Haneborg Farm: How a Simple Norwegian Vegetable Farm Became a Modern Agritourism Success Story
- Stephen Loke
- Dec 9, 2025
- 9 min read
Introduction — The Rise of Norway’s Most Charming Self-Pick Farm
If you drive just a few minutes outside the town of Drøbak, you’ll find a farm that has quietly grown into one of Norway’s most beloved agritourism destinations.
Haneborg Farm — known today as Tomtermais — is not a huge estate or a luxury vineyard. It doesn’t need to be.
Instead, it offers something far more valuable: A simple, joyful experience that reconnects people with real food, real soil, and real farming.
Visitors don’t just come here to buy vegetables. They come to feel the crunch of soil under their shoes…to walk through rows of corn taller than themselves…to pick a warm cucumber straight from the vine…to laugh as their children run across the field with a basket full of beans.
Haneborg Farm is a reminder that agritourism doesn’t need to be complicated. Sometimes, one great idea — letting visitors harvest their own food — is enough to transform a small family farm into a regional success.
And that is exactly what happened here.
The History of Haneborg Farm: Three Generations and One Big Idea
Haneborg Farm has been in the Tomter family for generations. Like many traditional Norwegian farms, it once relied on the usual crops, seasonal weather, and unpredictable market prices. But everything changed when the third-generation farmer, Ole Martin Tomter, took over in 1992.
He didn’t want the farm to just survive. He wanted it to grow, evolve, and connect with people in a new way.
In 1995, he made a bold decision — one that seemed unusual in Norway at the time:
He planted sweetcorn and opened the fields for self-picking.
Visitors loved it. Families came. Children laughed. The idea grew.
And year by year, the farm expanded:
More vegetable varieties
More fields dedicated to self-pick
A wider selection of seasonal produce
A farm shop built inside an old barn
A permanent store open year-round
Seasonal events that became local favourites
What started as a simple experiment became the heartbeat of the farm. Today, Haneborg / Tomtermais is one of the region’s most recognizable “selvplukk” destinations — a brilliant example of how tradition and innovation can work together.
What Haneborg Farm Offers Today: A Deep Look at Its Agritourism Model
Haneborg Farm is not just a place to buy vegetables — it’s a place to experience them. Their entire model revolves around giving visitors a hands-on, memorable interaction with the land.
Here’s what makes their agritourism approach so successful:
A. The Year-Round Farm Shop
Step inside the old barn, now transformed into a warm, rustic farm shop, and you’ll find:
50–60 varieties of vegetables
Beautiful seasonal displays
Local honey, eggs, meats, baked goods
Produce from partner farms
Vibrant colours and aromas that supermarkets can never match
Everything is grown with care, focusing on freshness, sustainability, and short-travelled food (“kortreist mat”).
The farm shop is the anchor of their business — a place where visitors know they’ll always find something fresh, local, and trustworthy.
B. Self-Pick Vegetable Experiences (“Selvplukk”)
This is the heart of Haneborg Farm’s agritourism success.
Visitors can wander through fields and harvest:
Sweetcorn 🌽
Beans
Cucumbers
Root vegetables
Seasonal crops depending on the month
People love this. They aren’t just buying vegetables — they are choosing them, touching them, harvesting them. This emotional experience makes every visit special and unforgettable.
Self-pick transforms agriculture into adventure — and adventure into income.
C. Seasonal Attractions and Festive Farm Events
Haneborg understands something many farms overlook: Seasonal events make people return.
Their most popular happenings include:
🎃 Pumpkin Hunt in the Cornfield — a family favourite before Halloween
🎄 Christmas Market — local foods, crafts, baked goods, and a magical rural atmosphere
🌱 Spring & summer vegetable seasons that attract repeat visitors
These events turn the farm from a shopping destination into a celebration of local culture and community.
D. A Sustainable, Transparent Food Philosophy
Visitors value honesty and freshness — and Haneborg offers both:
Hand-harvested produce
Minimal pesticide use
Transparent and open farming practices
A focus on local, short-distance food (“kortreist”)
This aligns perfectly with Norway’s growing interest in sustainable living and organic, local food.
