Stengården farm

Stengården is a mixed use organic farm located in Bregnerød between Birkerød and Farum. Since 1997 Stengården has been cultivated using organic methods and now produces eggs from 3000 chickens, beef from 50 cows and at least 100 different kinds of vegetables. Stengården has a productive orchard which contains approx. 500 apple trees of 17 different varieties in addition to some cherries, plums, quinces and quite a few pear trees. The chickens are an integral part of managing the orchard and help remove pests and weeds. 

The farm includes 100 hectares of land which is used to grow grain and grass for their chickens and cows. Roughly 5 hectares is dedicated to production of vegetables. Stengården cultivates not only staples such as onions, potatoes, carrots and beets but also green asparagus, horse beans, green beans, leaf beets, many different types of cabbage and a great selection of herbs. A large area is also dedicated to strawberry production and includes various other berries which help to complement their wonderful vegetables. In short, you are sure to find many of Denmarks culinary plants growing outdoors here at Stengården farm.

Stengården is proud to boast having Denmark's largest organic farm shop where all the fresh vegetables and a large part of their eggs are sold directly to customers. The shop is actually the size of a small supermarket and stocks a great selection of other organic products and is definitely worth a visit.

Elisabeth and Jens Otto (he prefers Otto by the way) were both born and raised on traditional farms with dairy cows, pigs and chickens. Farmer life was then (as now) hard and was initially opted out of by both as a career path. Instead they both trained as chemical engineers and met each other during their studies. 

However it was not long before their roots pulled them back to farming once again. In 1997 they decided to buy Stengården and moved out their together with their two children while both of them maintained steady jobs as chemical engineers in the Copenhagen area. The small family dreamed of becoming more self-sufficient and possible produce a surplus that could be sold at the barn door, ideally being able to work less everyday. When their third child was born in 1998, Stengården became a full-time workplace for Elisabeth and from 2004 Otto joined the farm too.

From the start Stengården quickly expanded from being a workplace with just one person to becoming a family run business. Furthermore, the increased work load required Stengården to hire an additional 8 employees and to supplement with many volunteers from around the world who come for shorter or longer periods.

Thanks to FællesGro and it’s members, Stengården was able to expand it’s production by building a 400m2 poly tunnel (plastic greenhouse tunnel).

During the autumn season, FællesGro will arrange farm visits to Stengården - and we look forward to showing you the farm together with Elisabeth and Jens Otto!

Read more about Stengården here.