“Bring across the open fields of dry earth on a farm near Vleesbaai on the Southern Cape coast. His two devoted sheepdogs, Gizmo and Leeu, run out and wide, flanking the flock of Merino sheep, before driving them forward to the young farmer who stands patiently in the sea breeze, waiting to inspect them.
Despite Jurie Müller’s classic veldskoene, the lanky 32-year-old isn’t your typical farmer. On the contrary, for someone who was born and raised on a farm, it’s amazing that the sea is as much a part of him now as this age-old land. Looking at him studying his sheep and dogs at work, I’m reminded of the first time I saw him, standing on Chapman’s Peak, staring out across the cold Atlantic at a big-wave spot called Dungeons in Hout Bay. Now I see the same look of perception and wonder in his eyes, and the earnest desire to “know stuff” that is key to this multi-talented South African. He isn’t just a sheep farmer. Among other things, Jurie Müller is also an excellent big-wave surfer.
Outland farm, between Albertinia and Mossel Bay, has been in the Müller family for eight generations. While we watch the sheepdogs corral the flock into a tight ball, Jurie shares a bit of the farm’s history. “My grandfather [also Jurie Müller] bred chickens and farmed eggs. Just small stuff, and then he started with dairy. He was one of the first to bring lucerne into South Africa and to plant it with wheat. The wheat pays for the lucerne which is left for grazing. He bought a few Merino sheep when wool became a commodity, and from the profits bought more land and sheep, eventually committing 100 percent to wool. He had two sons – Johan Müller, my father, who still runs the sheep aspect of the farm, and Heinz Müller, my uncle, who continued the dairy side.”
Denne historien er fra March 2020-utgaven av SA Country Life.
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Denne historien er fra March 2020-utgaven av SA Country Life.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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The Little Car That Could
The new Hyundai Atos is proof that budget-friendly vehicles can be fun
Cowboys Never Cry
GEORGE ROBEY rides the range outside Ficksburg with one of Africa’s great cowboys
Family Stays
Make some beautiful memories at one of these countryside getaways
Art from the Heart
Watching blacksmiths at the forge, painters at the easel, cabinet makers at the chisel, and wandering the woods with a famous calligrapher in small, bespoke gatherings is what the Prince Albert Open Studios project is all about
Lighthouse Over Yonder
A shipwreck road trip from Bredasdorp to Danger Point is a fine way to spend a day drifting over the Agulhas plain
Up and Away In The Amatolas
A burgeoning settlement of people enjoys the good life among the mountains, mists and forests of Hogsback
The Salt Shepherd
ALAN VAN GYSEN finds out how a farm boy the Vleesbaai skaaplande became as dedicated to big waves as he is to sheep
Time Holds on Longer Here
Do not blink as you take the R62 that runs through the Eastern Cape Langkloof, warns OBIE OBERHOLZER. You might miss the strip of tar to the tranquil village of Haarlem
Place of Refuge
People have been escaping to the remote Winterberg mountains in the Eastern Cape for hundreds of years, writes MARION WHITEHEAD
The Place Of Roaring Water
In Augrabies Falls National Park, cultural projects are creating a thunder akin to the mighty Orange as it plummets into its famous gorge