Amidst nights riddled with doom scrolling on Tiktok and early mornings brimming with existential dread, the cottage core fantasy - a signature escapist mechanism - always somehow pops up. And since ‘fantasy’ does not necessarily provide us with regular take out, we still manage to consistently convince ourselves that we’re perfectly capable of handling farm life and insist on forging ways to make it happen.

Bringing us closer to our inner minimalist wellness gurus with their fancied-up field experience, Hazel Farm - located an hour away from downtown Cairo, on Alexandria Desert road - was initially established as a family-owned farm. In 2020, founder Iman Mostafa quit her job in the development sector and decided to pour all her energy and love into learning about organic farming sustainability and agritainment (a play on agriculture and entertainment).

“I’ve always loved working with people and creating a community, to me Hazel Farm is about more than farming and selling the crops, it's about the experience people are having together, learning and enjoying the fresh organic produce,” Mostafa tells SceneEats. “The kids visiting us with their schools always have a blast, since it isn’t a traditional learning from, they get to play and explore and feast, we also plan out food themed treasure hunts, our last one for example was a quinoa maze.”

With a belief that witnessing the agricultural process is essential to a mindful eating experience, Hazel Farm teaches its visitors and clients all the food basics, and immerses them in a farm-to-table experience where they get to devour the ingredients they’ve personally picked from the farm. Mostafa thinks farming and agriculture are part of human instinct, and that part of organic eating is connecting to nature in a tech-free setting, with a dreamy holistic approach to wellness.

Adding a playful twist, Hazel Farm allows you to either book individual farming slots and get to know other people. Bigger groups are also factored in as the farm allows them to specific programs accordingly. As of today, the farm turned dining experience offers weekly events and retreats whether it’s yoga and meditation or season based food festivals including an upcoming titled ‘Mango Rush’. Pro tip: they’ve also got a sunflower maze event in the works and it’s straight out of a pinterest board.