Innehållsförteckning för Autumn 2021 från go! Platteland

Creative people will tell you that autumn is the season that particularly stimulates the right side of the brain: colours change, trees lose their leaves, the light gets softer… and cooler mornings and evenings are slowly approaching. For this milder time of year, Henriëtte Marx, owner of Coffee Excellence, recommends three of their coffees: the Tanzania beans; the Vintage Africa, a blend of Tanzanian and Ugandan beans; and Africa Cup a Ground, ground beans of the Vintage Africa blend that are sold in smaller packets. “Each coffee tells a unique flavour story,” Henriëtte says. “It is dark yet soft, with the perfect balance between acidity and creaminess. And ultimately you are left with a wonderful soft, creamy aftertaste. The beans have been roasted to make them suitable for most brewing…

Pangolins: Scales of Injustice by Richard Peirce The pangolin is the world’s most trafficked mammal. Of the eight species, four occur in Asia and four in Africa, but they are all at risk of extinction unless the current rate at which they are poached is stemmed. A conservationist unpacks the horror. R200 Struik Nature 011 327 3550 penguinrandomhouse.co.za WIN 1: Pangolins The West Coast: From Melkbos to the Orange River by Leon Nell This eclectic book covers four regions along the West Coast of South Africa: South, Central, North and Diamond Coast. It describes the towns and villages of these sparsely populated regions, the main attractions, the history, the culture, the traditions, the landscape, the wildlife and the economy. The author also touches on geology, archaeology, legends and myths. R300…

Approaching the farmhouse on Alkmaar, 16 km from Mbombela (formerly Nelspruit), you are met by a welcoming party of five dogs, four cats and numerous chickens and ducks. Wendy Sippel makes her way to the gate, dressed in earthy tones and cradling a wooden box of eggs. She’s been gathering them for breakfast. As we seat ourselves on the stoep, the scent of frankincense wafts through the kitchen window. Wendy has lived in the Lowveld for 35 years; her husband, Arthur, has been here longer. They met through the University of Pretoria’s hiking club, when Wendy was studying English and Arthur horticulture. She completed a two-year post-graduate lectureship before moving on to Mbombela. There she tought at Lowveld High School and Penryn College for two decades – after which seh…

We here at Platteland have always been under the impression that the people of Wupperthal spell their hometown’s name with an “h”, but these days one increasingly often see it without it – also in a new edition of Plekname van Suider-Afrika. We asked cultural historian Prof Matilda Burden about the correct spelling, and she was very clear on the matter. “There is no doubt whatsoever: the correct spelling is Wupperthal. It is quite simple – the town was named after the Wupper Valley in Germany, and the old German word for dale or valley is thal. “Those who drop the ‘h’ with the intention of making it ‘more Afrikaans’ are making a big mistake, because ‘tal’ means something entirely different in Afrikaans. If you had to translate the name…

According to heritage expert Graham Jacobs, the 190-year-old building material was able to withstand the fire better than any modern construction products. “Clay bricks, which were baked in the sun in those days, just turned even harder in the heat of the flames. Shortly after the disaster, we appointed 12 Wupperthal locals to work through the debris in search of items that could be reused, like bricks, door handles, window latches and hinges. Everything had to be stored separately so we could tell exactly which historical remnants belonged to which building. “In terms of vernacular architecture these items are now much more significant than before the fire, because it is now the only original material that tells the story of 1830.” The rebuilt structures had to be protected against future…

Comedian Nik Rabinowitz has a thing for goats. Not in a dodgy way, he hastens to add. He just likes them and isn’t put off by their diabolical eyes or habit of butting innocent people. Goats have featured in several of Nik’s performances, most notably in a show titled One Man, One Goat at the 2007 National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. Having borrowed a goat named Stoffel for the duration of the festival, he was mortified when his prop began to behave like a delinquent rock star, keeping the neighbours awake, butting Nik with increasing abandon and using his rented digs as a toilet. For the record, they had separate beds. But that wasn’t the end of Nik’s goat period. Invited to MC a charity fundraiser at the Goatshed Restaurant…

WE CHAT TO… FILIPA DOMINGUES Into the wild Cape Town film producer and “accidental” plant photographer Filipa Domingues is wowing the world with her photos. Maja Palm caught up with her. Since Platteland talked with Filipa two years ago (Platteland #23, Winter 2019), she has gone from strength to strength. She was invited to share her knowledge and passion on CNN Africa and in a TEDx Talk, Business Insider named her as one of the top 10 iPhone photographers in South Africa, and Smeg featured four of her images on a limited-edition range of fridges. Moreover, she has expanded her photographic subjects from garden succulents to quiver trees and other endangered plants in the wild. In your TEDx Talk “A photographer’s crazy, beautiful love affair with succulent plants”, it sounds…

