22/07/2024
Everybody loved the sun coming through today, after a crisp cold morning! ❄️Ice on the windscreen, hoarfrost on the pasture and bridge, but the sun made it all disappear quickly and turned it into a lovely winter’s day☀️
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Our journey to start a small regenerative farm in the Hermitage valley of Swellendam
04/07/2024
Bags and bags of cabbage leaves! 🥬 The smooth cabbages you see at the supermarket have lost their outer leaves in the back of the store. We collect these to prevent them from going to the landfill. Instead, we’re composting the leaves and other vegetable scraps that aren’t suitable for the pigs, so their nutrients can cycle back into the ecosystem.
At the landfill, these leaves would decompose anaerobically, producing methane, a potent greenhouse gas that significantly contributes to climate change. So, composting them is a double win! 🍃
We layer them with fallen leaves and twigs gratefully collected from and Swellendam residents who’ve raked their gardens. Embracing the beauty of each season! 🍂✨
03/07/2024
The Lucerne trees were about knee high when we planted them mid March, and now a few of them are waist high already. Others have mostly branched out and some seem to be waiting for better days. We’ve mulched them and watered a few times during the first few hot weeks after planting, and they’ve had 260 mm of rain over the past few months. The stems show they’re well on their way to becoming proper trees. We’re hoping for some gentle rains over the next few weeks and are then keen to see what they look like by the end of September. Until they start flowering the Wild Radishes are feeding the bees and we love that they started to grow in this field as they’re great at breaking up the soil and reducing compaction. Over time, when the tap roots decay, they enrich the soil. All to the benefit of the trees and other plants.
28/06/2024
Only a few days old, the piglets happily follow their mom around in the pasture 🐷 Eat, sleep, play - repeat 🤎
24/06/2024
To be ready for spring and expected bee swarms we’ve given the apiary some more attention over the past few weeks. Inspection of the 2 colonies and an upgrade of the horizontal hives that we have ready for new colonies. They’re now wind proof and protected against hive beetles and ants. The horizontal hives are a game changer. All frames can be easily inspected with less interruption to the bees. Next some flower seeds on the d**e around it and we’re ready for spring!🐝🌼
22/06/2024
The shortest day of the year was lovely and treated us to a beautiful sunset. Winter has been mild so far and the year has been so much dryer than last year. Last year was excessively wet, and we’ve had less than half compared to this time last year. Still with just over 300mm YTD also a third less than the 5 years prior to last year. Let’s see what the rest of the year brings. It at least reinforces our thinking to make the soil more resilient, and improve the ability to absorb and retain moisture.
19/06/2024
There’s a Dutch idiom, ‘er als de kippen bij zijn’, which translates literally to ‘be there like the chickens’. The English equivalent would be something like ‘to be on it like a hawk’. It refers to someone who is very quick to react or take advantage of a situation. The chickens demonstrated this afternoon how apt the saying is, by marching into the orchard just minutes after we had applied some fresh compost – packed with worms🪱 😋
Awesome little helpers they are with their scratching and pecking, and their company makes gardening more fun.
15/06/2024
Pigture perfect autumn days🐷 Pigs are loving the misty wet mornings, and mild sunny days. The piglets are big now and working the land properly. We moved them to a piece of the pasture that we want to convert into a Lucerne orchard too, so they can do the groundwork for us🐽🐽
11/06/2024
The wind here still catches us by surprise 😱 We were expecting a few mild & sunny days, when suddenly the wind started howling in the middle of the night. It’s just calmed down now. Our trees seem still mostly too small to catch wind and damage, except for this Nova Nova that did so well! Just a year after friends Justine and Ross visited and introduced us to Nova Nova fruit, we were chuffed to see our own growing on the trees we planted shortly after their visit. Last week’s rains were great for some moisture, and we thought we’d be harvesting soon. But nature threw a spanner in the works and started the winter pruning a tad early.🍊
Surprisingly, also 2 Lavender bushes simply snapped and blew off their roots. The complete bush!
The chicken caravans also made a tumble after the chickens went out on pasture, and they’ve been fixed, with a plan to prevent a next tumble. Now just to keep an eye on Windguru🌪️
On the bright side, the new leg design of the bee hives turned out to be 100% wind proof
👏
03/06/2024
Our chickens love the compost and we love them for giving it a good scratch!
31/05/2024
The 3 chicks that hatched with the hen are 3 weeks old now and growing nicely. The feathers are starting to grow on their back and wings, and the head and neck are still covered with fluffy down💛
We took them inside with the 2 older chicks to protect them from predators and in a few weeks they’ll go out on pasture in a coop.
30/05/2024
Make hay while the sun shines☀️ We’re having some lovely rain now, and happy we used the sunny weather yesterday to secure some hay for the rabbits. The rest we leave as mulch which will break down and as it decomposes will add nutrients to the soil.
