Who doesn't know the farmer... FarmCamps De Geele Bosch

These are Bill, Ella, and Michel Ros from FarmCamps farm De Geele Bosch. Bill and Ella were born in North Holland and "emigrated" to Friesland in 1985. There, they run a young cattle farm. On this farm, calves are raised into dairy cows. The calves arrive here when they are about 4 months old and leave the farm once they are pregnant. No cows are milked on this farm.

The farm is located in a beautiful spot near Heerenveen, where much skating takes place in Thialf, and also close to Oranjewoud, where you can enjoy beautiful walks and bike rides.

How many animals do you have on the farm?
We have about 60 young cows and four horses in the barn. In addition, we have cats, donkeys, goats, rabbits, and in our forest, you’ll find our two pigs: Babe & Betsy.

How did you meet?
Bill had emigrated to Canada, and Ella went there to visit him with a friend. That's when love began. But… Ella didn’t want to emigrate to Canada. The short version of the story is that Bill’s parents eventually bought a farm in Friesland, and together we embarked on the adventure of milking cows. However, our son Michel and his brother didn’t want to milk cows, so we sold that farm, and for the past five years, we’ve been running this campsite and a young cattle rearing farm.

Why did you become a farmer?
Bill wanted to be a farmer since he was four years old because he enjoys working with animals. Ella comes from a flower bulb business, so she wasn’t used to all the animals, and had to adapt to the fact that living with animals ties you very much to home, but she managed just fine!

What do you like most about your job, and what do you like the least?
We enjoy interacting with the guests the most. Having a chat, serving people – that’s the best part of the job. Especially serving ice cream from the soft-serve machine. The hardest part is letting go. It’s difficult to leave when you have a farm like this. And if you have a party or something else in the family, it's hard to leave everything behind.

What does being a FarmCamps farmer involve, in addition to all the other work you do?
Organizing many activities and, of course, stamping passports!

Why did you want to become a FarmCamper?
We didn’t consciously choose it. When we took over this campsite, the previous owners and their wife were already part of FarmCamps, and we thought it would be fun to continue that.

What is the best experience you've had with FarmCamps guests?
The best part for us is that we have several guests who have stayed with us multiple times. The most exciting was when we welcomed a girl who was afraid of chickens. We tried everything, but the family ended up leaving, and their tent remained empty the whole weekend...

Bill and Ella's Favorites

Favorite vacation:
We love group trips. Seeing a lot and learning a lot from a guide. We’ve been to Morocco, Indonesia, and Brazil. Super fun!

Favorite hobbies:
Bill loves riding his horse and carriage. Ella paints candles, nameplates, and other items, and she works one day a week at a bakery, which is more of a hobby for her.

Favorite food:
Fries!

Favorite animal:
For Ella, it’s a dog, and for Farmer Bill, it’s his horses.

Our FarmCamps farms can be found all over the Netherlands. Curious? On our convenient farms page, you can find them all.