farm
Farming With Nature
CATTLE
Our Black Angus herd
Across our meadows and beneath the fruit trees of the orchard, our herd of Black Angus lives outdoors all year round, moving from plot to plot with the seasons. It's a hardy breed, well suited to the local climate, and it doesn't need grain to thrive. Our pastures are sown with mixtures designed to give the animals the protein and nutrients they need to grow. The rest comes down to space and time: Astrid’s time, spent knowing the herd and the land, observing, adapting, and moving fences and cattle day by day.
100% grass-fed. Fully organic. No shortcuts, because there's no alternative that delivers the same quality. This way of farming produces beef with real depth and character, and it honours the work it took to raise.
Much of what we produce never leaves the estate: the beef served at our restaurant, The Harvest, was raised in the fields next door.
CATTLE
Our Mangalica pigs
At Domaine de Graux, we raise Mangalica pigs organically. Originally from Hungary, this hardy, rustic breed is prized for its exceptionally rich, marbled meat and its distinctive fat.
Our pigs live outdoors all year round. They feed on organic grains, deliberately without corn to keep the fat at its best, along with leftovers from our vegetable garden and orchards. They also forage for what nature provides, such as thistles, nettles and acorns.
The people of graux
Meet Astrid, our breeder
Astrid is the one you'll find out at first light, moving fences for rotational grazing and keeping an eye on every cow, calf and bull on the domaine. For her, good farming isn't measured by yield alone. It's also measured by the animals' quality of life.
"Giving my animals an excellent quality of life is what gives my work meaning."
orchard
Rich in (bio)diversity
Planted in 2011, our high-stem orchard is a conservation orchard: it keeps old and local fruit varieties in production instead of letting them disappear in favour of higher-yielding imported ones.
“High-stem” means the orchard is made up of fruit trees with a trunk of at least 1.60 m, and usually 1.80 m, planted far apart from one another. This spacing allows animals to graze beneath them or the grass to be mown. This is in contrast to a low-stem orchard, with small trees whose trunks are no taller than 1 m (often 40 to 60 cm), planted more densely and pruned to make picking easier and bring fruit earlier.
High-stem trees are grafted onto vigorous rootstocks, which develop deeper, wider-reaching roots.
Our trees grow without any treatments, in symbiosis with our herd of Black Angus grazing just beneath them. The cattle find shade there, and in return the orchard receives natural fertiliser that helps build richer soil.
As you walk through it, you’ll discover pear, apple, plum and walnut trees, as well as quince and cherry trees: nearly 300 trees and about a hundred varieties in all. Each has its own flavour, texture and story, and some are rare enough that this orchard now helps keep them from disappearing. We have been awarded the Verger Vivant (Living Orchard) label, which recognises that the orchard is untreated and actively restores biodiversity, hedgerows and habitats.
orchard
Rooted in local expertise
The diversity of trees in the orchard isn't just for us. It supports the pollinators and birds that keep the whole system working, bees and other insects pollinate the blossom that becomes our fruit, while birds provide natural pest control we'd otherwise have to manage another way. Nicolas, our ornithologist, keeps a close eye on this side of the orchard: tracking which species nest here, repairing nesting boxes each autumn, and helping us understand how the birds and the trees are quietly looking after each other. It's a reminder that a healthy orchard isn't just full of fruit. It's full of life.
The hands that help us get there.
We work with:
The people of graux
Meet Eve, our Product Manager
"Every variety in this orchard tells a story. My job is to make sure you can taste it."
Eve manages the orchard through every season of the year, from pruning and maintenance to the harvest and beyond. As product manager, she coordinates our partnerships with the people who harvest, preserve and transform our fruit and nuts, and makes sure every jar, bottle and bag meets the highest standard.
products
From orchard to jar
The orchard's diversity comes through in everything we make, with fruit picked at peak ripeness and preserved so its flavour lasts through the months ahead. Our plums are made into small-batch, single-variety artisanal jams (a deliberate choice, to bring out the character of each one). Our apples are pressed into juice and cider. Our walnuts are cold-pressed for their oil, and what remains becomes a gluten-free walnut flour.
