Babylonstoren (Part 1)

8 Dec 2023

Today I’m veering off the veggie garden path a little bit to tell you about this wonderful place. 

In April of this year my wife and I went on a long overdue holiday to South Africa and on one of the days there, my brother and sister in law took us to an amazing place called Babylonstoren. It is an old Cape Dutch farm in the Franschhoek wine valley in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

It’s a working farm with agriculture landcare, fresh produce and more varieties off plants then you can imagine along with delicatessen hand made products, interactive activities and a wonderful cafe. 

To put it mildly – this place was my heaven!  We parked under an immense vine structure out in the car park. Hundreds of vehicles parked here –  greeted at the gate by three very friendly donkeys.  Just inside the gate we were offered some free pomegranates and they were absolutely delicious. As we walked through the building, our guide Marisa (sister in law) started giving us a tour which lasted a couple of hours or more. I was stunned at everything I saw there and I still think of this place often.

There will be many parts to this story as I experienced so many activities and sights there.  Part 2 will follow soon and will be about the succulents, the snake path and open air church.

Propagating Gardenias

29 Nov 2023

Today I repotted some Aimee and a Floridia Gardenia into pots.

I absolutely love the aroma of these flowers so I’ll place them in semi shade and part full sun under the bedroom window so the aroma can waft into the house when we open the windows.

The succulents were transplanted into a barren spot in the front garden.

I decided to take some cuttings and try to propagate them in water. Two cuttings from a broken branch, trimmed off the leaves. I left some on top, placed them into water on top of the bookshelf in the sunroom.

Now we wait for 8 to 10 days at a guess, once the roots appear I’ll transplant them into potting mix.

The weather has turned ugly – torrents of rain and wind so no gardening today and tommorow I’m back at work.

I’ll start a veggie patch with the children there as well because I really enjoy teaching them about sustainability, fresh food and the environment.

Veggie patch anywhere and everywhere !