Farming and eating and beaching….Summertime!

Summer is here, along with the South Easter. We have been busy in the gardens, beach and in the kitchen…

The veggie gardens have been full and flourishing, and the figs are ripe and ready…eaten fresh with cheese and wine or made into jam – a winner! We also have a new spacious enclosure for the chickens and ducks to free range around in. The baby goat thinks its one of the dogs and and likes to bleat and run along with the dogs as they run and bark at our cars, welcoming us as we return home. Bookings are coming in for kids (children not goats) parties, the landscaping has picked up, while the bakkie has packed up! All the cars suddenly seem to be giving us problems – maybe its time for a donkey and cart Other than that, its been so windy, windy windy!

Some fresh veg out the garden…sweetest peas and corn ever!!!

Biggest Patty Pans/Pots we have grown yet!

Even more organic garden veg.

And beetroot which when roasted…turned into this Rose petal, mango and roast beetroot salad. Yum!

We took a break from the kitchen and the farm and escaped to the seaside. Quite often.

 Swims at Dalebrook pool,

Did some digger loading at Scarborough beach,

Jumped for joy at Fishermans beach,

Did some breakdancing at Fish hoek beach,

And then came home to chill.

Enjoy the Summer everyone!

Fynbos and Food Fair 2011

Our Annual Fynbos and Food Fair was really enjoyable and successful.The weather was great, lots of people supported, the plants sparkled and the food was delicious!

Pony rides on Patches

Pastries, surfboards and more in the Farmstall.

Fresh produce

People mingling and the band playing.

Facepainting for the kids.

Amazing rose cake on sale

Playground fun!

Stall holder West selling his wares in the shady retail.

Enjoying a chocolate apple in the Farmstall.

A fun fynbos and food filled day! Cant wait till the next one

Fynbos and Food event!

And here is our stunning new poster for our Fynbos and Food Fair by the brilliantly talented Terri of Soult designs:

Dont miss out on this fun fynbossy event!!! Quick – go write it in your dairy now!

Summer is here!

With the weather not so sure whats its doing, the poor plants are not sure what to be doing either. But Summer seems to be back with a bang along with the South Easter wind, tangling our hair and drying out the earth. We are gearing towards our next event on the 16th of December – which promises to be a day of fun, fynbos, food and art.

The masses of Syncarpha vestita or Cape Snow that have sprung up near the windmills.When you stand in between them it sounds as if you are in the middle of a rustling papery sea.

Meanwhile in the veggie patch, flowers of other sorts have been blooming…

Elegant leeks have gone to flower…the organic seeds to be collected and planted next year.

Yellow patty pans growing at the base of their edible flowers.

The retail area in the nursery is looking particularly lovely. Shady and inviting, it inspires many to jazz up their gardens at home.

The different colours and foliage in the six pack area in the retail.

A little monkey chilling in the shady seating area

More news on the event to follow! So keep in touch for more fynbos fun.

xxx from us at the nursery

A fresh start with spring

So new and exciting beginnings have begun! Good Hope Gardens Nursery and farmstall is fully operational. Coinciding with the beginning of Spring we relaunched with a bang and a bloom…flower power and fynbos kos. Take a peak:

We are also starting kids parties,

And pony parties ..introducing Patches the Shetland pony to the nursery!

Speaking of introductions….

we have two new puppies. Codi and Lani…heres Lani:

And our mommy goat died after eating a poison bulb called tilp (Beautiful orange flower with long green strap leaves) leaving her three-day old kids orphaned. These are the two  kiddies Dandelion and Star, whom we now have to bottle feed untill they are ready to eat by themselves.,,

I mean how cute does it get? Not much more than this.

So come on over to the Deep South and see what we have changed!

Cockadoodledoo

If a picture is worth a thousand words…

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then here is 10,000 words of what we have been up to this wintery month…

Endings and new beginnings

Things have been changing a lot around here. Namely the entire business. ‘Roger Gray trading as Good Hope Nursery’ comes to an end as from today.

However, Ownerlady and myself will be re-opening as Good Hope Nursery Gardens Nursery and Farmstall and Taskmaster will really come into his name with the opening of his very own landscraping business – Good Hope Gardens Landscaping. …really a continuation of his amazing work since 2004. The nursery and farmstall will have a grand opening in August and untill then, we will only be open (Nursery retail and Tea Garden) on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The landscaping will be continuing in its usual all-day every-day fashion.

There is a lot of reshuffling going on and changes to be made. I was about to embark on emails and start on a mile long list of things-to-do when loud mental barks were heard outside.  When out to check only to discover daddy goat OUT the paddock and was eating garden veggie no.3 and Bella the dog IN the paddock barking at mommy goat. mmmm. Fetched rope and food. Put goat back in paddock and chased dog out. Decided to feed the chickens and ducks while I was on this feeding mission. Came out with more food to find daddy goat out again eating a tree. Rope, food, curse. Wondered why we have a farm life again. Settled goat in different paddock. Went to feed chickens and found three warm eggs…happy farm feeling returned. Then stepped in some dog poo….Score:  Farm- 3 farmers wife-1 *sigh*

Yesterday we had a farewell staff braai…sad but delicious.

