Step By Step To Good Health

For centuries, writers, composers, philosophers and ordinary people have harnessed the healing power of walking to nourish body and soul. It’s free medicine available to everyone – all you have to do is start… and continue, every single day. One foot in front of the other.

Oh, Romantic, Rundown Platteland?

You are romanticising the platteland. This is a complaint we sometimes hear when readers return from a weekend getaway at a“once well-maintained and spotless” town, which is now “shockingly dirty and neglected”. But, as Johan van Zyl heard at this year’sWoordfees in Stellenbosch, decay occurs everywhere in the world – and the“romantic” picture painted in glossy magazines is not so much a problem as it is a solution.

Home Brew From The Cederberg To Your Teacup

About 12000 tonnes of rooibos tea is exported worldwide each year, and it all comes from a small region in the Cederberg. Evan Naudé visited a farm near Clanwilliam to learn about the process, from stalks under the scythe to the teabag in your cup.

The marrow of life

Few other crops can be cooked in so many different ways and at so many stages – from flower to finger-sized to monster-sized – as baby marrows.

Horse sense

Man and horse have been sharing a special bond for more than 5000 years, be it on farmlands, on battlefields, on the road or in the sports arena. Today, some of these fine animals even play an important role in therapy programmes. But keeping horses is not a decision to be taken lightly. Here’s what you need to know first.

Higher ground

Springbok flanker Pieter-Steph duToit has the world at his feet, especially after his performance at the RugbyWorld Cup in Japan*. But his heart will always belong to the Swartland. Kloovenburg, Riebeek Valley, Swartland

Stretch Your Legs at Biesiesvlei

In North West, on that long road between Gauteng and Namibia, lies Biesiesvlei. Blink and you might miss it. But a farm stall with a difference invites you to take a closer look.

Betta And The Blue Bus

Betta Steyn and her son left behind the “comfort and money” of Gauteng for a baby-blue bus 17 years ago in order to learn from the Kalahari Bushmen how “dangerous but intensely good” the quiet life can be.

The Price of “Progress”

We tend not to realise the true cost of development until it’s too late. Rupert Koopman laments the fact that, as you read this, someone out there is busy with a tractor, brush cutter, lawnmower or bulldozer, making the world a less interesting place than it used to be.

Heidelberg Refuge at the foot of Suikerbosrand

The town of Heidelberg in Gauteng, with its many historical landmarks, is close enough to the City of Gold to commute yet far enough to offer genuine platteland peace and quiet.

Plains of Peace

Few South Africans don’t have a soft spot for neighbouring Namibia: it’s a country of plains and dunes and not many people, a place that tugs at the heart strings and has visitors returning again and again.

Know Your Onions

Never grown your own vegetables? The allium family is a great way to start. Known for their wonderful culinary uses, onions, leeks, chives, shallots and garlic also have major benefits for the ecosystem that is your garden.

Volvo's Spaceship

Volvo’s XC90 is South Africa’s Car of the Year for 2016. Now that we’ve driven one on back roads, exploring the countryside in four different provinces, we can say unequivocally: what an impressive vehicle!

The Death Knell For The School Bell

Long distances, falling standards, bad memories of boarding-school life and the high cost of private schooling are just a few reasons why increasing numbers of platteland parents are choosing to educate their children at home. Alette de Beer takes a look at this development.