Haneborg Farm today is a living example of what modern agritourism can be: Simple. Joyful. Profitable. And deeply connected to the land.
Why Visitors Love Haneborg: Insights From Public Reviews
If you scroll through the reviews of Haneborg Farm, one thing becomes clear very quickly:
People don’t just come here to buy vegetables… they come here to feel something.
They come for the crisp sweetness of freshly picked corn. They come for the smell of soil on their hands. They come for the joy of walking through rows of vegetables with their children.
And almost every review repeats a similar sentiment:
“This is how food should taste. This is how a farm should feel.”
Visitors describe Haneborg Farm as:
🌽 Fresh Beyond Expectation – Vegetables picked minutes before eating taste entirely different from supermarket produce.
👨👩👧 A Perfect Family Outing – Parents love showing their kids how food grows, letting them pick their own corn or carrots right out of the earth.
🌾 A Peaceful Farm Atmosphere – Calm, natural, and beautifully simple. People feel grounded and reconnected to nature.
😊 Friendly, Down-to-Earth Farmer – Many reviews mention how welcoming and passionate the owner is. That personal touch builds loyalty.
🛒 A Farm Shop Worth Returning To – With 50–60 types of vegetables and seasonal goods, there’s always something new to try.
🚗 Easy to Access – Only minutes from Drøbak, making it a perfect quick escape from daily life.
Even small details matter — like being able to grill freshly picked corn right next to the field, or letting kids run barefoot between the rows of vegetables.
These moments create memories. And memories are the secret engine of agritourism.
Haneborg Farm may not have fancy buildings or expensive attractions…but what it has is authenticity, and today more than ever, authenticity wins.
The Agritourism Strategy Behind Their Success
Haneborg Farm didn’t become successful by accident. Behind the simplicity lies a powerful strategy — one that any farm owner can learn from and adapt.
The truth is this:
Haneborg mastered the art of turning farming into experience.
Let’s break down the key elements of their agritourism strategy:
A. Direct-to-Consumer = Higher Income
Instead of selling vegetables to wholesalers at low margins, Haneborg sells directly to customers.
This means:
Higher profit per kilogram
Full control over pricing
Income that goes straight to the farmer
Strong relationships with loyal, repeat customers
For many small farms, this one shift alone can double or triple profitability.
B. Experience-Based Agriculture
Self-picking is not just a fun activity — it is a business model.
People happily pay more when they:
Pick the food themselves
Take photos in the field
Bring their children to learn
Make a family memory
The value is no longer the vegetable.
The value is the experience.
C. Seasonality as a Marketing Machine
Haneborg turns each season into an attraction.
Examples:
🌽 Corn season – the busiest time of year
🎃 Pumpkin hunts before Halloween
❄️ Christmas markets with homemade goods
🍅 Summer greenhouse vegetables
🥕 Autumn root harvests
Seasonality = excitement. Excitement = visitors. Visitors = revenue.
D. Community First, Tourists Second
Haneborg didn’t start with international tourists. They started with locals — people from Drøbak, Oslo, and nearby communities.
This created:
Steady traffic
Strong word-of-mouth
Generational loyalty
A stable customer base that returns year after year
Agritourism doesn’t always require tourism — sometimes your community is your best market.
E. Diversified Income Streams
Haneborg Farm earns money from:
Self-pick vegetables
Farm shop sales
Seasonal events
Partner products (eggs, honey, meat, baked goods)
When one crop slows down, another picks up. When winter comes, the Christmas market sustains the business.
Diversity makes the farm resilient.
F. Authenticity Over Investment
This might be the most important lesson.
Haneborg Farm didn’t build:
fancy buildings
high-tech facilities
expensive attractions
Instead, they built:
trust
authenticity
a real connection to nature
a genuine farm experience
Visitors today will drive past big tourist attractions just to visit a farm that feels honest.
And Haneborg is exactly that.
The Big Lesson
Haneborg Farm shows us a powerful truth:
Agritourism is not about being big.
It’s about being meaningful.
With just vegetables, a farm shop, and a simple self-pick system, Haneborg turned ordinary farming into a destination — and into a sustainable, profitable business.