So keep warm till the next update … of Good Hope Gardens in Cape Point!!!!

 

A wedding cake, an olive tree and three feral chickens.

Early in the mornings we hear the cackle, scratch and crow of our three feral chickens. Always roosting in a new place – never to be seen.

To cut a rather long and gumbooted -in-the-dark story short, after a false wringing of one chickens neck, he let his two buddies know their pot luck fate and they never came within three metres of us again.

Yesterday, however, they were tired and hungry and sneaked into the chicken hok. But Taskmaster was on spy mode. He saw them out the corner of his eye through the passage the window, jumped out the window and closed the door on them in one fluid movement. Ninja farmer skills. Kingoftheplayground has inherited said skills and captured 4 songololos the other day while I was cracking eggs for breakfast.

The Fynbos and Food event is getting closer and closer….a confirmation of more stallholders today who will be selling organic apple juice, farm honey, gluten-free bakes, unsulphered dried fruit, kids fun stuff, crystals and gemstones.

We are lucky lucky lucky to have three pretty ladies playing guitar and singing for us on the day. Shady tree and lunch anyone? Aaaaah.

Here is our olive tree:

This is the first year is has bore us/fruited/produced/developed olives. (Must look in John Seymour’s book for correct term..that book is constantly open in this house) We picked these: It may looook like a little – but you try doing yoga moves in a pokey olive tree and then say “Small bushel” or whatever the collective for olives are. A host of olives? A hoard of olives…a press of olives? hmmm. Anyway, here:

A gloriously decadent Rooibos and pink buttercream icing wedding cake was made last week for a wedding in Stanford. Please note: If you are delivering a fully iced and decorated cake some three hours car ride away…its best to buy coverup goods for the unforeseeable meltdowns….in my case in the form of meringues and strawberries Oh and drink chamomile tea to calm the jagged nerves. …Think we stopped about 17 times to check it was still fine. So not too much tea or more stops, which means more checking up. Which counteracts the chammomile. Ahem. CAKE PLEASE!!!!

So concludes this post. Off to jump in the Ecolodge jacuzzi and then water the animals and veggies too. We jamming this week, and preserving veg, so any spare glass jars you have lying around – recyclers/hoarders/bottled produce lovers …. I would love to use them! Pretty please

Fynbos and Food event on Family Day!

Our next event is happening next month on the 25th of April…on Family Day – the Easter Monday public holiday.

So from 10am – 4pm, bring your friends and family to enjoy the entertainment and special fun at the nursery.

This time we are incorporating more of a farmers market type vibe, with fresh and cooked food stalls. Examples of stalls you will find here on the day:

Freshly baked bread, baked goods, wheat free cakes, nuts, organic fruit and veg, organic berries and eggs, homemade ginger beer, crunchies, rusks, preserves and jams, herbs, savoury foods, recycled crafts, natural beauty products, art, and more.

For the kids there will be pony rides, facepainting, claywork, a jumping castle and a playground.

Musical talents entertaining us through the day will be Amy Tjasink followed by Greer Bell and Zaria. Lucky us, because they have voices from heaven!!!

A free Guided Fynbos Walk will be led at 11am and a talk on Small Fynbos Gardens will be happening at 1pm.

And of course….last but definitely not least – ALL the plants in the ENTIRE retail area will be on sale at less 20% on the marked price…. with many extra specials here and there.

Join us – it will be amazing! Stock up your kitchen, your garden and your belly See you there!

***Poster created by Safia Stodel of Ilundi Designs***

When goats do roam my fynbos does moan

Hi. I’ve been a bad blogger again – but life has been busy busy busy!

Our baby goat AKA Greeny (dont ask – Kingoftheplayground named him) has been running around the nursery and getting into trouble. With me. Cant really dicipline a goat though, so just trying to feed him up so he gets too fat to escape through the fence. And eat more of our garden. Again.

The daddy goat gets stuck in his fence at least once a day:

Which is quite funny except then you need to go and get him out which is like wrestling a mountain with horns and yellow devil eyes and you stink like manky goat for a while after. Lovely.

Our veggies are coming along ….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And King of the playground is enjoying helping…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some pics of the Fat of our Land:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ecolodge has been fully booked every weekend (Lots of flower arranging and meeting happy faces) and the landscaping has been non stop. But no matter how busy we all are – we still always make take time out to go for meanders on the Fynbos Walk…

At our next event  (Details in next blog entry) we will be giving a free Guided Fynbos Walk so be sure to be there and come experience our nature!!!