Apple juice
Juice
Apple juice
Pressed from a blend of apples grown in our orchard, this juice carries the character of the many varieties it comes from. Domaine de Graux's conservation orchard keeps old and regional fruit varieties alive, and it's part of a whole ecosystem.
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Mirabelle Jam
Jam
Mirabelle Jam
At Domaine de Graux, we make our jams from a single variety at a time. It's a deliberate choice: keeping each variety on its own lets its flavour and character come through at their peak.
The Mirabelle is a small plum harvested in mid-September: golden yellow speckled with red, firm, not very juicy and naturally sweet. It's one of the oldest varieties we grow. It has been spread across France since the 15th century and has long been part of our region's orchards, where it has always been a favourite for jams and pastries.
Slow to start fruiting and late to flower, they give a small harvest each year, which makes every jar a limited batch.
Pairing suggestions
With fresh goat's cheese or a young farmhouse cheese
Spread on warm brioche or sourdough toast
Swirled into natural yoghurt
As a filling for tarts or a glaze on a simple almond cake
All our jams are locally prepared with passion by Le Bois d’Ogy (certified artisan).
Ingredients: Fruits (60%), cane sugar (15%), beet sugar (15%), Acidifier: citric acid, Thickener: apple pectin, lemon juice.
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Walnut Oil
Walnut
Walnut Oil
The walnut trees on the estate are common walnuts (Juglans regia), native European trees that produce small, flavorful nuts.
Each autumn, we harvest them by hand. The nuts are then slowly and naturally dried over several months, a key step to concentrate their rich aromas and ensure excellent preservation. From the kernels, we craft two fine products: organic cold-pressed walnut oil and organic walnut flour.
Moulin du Stwerdu turns our walnuts into oil and flour.
Belle de Thuin Jam
Jam
Belle de Thuin Jam
At Domaine de Graux, our jams are made from a single variety at a time. Keeping each variety on its own lets its flavour and character come through at their best.
The Belle de Thuin is a variety that was saved at the last minute. It was found only once, as a single old tree in Monsieur Lebeau’s garden in Jamioulx, and no written description of it has ever turned up. Named and shared in 1991, it has been carefully preserved ever since. The fruit is a large, elongated, green-yellow plum of 60 to 70 grams, very juicy and of excellent quality.
The fruit is usually harvested from mid to late August.
Pairing suggestions
With a fresh goat’s cheese or a creamy young cheese
On buttered brioche or toasted sourdough
Spooned over fromage blanc, panna cotta or vanilla ice cream
In a light fruit tart or alongside an almond financier
Ingredients: fruit (60%), cane sugar (15%), beet sugar (15%), acidity regulator: citric acid, gelling agent: apple pectin, lemon juice.
All our jams are lovingly prepared locally by Le Bois d’Ogy (certified artisan).
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Prune De Prince Jam
Jam
Prune De Prince Jam
At Domaine de Graux, we make our jams from a single variety at a time. Keeping each variety on its own lets its flavour and character come through at their peak.
The Prune de Prince is a small, round, blue-black plum, a close cousin of the mirabelle, and a true peasant variety. It has been grown for generations in the Gaume region and in the neighbouring parts of France and Luxembourg, and was reintroduced in 1988 from the finest of several local strains. Its flesh is firm and very sweet, which makes it just as good fresh as it is cooked. It's also a remarkably hardy tree: very fertile, very resistant to disease, and able to pollinate itself.
The fruit ripens gradually over about two weeks in the second half of September, so we pick it little by little, each plum at its best.
Pairing suggestions
With a Gaume or Ardennes cheese, or a nutty aged Comté
On country bread with salted butter
With game or a pork terrine, as a sweet counterpoint
As a filling for a rustic plum tart or in a warm clafoutis
All our jams are locally prepared with passion by Le Bois d’Ogy (certified artisan).
