The Salt Taste Garden is the outcome of a sustainable development strategy based on a balance between the landscape, water and economics. The Salt Taste Garden may be understood as a new landscape typology which is based on perspectives of brackish groundwater or irrigation by salt streams. The saltwater produce addresses new markets, while the landscape invites new forms of recreation. Salt is the engine behind a sustainable transformation. The Salt Taste Garden proclaims an experimental attitude, for the word proef in its Dutch name (Zilte Proeftuin) means both taste and experimental test. The Gardeners experiment in a sustainable, innovative way in raising saltwater and brackish water food crops, and in promoting the novel tastes of the produce to a wide public. The latter could be done by means of a restaurant on location. The Salt Taste Garden is a platform for the development of saltwater cultivation methods which is addressed to both agricultural entrepreneurs and the public.
Client: Innovatienetwerk Groene Ruimte
In collaboration with: Bureau Lofvers
Project: Study of saltwater agriculture and recreation in the Netherlands
Advisory committee: Tracy Metz (NRC Handelsblad), Willem Brandenburg (WUR), Berdie Olthof (H+N+S), Hans Drost (RIZA)
Ecological consultancy: Alterra Wageningen UR, Vincent Kuypers and Wim Timmermans
Planning: research 2006