29/05/2024
A grass moustache 💚 The piglets are growing fast and working the pasture beautifully. One of the boars left yesterday and found himself a happy home to breed with Kolbroek pigs.
28/05/2024
Lovely crisp autumn mornings 🍁 and the chickens are enjoying the fresh earth that we moved around the apiary. The apiary will be getting some more attention the coming weeks as we’re hoping for some swarms to fill our empty hives towards spring 🌼🐝
17/05/2024
A bucket full of eggs calls for making Advocaat😋Advocaat is a traditional Dutch alcoholic beverage made from egg yolks, sugar, and brandy. The rich and creamy drink has a smooth, custard-like consistency and is served with whipped cream. It’s got a reputation of being an alcoholic treat for grannies but secretly oupas and younger generations love it too🤫💛
11/05/2024
We called her Shaun, even though you’re not supposed to name your livestock. It was just easier for identification. She taught us that sheep are more resilient than they’re made out to be. Her mom only had one functioning udder but provided sufficient milk for Shaun to grow strong and healthy. We didn’t dock her tail and it worked. She was 100% grass-fed supplemented with minerals. Nothing else.
Moving towards (partial) self-sufficiency brings the wonder about new life and learning about each animal’s behaviour. On the flip side it’s harsh when it comes to D-day.
Coming face to face with your food makes you realise that saying grace before each meal shouldn’t be an act that’s part of Christianity only. All food should be received with gratefulness and respect, for the animal or the farmer who grew the plants, the producers, the traders. Life is hasty and it’s easy to forego on what it takes to fill our plates. And as we become less appreciative and value it less, the industry is forced to take shortcuts to improve efficiency. Probably costing us more in the long run. AJ Jacobs wrote a book a few years ago, ‘Thanks a Thousand’, thanking each and everyone that plays a role in the supply chain that brings a cup of coffee to his local coffee shop. It highlights how much it takes to produce something that’s considered normal. It’s easy to take things for granted and farm life makes us realise it’s important to take a moment to appreciate the sacrifices, efforts and care required to bring food on our plates.
09/05/2024
How wonderful life is when you’ve got chickens in your world! ❤️ This brave hen made her nest in a trench (well hidden!) and the first chicks hatched yesterday. So nice to see how they develop and how the hen takes care of them naturally.
01/05/2024
At 10 months Lenna has now entered adolescence, and essentially being a teenager that is testing the boundaries, quite literally. On Monday though she made us proud, as she showed off her strength and ability. With her incredible senses she picked up from quite a distance (and she could easily have been distracted by what was happening around her) that a dog had entered our pasture where the chickens were foraging. She RAN towards it and chased the dog out with her dancing style like a good defender in soccer.
Yesterday the chickens weren’t so fortunate. Because she’s still in training, and we need to keep her on the chain for her own safety at times we can’t supervise her, she wasn’t able to defend the chickens when the dog entered our pasture again. Lenna did bark veraciously, alerting us that something may be wrong. By that time the dog had already killed 2 chickens, but at least worse could be prevented.
Sad for the chickens, and sad for the lost opportunity of many delicious eggs as they had just come into lay. Basically opportunity costs of about R3500 in today’s egg prices as these 2 were expected to lay about 450 eggs each in their lifetime.
Anyways, we’re not holding grudges and politely declined the offer to compensate. Everybody learned and meanwhile we’re raising 2 chicks that were born last week that can hopefully replace them in September when they should start laying. And we realise the efforts and time it takes to raise Lenna are worth it. She has shown to have the right instinct and is eager to protect her flock.
29/04/2024
We didn’t collect acorns for the piglets for a while so they decided to get them themselves 🙃
24/04/2024
Next project: livestock shelters. A lot of infrastructure to be put in place before we can start looking for cattle (still undecided on the breed) and more sheep. After the parameter fencing and tree protection, we’re now starting with 2 basic shelters to protect against sun and rain. We’re placing them centrally in the pasture, as we’ll continue with rotational grazing and each of the paddocks will be connected to a shelter with a central water point.
22/04/2024
Our first chick hatched this morning! 🐣 Langton spotted a broody hen in the bushes 10 days ago, and for safety (predators) we decided to rather take the eggs inside in the incubator. Last night we heard soft chirping and this morning the first chick hatched❤️Six hours later she was eating, and later this afternoon she was joined by another chick. We’ll see how soon the others hatch!
12/04/2024
Our Golden Girls are laying large eggs and most of the juveniles are still learning with slightly smaller ones. Then there was one that produced this miniature egg… At least she tried!☺️
On the other end of the spectrum there’s a queen in the flock that’s laying xl eggs that have a double yolk🤩 The kind of surprise eggs we love!