Wherever she has had to put down roots, a vegetable and herb garden has always been a priority, Kari Vorster says. “At times it was limited to herbs in pots, but when we lived on a farm between Theunissen and Brandfort in the Free State, where only the basic fresh ingredients were available at the local shop, I really got qthe vegetable-gardening bug. As a chef, the ability to express myself creatively in the kitchen is important to me. To plant and successfully grow what I need was a huge inspiration to establish a proper vegetable garden.” For the past two years Kari and her husband, Vos, have been living in Port Elizabeth, where the climate is mild enough for planting all year round. They love growing a variety of…

One of my grandmothers never walked through a garden without a large handbag… She was simply too afraid she might encounter a plant that would entice her to take a piece of it home. Coincidentally, she also believed it is only pinched cuttings that would grow, which I don’t necessarily agree with. My earliest childhood memories include joining my gran on her walks through her garden, and I’m told I was able to pronounce Bellis perennis before I could even twist my tongue around a lollipop. I still think of my gran whenever I see an English daisy. She would stop at every plant in her garden and tell me where she had acquired it and, while she was at it, she would describe the family and the place, too.…

Many thanks to Johan Smit of Subtropico International in Klapmuts, Western Cape, for supplying us with papayas. Crunchy cabbage and papaya salad This salad makes a lovely light meal, but works just as well as a side dish for a braai. In the latter case, serve it as an “assembly salad” so you can easily store any leftover toasted noodles, crispy onion and croutons in separate airtight containers. Serves 4 Preparation time 15 minutes Cooking time 5 minutes YOU NEED DRESSING • ½ cup (125 ml) sunflower oil• ¼ cup (60 ml) whitewine vinegar• ¼ cup (50 g) sugar• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) soya sauce• flavour sachet included in instant noodles pack SALAD • 1 packet (73 g) instant noodles (such as Maggi 2-Minute Noodles), crushed• 1 firm, ripe papaya…

Whoever said “go big or go home” had certainly never heard of Microgarden. This brand sells a range of sustainable products for home and garden, such as grow bags and reusable sprout bags, indoor herb gardens and automatic solar water systems – just what you need if you’d like to grow some vegetables or herbs but do not have the space. “The main aim of Microgarden is to encourage responsible consumption and production,” says owner Kerry Engelen. “Also, we are trying to reduce waste by using eco-friendly alternatives.” CONTACT microgarden.co.za @microgardensa @microgardensa 072 282 9770…

The Sought After Seedlings website offers a fun online form you can fill in to plan and evaluate your current or new vegetable garden. It’s a creative – and free! – way to determine what to plant in a specific season, how many people you will be able to feed and how much soil you require. It’s a very good tool for anyone who wants to start a vegetable garden but isn’t sure how to go about it. Visit the website and scroll down to the “Build-a-Bed” tab. CONTACT soughtafterseedlings.co.za soughtafterseedlings.co.za 082 365 0050 or 087 802 7140…

Deep South Cape Dry Gin is made in a classic dry gin style and flavoured with juniper, coriander, angelica root, honeybush, cardamom, lemon peel and mountain buchu (750 ml) R365 Deep South Distillery deepsouthdistillery.co.za Mini fluted flans in different colours (110 mm) R159 each, Mini bowls from The Calm Collection (set of four) R719 Individual pie dish in colour Soleil (110 mm) R169 Le Creuset lecreuset.co.za Frenchie ceramic pot plant holder with space for a pot of 200 mm diameter and 200 mm high R1 999 Rialheim rialheim.co.za Makhoti cushions with indigenous-flower motifs printed in eco-friendly ink and with a duck down and feather filling (450 x 450 mm) R450 each Muddy Jane muddyjane.com @muddy.jane wendy@muddyjane.com Tote bag made of upcycled linen, containing a loose zipped bag for keys or coins…

Stop & shop Lüneburg Cash Store This shop offers food, clothes and more, including a range of wooden cutting boards under the Holzfleck brand. It is open Mondays to Fridays from 08:00 to 17:00, and on Saturdays from 08:00 to 12:00. 083 225 7705 Lüneburg Country Butchery Try the bierwurst (made with hops) and the mettwurst, a type of smoked pâté made with beef and pork. The butchery is open on weekdays from 08:00 to 15:00, and on Saturdays from 07:00 to 11:00. 072 509 9666 Things to do River Hunter Get in touch with Horst Filter for a river safari or an angling trip. He also leads orchid tours around November. Guests usually stay at Wandersheim. 082 628 7702 Accommodation Wandersheim The two double-storey self-catering cottages on Wandersheim farm…

