Café & shop

Welcome to the shop & café

The shop and café are open on the same days as the garden. Check current opening days and times on the page Open days. A visit to the shop & café is also possible without a garden ticket.

In the coach house you will find the shop of De Wiersse, the kind of place you would mainly know from English country house gardens, but which fits perfectly here in the Achterhoek. A collection of books, tools, small household wonders and regional products, chosen with care by the residents and without exception connected to the places, craftspeople and stories we love.

Every purchase directly contributes to the upkeep of garden, woodland and landscape.

Café De Wiersse

Small, simple and considered: everything we serve comes from nearby and is organic wherever possible.

Fresh coffee from De Pelikaan from Zutphen, with organic milk. Tea from Wilderland, Dutch wild herbs picked to support nature restoration. Kombucha from Wilderland in three flavours, apple juice from local historic orchards, and toasties on organic bread from Driekant bakery with organic cheese from Ruurlo. The tosti also comes with organic sauerkraut. A homemade cake (carrot or cinnamon) from Bakkerij ten Broeke in Lochem, a vegan walnut brownie, and organic ice lollies.

All proceeds go directly to the upkeep of the garden.

Garden tools: for those who want to do it properly

The finest garden tools we know, in two traditions you rarely find together in one shop.

Niwaki: Japans gereedschap

The complete Niwaki collection: from the Mainichi pruning shears and the iconic Hori Hori that you will never want to part with, until the Garden Snips for fine work, the Sentai shears, folding saws, pruning saws, and the small but essential maintenance: camellia oil, water whetstone, diamond file and the Mini Clean Mate. Summer and winter gloves, kneeling pads, Shuro hand broom, oversized leaf scoop, and the timeless Niwaki cap and woollen hat. For flower arrangers: kenzans in five sizes and the accompanying straightener.

Sneeboer: Nederlands ambacht

Hand-forged in Bovenkarspel since 1913 and in daily use here for years. Light, strong as iron, and made to last for generations.

English heritage

The genuine Sussex Trug by Thomas Smith, handmade in England from chestnut and willow, once chosen by Queen Victoria and now British heritage. Nutscene garden twine from Scotland, made on historic machines. And the lovely small wares from Sting in the Tail in the Lake District: dibbers, doorstops, tool wax, seed envelopes.

For the soil and the garden

Bio-Kultura nutrient pellets, ORO wool pellets, sheep-woolwoldoek for the no-dig vegetable garden, an artisan rabarber-bleekpot from Dutch pottery De Smeltkroes, and the natural brushes and tool care from Norfolk Living.

Books about nature, gardens and country estates

A table full of books you will rarely find gathered together elsewhere. From classics on rewilding and mycelium to practical garden handbooks and quiet observations of what happens beneath the soil.

Among the books we ourselves wholeheartedly recommend: Naturalisation by Isabella Tree on rewilding, Interwoven Life by Merlin Sheldrake on fungi and mycelium, Stille Aarde en Garden jungle by Dave Goulson on insects in the garden, Regenesis by George Monbiot on food and land, and the work of Simon Klingen on forest and climate. Alongside these: Romke van de Kaa, a current tear-off calendar, and the refined cookbooks of Anna Jones, JP McMahon and JR Ryall (Ballymaloe).

Estate's own publications: War at De Wiersse by Robert Ellenkamp on De Wiersse in wartime, 300 Years of Family Stewardship by E.V. Gatacre, Splendid Ballast with a visual narrative by Mary Gatacre on climate change in historic gardens, and Coach houses with photography by Amelia Gatacre. An English Gardener by Laura Gatacre on gardening in England, Italy and at De Wiersse.

Food, drink & for the home

Regional products and small luxuries for those who love honest flavour and fine materials: apple juice from historic Achterhoek orchards, artisan oils and vinegars from Veld 4 (from Dutch hazelnut or quince), Wilderland-tea made from wild herbs from the Netherlands and Belgium and, when it is warm, the organic ice creams from Nice Ice.

For the home: enamelware from Crow Canyon (USA), Werfzeep (organic and handmade in Utrecht), body care from Physis Organics grown in a biodynamic garden in England, candles by St. Eval from Cornwall, and handmade beeswax candles from the Dalit community in India.

Gifts, paper & children

Throws and picnic blankets from Wales, William Morris wrapping paper and tissue paper, lavender hanging sachets, dried-flower DIY (a modern tulip vase or Delft blue flowerblock), the silk scarf by Atelier Choux, matches by Archivist, and letterpress-printed notebooks from the UK. For the smallest gardeners: children's tools, children's gloves, the family game Minibeast Bingo and Japanese oil crayons by Niwaki.

And of course our own Wiersse merchandise: the eco-cotton tote bag, the apron in recycled cotton, and the enamel mug.