11/04/2024
The chickens are enjoying the cooler weather🌱 Instead of finding shelter from the sun under the trees they now prefer to hang out with the pigs, foraging on their leftovers and perching on their shed. Together they’re doing a great job working the pasture, to improve the soil and grasses.
09/04/2024
The only thing constant is change🌳 Last years’ regular downpours resulted in many floodings on the pasture, but never did we experience any real changes in the river. Until today. Last nights’ rains made the river surge through the valley, ripping down trees and move rocks like sand dunes. Whereas we’re trying to eradicate the Black Wattles, this big one was kind of welcome as it provided shade and obviously held the riverbank together. The whole tree washed away during the night and is nowhere in the distance to be seen. The second pic taken yesterday morning, and the 3rd pic was this morning. A few meters downstream part of the riverbank washed away. A humbling experience altogether, the forces of nature are to be reckoned with. Ironically as I was trying to find a picture of the whole tree I found this (4th) picture with the rainbow🌈
Friend Beneke de Wet wrote this, and posting it here as a reminder we need to get the palmiet back in our river:
“The Hermitage was originally called the Poespasvallei. The word was considered offensive and thus changed. The valley however stayed the same... what does poespas mean? A mess or deurmekaarspul. Why? Palmiet. The fast running mountain streams use palmiet to secure the banks and flood plains. The plants grow relatively low and have strong root systems. With normal rain the water passes through ever changing channels in the palmiet. During flooding the water simply passes over the plants and push into the slower flowing floodplains. Effectively none of this function any more, hence massive erosion. This erosion will continue until most of the alien trees that shade the river banks and prevent the return of palmiet is removed.”
31/03/2024
Happy Easter!🐰 May it be a peaceful & fun time with family and friends💛
30/03/2024
Our polar opposites: the fierce, independent and inquisitive giant vs the dutiful obedient pleaser🐾 At 9 months Lenna has about 9 months to go till she reaches adulthood. We’re grateful for an understanding and patient community while she’s testing the boundaries. It takes a village to raise a puppy 😊 Most importantly she’s doing a great job watching the chickens and no casualties yet🤞
29/03/2024
Our chickens playing their part in the Easter egg hunt 🐰
21/03/2024
The wires to support the granadillas went up on Tuesday, 3 strands create a walk through of flowers and fruit. One is already showing off being the most vigorous climber of the 4, reaching the 2nd strand already. Lovely mist leaving some moisture on the leaves this morning.
20/03/2024
This may seem like a pig horror movie scene 🩸 but it’s an innocent tomato nosedive😋 Thank you Wildebraam Berry Estate for the fruits and offcuts that weren’t suited for production 🍅 glad it didn’t go to waste!
The Swellendam municipality is actively driving initiatives to prevent food waste from going to the landfill. If food waste goes to the landfill and rots it produces methane - a greenhouse gas 25 times as potent as CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere. A lot of what we call food waste is loved by pigs and what isn’t suited can be composted. That adds to the fertility of the soil later. We’re grateful to receive this waste that adds to the variety of our pigs’ diet, and gladly collect from any address in Swellendam.
16/03/2024
Our granadillas are settling in nicely! We loved our Passionfruit in Cape Town and happy to see it seems to like this soil too. We added quite a bit of building sand to ensure good drainage. Some gentle rain today to refresh everything after yesterday’s heat.
Address
Hermitage South Avenue
Swellendam
6740
Opening Hours
| Monday | 08:00 - 17:00 |
| Tuesday | 08:00 - 17:00 |
| Wednesday | 08:00 - 17:00 |
| Thursday | 08:00 - 17:00 |
| Friday | 08:00 - 20:00 |
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More new life! 🐣 Our roosters have done a great job, all eggs hatched yesterday, in the early hours of the morning. Mom and chicks are well, and mom is doing an excellent job keeping them warm. #pastureraised #chicks #boschvelder #pastureraisedeggs
Day by day progress sometimes seems slow, but to be able to now use our own compost on the trees that we planted in the pasture last year is really rewarding. Mostly because it’s brimming with life!🪱 Great to be able to build the soil, to support the trees to grow which will in turn support the soil. #compost #soilhealth #silvopasture
Morning chores☀️ Chickens happy to be out on pasture again! #pastureraised #pastureraisedeggs #freerangechickens
Good fences make good neighbours. The final stretch of new poles and barbwire💪 #fence #farmlife #farmingwhileblack
Piglets are loving the high grass! At some point we’d like to convert this piece into a wildlife pond so they can go wild digging around. #pastureraised #pastureraisedpigs #piglets #naturalbehaviour