The settlement was founded in 1830 after two Rhenish missionaries, Theobald von Wurmb and Johann Gottlieb Leipoldt (grandfather of the poet and doctor C Louis Leipoldt) bought two farms in the Cederberg. The men came from a region in Germany where the Wupper River flowed 100 years before the city Wupperthal would be founded in their motherland. All indications are that Johann Leipoldt, an experienced shoemaker, moved into the farmhouse on Rietmond – today the oldest house in Wupperthal (circa 1800), known as Leipoldt House. It is believed that the smidswinkel, or smithy, would either already have been on the farm by 1830 or built shortly thereafter, next to the erstwhile threshing floor. After Leipoldt House, the smithy and the threshing floor are Wupperthal’s oldest structures. The missionaries and locals…

Veronica Strydom and Jed Laubscher have never met, but they share a passion for what many people consider hairy horrors. More specifically, the eight-eyed, eightlegged and “occasionally naughty” spiders known as tarantulas. Veronica and Jed are members of a Facebook group called Tarantula Keepers South Africa, where nearly 2 000 enthusiastic members exchange information and tips on keeping, feeding and generally enjoying their unusual pets. Whereas some people might be creeped out by videos of tarantulas moulting or eating live crickets, they regard these as a celebration of nature at work. Veronica lives in KwaZulu-Natal, where she runs a small business called Nala and Me, specialising in wheat-free pet treats and “pupsicles” – frozen pet treats for enjoyment on hot days. She’s also the founder of Hedgehog & Tenrec Rescue…

“My mother, Marianne Eloff, had the best-looking green lawn around her house in Leeupoort, Limpopo, but antelope, zebras and warthogs devoured all the grass,” Werna recalls. “She started getting succulent cuttings from friends and slowly but surely these ‘vetties’ replaced the grass. Eventually this riot of plants, with animal paths winding through it, became the most beautiful garden I’d ever seen.” What Werna found most impressive was how various succulents flower at different times of the year so the garden is colourful all year round. And even better, these plants require very little maintenance. “Every time we went to visit my mother, we’d walk through the garden and snip off a few cuttings for me,” Werna says. “And so I started to make over our own garden in Roodekrans, Roodepoort,…

Papercrete is basically industrial-strength papier-mâché that you can shape or saw, or drill holes into or drive nails through. Moreover, it has excellent insulation properties; these pots keep soil considerably cooler than plastic or ceramic pots do. Papercrete was developed and patented in the 1920s by Mike McCain and Eric Patterson, a painter from New Mexico in the US, who was looking for a way to utilise the waste paper in his studio. Independently, they both mixed paper pulp with cement and came up with a lightweight yet durable product which sadly had no success as a building material – but eventually became popular in the making of pots and garden ornaments. PAPERCRETE: THE FORMULA • 3 parts paper pulp• 2 parts cement• 1 part perlite – see “What is…

Brioche Brioche is versatile and can be used in all shapes, sizes and flavours, from knotted rolls and hamburger buns to loaves, either plain or with savoury or sweet fillings – such as the pain perdu on the right. Serves 6 Preparation time 5½ hours, plus refrigeration overnight Baking time 40–45 minutes YOU NEED • 3 tablespoons (45 ml) warm milk• 1 sachet (10 g) instant dry yeast• 250 g cake flour• 25 g castor sugar• ½ teaspoon (2,5 ml) salt• 3 eggs• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla essence• 150 g unsalted butter, cubed and softened• 1 egg, beaten (for eggwash)• sugar crystals, for sprinkling THIS IS HOW In a small bowl, combine the milk and instant yeast and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer (use the…

Eighty-three user reviewers on Booking.com and TravelGround.co.za gave the beautiful two-bedroom house a total score of 9,2 (out of 10) and also awarded it, quite exceptionally, between 8 and full marks in various sub-categories. Before the pandemic, most opinions shared on these two accommodation platforms described the view and position of the house, on the outskirts of a lovely platteland town, as “breathtaking” (a word that has taken on a rather more ominous association in recent times). Furthermore, the house was praised to the heavens as spacious, private, neat, clean, well equipped and stylishly furnished. And the ridiculously affordable rate – just R740 per night – sealed the deal. “The staff are angels from heaven!!!!!” rejoiced a woman from Garsfontein with a clear case of the exclamationmark “runs”. The Wi-Fi,…

The woman in her early 30s grumbles on Facebook: she is fed up with the lockdown – in fact, it makes her sick to her stomach – but she feels even more strongly about the never-ending stream of recipes on her news feed: Granny Gertie’s miracle venison pie, Aunty Anne’s roly-poly pudding with a twist, Uncle Fred’s tangy sourdough bread… The rest of Planet Facebook seems to be in raptures over these recipes – clearly a way to block out thoughts of lockdown. But why, oh why, must every precious recipe drip with nostalgia, she complains (and gets three likes). Can one really not put a single thing in one’s mouth without a yearning kicking in for a time when everything was supposedly so much rosier? (Two likes.) This nostalgia…

