Innholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2023/2024 i go! Platteland

Floraland is a family business in Bredasdorp in the Overberg – the heart of fynbos country – that has been producing, processing and exporting natural decor products for more than three decades. The company has made a name for itself internationally, exporting its dried South African flowers to five continents. And now, these are available for sale to the public on home soil for the first time. “For a while now, we’ve realised that we have a responsibility to our community not only to supply overseas markets but also local flower enthusiasts. We’ve received many enquiries over the years but the prices of our products have always been a challenge,” says project administrator Bea-Marie Visser. “The local market has reached a point where it recognises the value of high-quality flowers,…

WESTERN CAPE McGregor Art Walk MCGREGOR 1-3 December Artist and teacher Mary-Louise Stein created this art route to showcase the talents of McGregor’s residents and guest artists, while also funding a community project that promotes the fine arts. It includes everything from exhibitions and auctions to workshops and sociable meals. Tickets R150 for a day ticket, with additional entrance fees for certain activities; or R950 for a weekend pass, covering all activites. Available from Quicket. Contact mcgregorartwalk.co.za McGregor Art Walk @mcgregorartwalk art@mcgregorartwalk.co.za 0795149074 Make your own butter and cheese VERGESIG, PIKETBERG 2 December Butter farmer Maria van Zyl (featured on the cover of the Winter 2023 edition of Platteland) is offering a hands-on workshop at her parents’ apple and pear farm, Vergesig, where you will learn to make cultured butter…

Three people embark on a road trip in a rental car. Two of them are Afrikaners and one is Dutch. Two historians and a sociologist. Three white women. Feel free to choose your combination. I am behind the wheel, a little apprehensive about the state of the Eastern Cape roads. We’ve all heard the stories. I have no problem negotiating a Joburg traffic jam, a five-lane highway or the Buccleuch Interchange, but a desolate, unlit platteland road riddled with potholes is a different matter altogether. It is June 2023, and my companions and I are on our way from Gqeberha to Makhanda to attend the biennial conference of the Historical Association of South Africa at Rhodes University. I wasn’t particularly keen to go at first, but my Dutch kindred spirit…

Basil salt This flavoured salt not only looks amazing but also tastes delicious sprinkled over ice-cold watermelon or oven-roasted tomatoes. It can also be mixed with sea salt and olive oil to make an invigorating body scrub. YOU NEED • ½ cup tightly packed basil leaves (with stalks)• 1 cup coarse sea salt (or use pink Himalayan salt) THIS IS HOW Harvest healthy basil sprigs, wash the leaves thoroughly, and press them dry with kitchen paper. Finely chop the basil and salt together in a food processor. Dry the basil salt by spreading it on a baking sheet and baking it in the oven for half an hour at 220°C. The salt will have a lighter green colour than when you started baking it. Remove the baking sheet, let the…

Menu – TO START – Watermelon cocktail Mussels in chorizo cream – MAIN COURSE – Rolled lamb shoulder Choose 3 or more of the following: Long-weekend potato salad Green vegetables with sweet chilli sauce Mustard mould Carrot salad with a difference Roasted sweet potato salad – DESSERT – Condensed-milk crème caramel Watermelon cocktail I think watermelon is the best summer fruit. You can do so much with it, and it awakens in each of us a nostalgic story about the season. One day, when I realise my dream of retiring in Mauritius and opening a small South African restaurant there, this drink will be the star of the cocktail menu. Serves 6 Preparation time 10 minutes, plus chilling time YOU NEED • 3 thick watermelon rings• ¼ cup (60 ml)…

– Karnemelksvlei, Citrusdal – When the air becomes still and the heatwaves dance above the streets, then I know it’s time to get away from “Hellington”, as people often refer to our town in summer. That’s when it’s most enjoyable for us to relax at the Karnemelksvlei campsite east of Citrusdal. My husband and I pack our laptops, camping chairs and tent and set up camp on the lovely grassy bank of the Olifants River. We reserve the entire campsite for ourselves, and it’s pure bliss for a few days, even if we have to work in between relaxing. It’s hot here too, but the grass and shady trees, and the dam created by the owners in the river, help you forget that you’re in the middle of a Cape…

Surf Clay Active Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50 (100 ml) R295; Very Water Resistant Mineral Sunscreen SPF50+, available in two shades, Light Tan and Dark Tan (50 g) R249; and After Sun Gel (100 ml) R149 Ocean Freedom oceanfreedom.com Kikoi R330 Baraka Gifts and Décor barakashop.co.za Handmade cotton rope Trinket bowls from R85 and Plant baskets from R260 Binx&Twine binxandtwine.co.za Lettas Kraal Cold Extracted Extra Virgin Olive Oil (1l) R250 and (500ml) R180 Lettas Kraal Farm lettaskraal.co.za Reusable beeswax food bags made of cotton infused with beeswax, resin and jojoba oil, an earth-friendly alternative to plastic – you slip food into the bag and close the flap using the heat of your hands to seal it (small) R65, (medium) R90 and (large) R125 Lello Sustainable Living lello.co.za Mahala Classic and Amber Triple-Distilled Non-Alcoholic…