Ingredients: Fruits (60%), cane sugar (15%), beet sugar (15%), Acidifier: citric acid, Thickener: apple pectin, lemon juice.
Journal
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market garden
From seed to harvest
Our market gardeners grow more than 30 varieties of organic vegetables: from cabbages to radishes, from zucchini to purslane, all following the rhythm of the seasons. Our tomatoes have earned a well-deserved reputation. Ripened in real soil, on their own time, they taste like tomatoes are supposed to.
The vegetables find their way to The Harvest, our farm-to-table restaurant, as well as to local shops, wholesale suppliers and organic stores across Belgium.
Working with nature, not around it
Nothing here relies on shortcuts. The soil is carefully taken care of, through mulching, compost and minerals that keep it fertile without depleting it. Hoverflies and other pollinators are welcomed, companion planting deters pests. Weeds get pulled mechanically.
The people of graux
Meet Justine and Armand, our Market Gardeners
Armand and Justine are the two constants in the market garden. In high season, they're joined by seasonal workers and interns who are learning the trade firsthand, and often the rest of the Domaine's team is put the work as well. Team spirit and mutual support are core values at the Domaine.
arable crops
Resilient fields
Our arable fields follow the same principles as the rest of Domaine de Graux: work with the land, not against it. We grow cereals such as spelt, oats, wheat and barley, as well as rapeseed. No synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or chemical fertilisers are used, which protects soil life and biodiversity.
A ten-year crop rotation is central to how we farm. Rotating different crops balances nutrient use, strengthens natural pest and weed control, and reduces erosion, so the soil stays fertile without needing to be forced. We maintain permanent soil cover through multi-species cover crops and agroforestry elements, keeping soils protected all year round.
We also limit tillage wherever possible to preserve soil structure, a practice we’re continuously refining. Inputs are kept to a minimum, and where nutrients are needed, we rely on composted organic matter, green manures and the natural fertility cycles of the land itself.
Around our fields, grassy strips, hedgerows and trees provide habitat for local wildlife, support pollination and act as natural windbreaks. They also help the soil retain moisture in dry periods and absorb water during heavy rain. A balance at work as much beneath the soil as above it.
The people of graux
Meet Emilien, Emilie and Blaise
Our fields are in the hands of Emilien and Emilie, our crop managers. From sowing to harvest, they make sure every field is worked at the right moment and in the right way, always protecting the delicate balance of the soil beneath. Each season is also a chance to learn: they look closely at what worked, what didn't, and how we can do better next year.
They work alongside Blaise Duthoit, agronomist at Farm For Good. Blaise helps us read the fields, interpret our soil studies and turn our ambitions into practical, day-to-day decisions, so that our agroecological approach is grounded in both observation and science.
mandala garden
Medicinal herbs for each season
At the heart of Domaine de Graux lies the Mandala Garden, a thoughtfully designed spiral of perennial herbs and flowers built around the rhythm of the seasons. Four interlocking gardens of medicinal plants, each chosen not only for its use at the Domaine but for what our bodies need in that season. It's a holistic approach to herbalism, rooted in the belief that nature's cycles and our own are deeply connected. Once harvested, the herbs are dried and carefully blended into our herbal tea creations, supplying our tisanerie with flavors shaped by the seasons themselves. But the Mandala is more than a source of ingredients. It's a living ritual, a place to walk slowly, breathe deeply, and simply sit still for a while, reconnecting with the world you're part of.
The people of graux
Meet Pascale, our herbalist
Behind the tisanerie is Pascale, who not only keeps the team and daily admin running smoothly, but brings the same care to something entirely her own: crafting our herbal tea blends. Drawing on the principles of herbalism, she finds the perfect herbs for every season, turning what the Mandala Garden grows into something you can hold in your hands, and taste.
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