FAST FACTS
Lizette Kloppers has seen her tiny backyard experiment with tomatoes develop into a successful herbgrowing operation producing 23t of basil in a season.
South Africa’s fresh herb market is very small, but the market for dried herbs is lucrative.
It is extremely important to secure a market before planting herbs, says Kloppers.
In the mid-1990s, Lizette Kloppers, a former landscaper, planted cocktail tomatoes in a tunnel on her family farm Rooikrans, on the outskirts of Worcester in the Western Cape.
“I started to experiment with tomatoes for family consumption and shared the surplus with friends,” she recalls.
At the time, she was reading one of Margaret Roberts’s books on herbs, and came across the concept of companion planting.
“This is based on the principle that certain plants can attract or repel insects or provide beneficial support to other plants. The book suggests that tomato and basil are a good match for companion planting, so I decided to give it a try.”
She replaced two rows of tomatoes with basil. “I knew nothing about herbs and, as the basil started growing taller and more lush, I started wondering what on earth I should do with it all.
“Then my neighbour came across a small advertisement in a magazine from someone looking for basil. I phoned the number and ended up in the kitchen of Kathleen Quillinan, the founder of Pesto Princess, with a refuse bag full of basil leaves!”
The meeting marked the beginning of a change of direction for Kloppers.
EMPHASIS ON HERBS
Denne historien er fra November 27, 2020-utgaven av Farmer's Weekly.
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Denne historien er fra November 27, 2020-utgaven av Farmer's Weekly.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Syngenta Seedcare celebrates a decade of innovation
Syngenta's ambition is to enable their customers' investments to grow in healthy soil from treated seeds to young plants through innovation and collaboration, writes Magda du Toit.
Agri workers shine at Western Cape awards
Lindie-Alet van Staden, a garden and olive orchard manager at L’Ormarins Wine Estate in Franschhoek, was crowned as the Western Cape Prestige Agri-Worker of 2024 at a gala event recently held near Paarl.
Small and large farmers recognised at grain awards
The annual Grain SA/Syngenta awards ceremony bears testimony to the quality of farmers in the grain industry.
Growing partnerships: Fedgroup's flexible and innovative approach
Janine Ryan spoke to Warren Winchester, general manager of impact investing at Fedgroup, about why the company became involved in agriculture, and what it offers farmers and their immediate communities.
Why fish farms fail, and how to avoid becoming a statistic
The popularity of launching fish farms is not matched by their success. Leslie Ter Morshuizen, owner of Aquaculture Solutions, explores the factors that cause most of these businesses to go under.
Where history and modernity meet in a luxurious setting
Brian Berkman kept his eyes peeled for ghosts in the oldest continuously run hotel in South Africa, but all he found was a fabulous two-night stay.
THE HITCHING POST
I'm a stylish elderly lady with a radiant glow and a good sense of humour that keeps me young at heart.
Cutworms: check the weeds on your fields!
Zunel van Eeden explains why understanding the ecological interplay between cutworms and weeds is crucial for effective pest management. Producers should disrupt the life cycle of cutworms to minimise crop damage.
Does high-density grazing mimic grazing patterns of game?
In their paper on high-density grazing in Southern Africa, professors Angelinus Franke and Elmarie Kotzé from the Department of Soil, Crop and Climate Sciences at the University of the Free State say high-density grazing systems may not accurately reflect natural ecosystems. Roelof Bezuidenhout reports.
Global grain outlook: 2024/25 marketing season
In its latest summer crops report, the Crop Estimates Committee says South African farmers intend to plant 4,47 million hectares of summer grains and oilseeds in the 2024/25 season, up 1% from the previous season. As South Africa exports maize and soya bean, Annelie Coleman reports on the latest trends in the international grain and oilseed markets, amid fluctuations in weather conditions and ongoing armed conflicts.