The red skies at sunrise incredible this morning, indicating a lot of moisture in the air. After a few days of sweltering heat the rain started Friday night and it’s now been drizzling or pouring pretty much nonstop. And sadly for Mickey 🐾 a lot of thunder too so she hasn’t been a happy girl. Lenna’s not faced by it at all and just looking curiously at the sky. Calm and collected😎 Glad she’s experiencing it now as exposure as a puppy seems to make them be fine with thunderstorms in adulthood. #swellendam #langeberg #langebergmountains #sunrise #farmdogs
The piglets are loving their edible ball pit 🫑 The beauty of receiving food waste from different sources is that they get a varied diet and the piglets seem to love it too 💚 #sundayfunday #piglets #pastureraised #pigsonpasture #bellpeppers
The best part of moving the sheep to fresh pasture is watching them go for the trees immediately. The Cheesewood looking irresistible with succulent bright green leaves. The poles are ready for placement to put mesh around the trees for protection, which will be necessary to be able to move cattle in. #rotationalgrazing #fodder #foddertrees #cheesewood #kaasuur
Before planting the Wild Peaches (Kiggelaria africana) we read that they attract caterpillars. This morning we spotted the first ones that were busy stripping the leaves. The caterpillars of Acraea horta, the Garden Acraea, and the Dusky-veined Acraea, Acraea igola, as well as the Battling Glider are enjoying its leaves and encourage fresh growth. A variety of cuckoos in turn seem to be attracted by these caterpillars so we’ll have to keep an eye (and ear) out for them! #southafricantrees #kiggelariaafricana #wildpeach #caterpillar #southafricanindigenous #biodiversity #birdfriendly #pollinatorfriendly #habitatregeneration
“Eat your greens” 🥬 If getting kids to eat their veggies was only as easy as just putting it in front of them… The piglets are almost fighting over it, smothered in cream cheese though😋 #spinach #leafygreens #creamedspinach #piglets #foodwasteprevention #freerangepigs
Giving our chicks full freedom to forage on the pasture also means predators have the opportunity to get to them.🦅 Lenna’s in training as a preventative measure to protect the chickens but as she’s still a pup and often dozing off during the day it was eagle eye Jan who spotted a buzzard falling out of the air onto a chick this week. We ran towards it to save the chick, and the buzzard still managed to take off but then dropped the chick in the high grass. A few minutes later the chick ran out of the grass back to the safety of the flock. Mickey may be a more useful guard dog for now, often running around which predatory birds won’t like. And wonderful to see how she’s not reactive to the chickens. She’s herding them a bit, but often simply overwhelmed by their numbers. In the suburb she was completely obsessed with the 2 chickens in a coop and we didn’t know what to expect with free range chickens, but she’s doing great. And the chicks are fine with her too❤️ #freerangechickens #livestockguardian #bordercollie #plaashond #pastureraised
V doing so well nursing her 12 babies! Her chubby piglets were born Wednesday late afternoon, and they’ve been drinking, sleeping and curiously wandering around their mom❤️
Copper has done so well delivering her babies!🐷❤️ She’d been building her nest during the day and as the night set in the first piglet arrived on Saturday night. Another first for us and so special to witness the piglets immediately opening their eyes, and finding their way to a teat to start drinking. In just about 3 hours 10 healthy piglets arrived, so Copper’s going to be busy nursing for a while. Hopefully V will follow suit and deliver this Christmas too. One thing this first year on the farm tought us is that life and death are so close together. Merry Christmas wherever you are, and enjoy the togetherness. Life can’t be taken for granted🤗🎄 #pigsonpasture #farrowing #piglet #durocpigs #pastureraised #farmlife #swellendam
A tasty treat from the neighbours who have been thinning fruit on their trees. Pigs love peaches, and they’re a good source of nutrients providing vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre. Even though the pits contain cyanide which can be poisonous to them in large amounts, you don’t have to remove the pits: they spit it out 👊 Thank you, Privi & @arumvale guesthouse!🙏 #organicfruit #pastureraisedpigs #peachesforpigs #fruitthinning #nowastedfood
The biggest chicks moved out on pasture today, adding grass and clover to their diet. Love how they all have different patterns and colours. #pastureraised #pastureraisedchicken #boschveld #boschvelders
Our chicks arrived!😍 A box of chirpy little creatures. So fragile still and at the same time amazing to see how much ‘chicken’ they are in just 5 days from hatching 🐣 #boschveldchickens #boschveld #brooder
The sun is out again and pigs enjoying a relaxing morning after a day of fun in the rain🌧️ Have a chill Sunday☀️🤗
Such a cool and simple system to store the pigs grains and easily fill up a bucket. Flow bins appear to be indispensable on a farm, so versatile. Thanks @garyvwatts for helping out with the welding job! 🔥 #diyfarmproject #feeddispenser #flowbin #flowbinideas
This was around 6am this morning💦 By then we had around 42mm already and another 47mm thereafter (and counting 🌧️). Water was flowing everywhere. Our buildings are safe thankfully. Happy that we can see again where the water goes so that we can prepare for future rainfall. #swellendam #rainfall #weatherextremes
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