This is the model small farmers everywhere can follow. Start simple. Start sincere. And let people experience the beauty of your land.
What Other Farmers Can Learn From Haneborg’s Journey
When you look at Haneborg Farm today — the busy farm shop, the families picking vegetables, the excitement during seasonal events — it’s easy to imagine that it has always been this way.
But the truth is, everything started with something small. Something simple. Something any farmer could do.
Ole Martin didn’t wait to have perfect facilities, polished marketing videos, or a large team. He simply asked himself:
“What can I offer right now that people would love?”
That question changed everything. And it can change your farm too.
Here are the lessons Haneborg Farm teaches all of us:
Start with one great idea.
Haneborg didn’t begin with 50 vegetables or big events. It began with self-pick sweetcorn — one crop that visitors could experience with their own hands.
Turn buying into an experience.
Most farms only sell vegetables. Haneborg lets people harvest them. That one shift instantly adds value.
Use seasons as your marketing engine.
People love “limited-time” farm experiences:
corn season
pumpkin season
Christmas market
spring greens
Seasonality creates excitement. It gives families a reason to return again and again.
Let customers feel the farm, not just visit it.
When people walk the fields, pull vegetables from the soil, and talk to the farmer, something magical happens —they become emotionally connected to the land.
You don’t need luxury. You need authenticity.
Haneborg isn’t fancy. It’s real. Customers aren’t there for chandeliers — they’re there for carrots, corn, fresh earth, and smiles.
Your story matters more than your size.
Visitors come because the farm has a heart and a history.
The Bigger Picture: Haneborg Farm and the Future of Norwegian Agritourism
Haneborg Farm represents something much larger than a successful vegetable operation. It represents a movement happening across Norway — a shift in how people want to spend their weekends, how they want to buy food, and how they want to experience nature.
Norway has always been known for dramatic fjords, mountains, and winter adventures. But there is another treasure growing quietly in the countryside:
Farms that welcome visitors into real, authentic rural life.
Haneborg is part of a new wave of Norwegian farms that understand a powerful truth:
Modern travelers don’t just want to see nature — they want to participate in it.
The demand for:
fresh, local vegetables
hands-on harvesting experiences
slow food
sustainability
farm shops
outdoor family activities
seasonal traditions
…is higher than ever.
Norway has three priceless agritourism strengths:
Clean nature — where food feels fresh, safe, and wholesome
Simple rural beauty — perfect for slow travel and family days out
Strong community culture — farms are not just businesses; they are part of local identity
Haneborg Farm fits perfectly into this landscape. It proves that:
agritourism doesn't require huge investment,
a vegetable farm can become a destination,
and small farms can compete by being personal, local, and sincere.
In many ways, Haneborg shows us the future: Farms that sell experiences first, products second.
Conclusion — A Simple Farm With a Big Lesson
If there’s one thing Haneborg Farm teaches us, it’s this:
Agritourism isn’t about having the most land.
It’s about creating the most meaning.
From one idea — self-pick corn — Haneborg built a thriving farm shop, a loyal customer base, and a series of beloved seasonal events. They did it without luxury buildings, without a tourism background, and without waiting for “the right moment.”
They simply opened their gates……invited people in……and shared their harvest with the world.
And that is the heart of agritourism.
It’s families laughing as they pull up their first carrot. It’s children learning where food comes from. It’s the smell of fresh soil and the sweetness of corn grilled right after picking. It’s local people who say, “This is our farm,” even though they don’t own it.
So as you read Haneborg’s story, ask yourself:
What small experience could your farm offer?
What crop could visitors pick? What story could you share?
Because every great agritourism success — in Norway or anywhere —begins with one brave decision:
To open your farm…
and let people in.
Disclaimer
The information presented in this article is based on publicly available sources, customer reviews, and general observations about Haneborg Farm (Tomtermais) and its agritourism activities. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, details about farm offerings, services, events, and operations may change over time. This article is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered official or definitive farm information.
Readers are encouraged to visit the farm’s official website or contact Haneborg Farm directly for the most up-to-date details. The author does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information provided, and no affiliation exists with Haneborg Farm unless otherwise stated.
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