Ten Cross Shoppe in Makhanda is rarely empty, but during lunch time the place is packed, especially on a Friday – because then it’s pancake day. This shop – something between a home industry, coffee shop, tea garden and farm stall – focuses on a different product fresh from the kitchen on every day of the week. On Mondays it’s pasta, Tuesdays jaffles, Wednesdays vetkoek and Thursdays quiche. “We started with the pancake day and soon picked up that customers like routine – it has meant terrific growth for the business! We put up a sign in the street and started advertising, and now we are struggling to keep up. We make 700 pancakes every Friday,” says owner Chantelle van Eyssen. The idea for the shop started small. Chantelle worked…

Life is rather uneventful in the village of Koringberg – nothing earthshattering has happened here in a long time. Every now and then there’s a bit of a WhatsApp kerfuffle over an unplanned power outage or a dodgy character peeping over a fence. Or when Magik, the old school’s resident mutt, has once again done a Houdini over the six-foot fence and hit the streets in pursuit of company. In other words, every 10 minutes nothing happens in this part of the Swartland, and that lasts for more or less another 40 minutes. This was exactly the impression that Clive Amsel got the first time he visited Koringberg in 2015. The Capetonian has worked in the demolition and waste-removal industry for years, and is also an anti-pollution warrior, an inventor…

A litchi farm in high summer is usually a hive of activity, says Heidie Smith. “It’s what you would call a picking frenzy!” The fruit is ripe from mid-December, and the entire crop must be harvested within two weeks. This is when Heidie and her husband, Paddy, welcome visitors from far and wide to come pick bucketfuls of this juicy summer fruit at KwaZulu-Natal’s annual Litchi Festival. The story behind the festival began in 2005 on Heidie and Paddy’s family farm near Salt Rock, which they managed as Cane Cutters Resort, a hospitality and holiday destination. “There was a beautiful orchard on the farm, with trees that were more than a hundred years old that bore delicious fruit year after year,” Heidie remembers. “Paddy had a dream of starting a…

Should residents tackle problems in their town on their own or in collaboration with the municipality? A lot of research has been done internationally on rural decay that offers great practical suggestions, but these are based on the assumption that municipal officials are competent in their work. Nearly two-thirds of South Africa’s towns are managed in a staggeringly incompetent manner: 163 of our 257 municipalities are officially“dysfunctional”. The chances of meaningful collaboration with local management are slim due to a lack of expertise, willingness and integrity. That’s the sad reality. One has to give credit, however, to the handful of towns where the whole community can still stand together. How about a Plan of the Year competition for the best project by a town as a whole instead of the…

Is there any other country in the world where farmstalls appear at the roadside with such regularity as they do in South Africa? Probably not, but it’s hard to imagine otherwise – farmstalls are an integral part of our culture and history, and since Jan van Riebeeck founded the first one in 1652, this type of refreshment stop has always been popular. Of course, not every farmstall enjoys long-term success, or becomes known far and wide, but after 31 years, it’s fair to say that people know the Kambro farmstall even better than the town situated nearby. When the Strauss family is asked where they come from, they reply “Kambro” rather than “Britstown in the Upper Karoo”. “Sometimes it does feel strange that so many people know exactly where we…

BEST NEW PLANT IN THE WORLD Velvet charm The unique Agapanthus ‘Blackjack’ was named the “Best new plant in the world” for 2023 at the annual Chelsea Flower Show in the UK. And who are the masterminds behind this impressive award-winning plant? South African botanist Andy de Wet, who has more than 50 years’ experience in plant selection and development, and horticulturist Quinton Bean, with 20 years of experience. Both are from De Wet Plant Breeders. The deep-purple Blackjack, with its large flower heads and striped flowers, is a hardy plant that can tolerate heat and drought. It also attracts butterflies and bees to your garden. This African lily produces 10 times more florets per flower head and has a long flowering period, starting in the middle of summer. Andy…

Menu Choose as many dishes as you like and serve them all together, or in any order Braaibroodjie flatbread Biltong pâté Retro brandied shrimp cocktail lettuce cups Pan-fried feta with honey and thyme Charred broccoli and pak choy with soy sauce, sesame and spring onion Kettle-braaied deboned pork neck with honey-mustard sauce Caramel ‘cheesecakettes’ with raspberries Braaibroodjie flatbread This crowd-pleasing yoghurt flatbread with the added toppings of a braaibroodjie is a beautiful, generous addition to the centre of a table. It’s easiest to bake it in the oven, but you’ll achieve a similar result with slightly smokier flavours in a kettle braai. Makes 1 large flatbread Preparation time 10 minutes Baking time 14-20 minutes YOU NEED • 1¾ cups (250 g) white bread wheat flour, plus extra for dusting• 1…