Landerij VanTosse

South of Oss, on the northern edge of the Maashorst nature reserve, lies Landerij VanTosse. A largely untouched kampen landscape with small fields, coppice woods, and hedgerows. You’ll wander past grain fields with blooming field edges, flower-rich hay meadows, ponds, and beautiful forest borders. Spelt for bread, cranberries for jam, barley for whisky, hops for beer — it all grows here. Tuinderij VanTosse is the beating heart of the landerij. Here you’ll find a vegetable and herb garden, a flower-picking garden, orchards, and a natural garden.

Hop field
Those who follow the marked walking trail through Landerij VanTosse will pass by the different fields. Next to the field where the barley grows is the hop field — easily recognizable by the tall wooden poles sticking several meters above the ground. In spring and summer, this climbing plant can grow up to ten centimeters per day! Hop also grows wild in the Netherlands and used to be cultivated here on a larger scale. It’s one of the key ingredients in beer. Various hop varieties are grown in the Osse field. Saaz (Czech Republic), Magnum (Germany), and Groene Bel (Belgium) originate from classic European beer countries, while Cascade and Chinook come from the United States.

Aroma and bitter hops
At the information board next to the field, you’ll learn about the different types of hops. Bitter hops contain a high level of bittering agents and have strong preservative properties. Aroma hops offer lots of flavor but have less preserving effect. Henk Smouter, coordinator at Landerij VanTosse and Landschapsbeheer Oss, explains: "With the rise of craft breweries in the region, we started growing hops here around 2015. Nowadays, they’re used by the brewers of Bier van de Zon from Schaijk. Growing and harvesting hops is quite intensive — a craft in itself. Harvesting and picking the hop cones takes us about a week. But it’s a fun task too. Many hands make light work when we all gather around a long table full of hop vines."