• “Babelas walls” refer to structures that seem to have been built on a Monday morning: uneven and bulkier at the base.• The building team was surprised and inspired to discover wood from the rafters of the church dated in ink: 1894.• There were differences of opinion and much debate over the colour of the restored doors and window frames: casket brown or cake-tin green?• The wedding bell at the foot of the church steps puts a twinkle in the eyes of many young girls. Sadly no resident is prepared to ring the bells for the sake of a visitor’s whims, because the same bells also toll to mark someone’s death.• When it came to the attention of the project leaders and construction team that a certain hard-working young man…

Vets and animal rescuers stress that there’s a big difference between domestic animals, which you are entitled to treat as pets (the usual disclaimers apply), and wild animals, which may seem lovable but generally remain wild. As the Endangered Wildlife Trust points out: “Domestication is a process that takes centuries within an animal species. Dogs and cats have been bred as pets for thousands of years. You can’t simply love the wild out of an animal.” Not that it’s stopped people from trying. Stories abound of well-meaning animal rescuers adopting injured or abandoned baby deer, monkeys and assorted lizards, only to go into a panic and call for help when their charges do the unthinkable: they grow up and behave like wild animals. Fortunately there are many organisations that deal…

Jonno Sherwin, CEO of a Cape Town company, is a man with big muscles and a heart to match. Together with partner Dr Johan Hugo, an infectious diseases physician, Jonno owns and runs the Karoo Donkey Sanctuary, a non-profit haven for abandoned, neglected and abused donkeys and horses, on the outskirts of Prince Albert in the Karoo. With the help of volunteers and veterinarians, the latter mostly working free of charge, they run the sanctuary with a healthy mix of pragmatism and compassion. The story of their donkey rescue operation in Hartswater, Northern Cape, assisted by the Animal Rescue Organisation, The Cape Vet Equine Practice, pharmaceutical companies, volunteers, donors and many other compassionate people was movingly told by Toni Younghusband in the September 2017 issue of Platteland. Bidding against slaughterhouses…

Driving along the R45 towards Franschhoek in early summer, it’s easy to imagine you’re in the French countryside when you pass La Motte Wine Estate, because there, under an old oak tree, a magnificent Cape Dutch cottage is surrounded by nearly 4 ha of deep-purple lavender. French Huguenot Pierre Joubert, La Motte’s second owner, is said to have built the house for one of his three sons in the early 18th century. Later it was used as a cattle post, which explains why the house is still known as Veepos. The French lavender cultivar Lavandula x intermedia ‘Abrialii’ was planted here in 2005 because it thrives in the valley’s well-draining soil with a pH of 7. The flower head of this variety is the longest of all the lavender cultivars…

What makes this group so successful? All posts have to be fynbos-related. Our members know that on this page they will find only lovely photographs, interesting questions, plant identifications and discussions about the fynbos biome. It is a diverse group that includes hikers, gardeners, ecologists, botanists and people who appreciate high quality photography. Any advice for someone who would like to learn more about fynbos? Start by spending more time in nature and really paying attention to the vegetation and beauty around you. Get a copy of John Manning’s Field Guide To Fynbos, join the Fynbos People community, and download the handy iNaturalist app. Which hiking trails and driving routes can you recommend to those interested in exploring fynbos? There are wonderful hiking trails in Table Mountain National Park and…

Papaya trees (Carica papaya) live fast and die hard… Just a few hours of sub-zero temperatures overnight can be lethal. This “vulnerability” makes sense, considering that papayas come from southern Mexico and Central America. They flourish in the tropics and subtropics, where individual trees can produce for up to six years. Much to our surprise, we’ve even spotted papaya trees in hot, dry and decidely non-tropical parts of our country, where they seem to do well if properly watered and cared for. It is fairly easy to grow this versatile and nutritious tropical crop in a home garden – and why wouldn’t you? Although papaya is most often associated with breakfast, salads, smoothies and desserts, we show off its versatility in the kitchen on page 110. The green fruit can…

– Swartland, Western Cape – You’d easily expect there to be no visual feast that beats a platteland ocean of fresh wheat… luxurious waves of dark silver-green glistening and swirling around in tides of cool winter breezes. But do take a look at their aftermath, their legacy if you will: the vast, seemingly endless canvasses of sweeping gold. No foundation can make skies bluer or clouds whiter or horizons sharper. And no artist’s master class can teach more about perspective and colour than these sprawling, hypnotising expanses. Nor can more be learnt about 3-dimensional form, texture, shadows and rhythm than the teachings of the aesthetically magnificent – almost surreal – straw bales that dance their way to the far end of the earth. The spectacle doesn’t end there. Add to…