our image to the outside world. The basis here is there, but now we have to tell it better. So that it is also clear to others what potential lies here." She concludes, "But for those who are already curious: feel free to walk in. If the gate is open, you are welcome. There is often someone who can tell you about our story."

Un Bietje Groen has a store, which is open on Fridays from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. The 15 entrepreneurs who work here organize regular workshops. There is also a market with local produce and music twice a year. Put the next market - which is on Dec. 17 - in your calendar. Keep an eye on Instagram, Facebook and the website for more information.