Flower farmers seem to agree that what we see on their polished social media feeds are a far cry from what goes on while they have their hands in the soil.
"I'm only wearing a nice dress for you and the photographs," Teneale Coetzee from Femme Pétale Flower Farm says. "A white dress isn't practical. I usually look like I've been driven over about five times!"
Flower farming isn't all moonlight and roses. It takes hard work and patience as well as loads of research and support in the budding stages. And that's how Hort Couture Flower Collective came about.
Nine aspiring flower farmers dabbled in growing their own blooms in 2019 and 2020 when the hard lockdown afforded them the chance to follow their dreams. They all soon realised that time and individual research are good starting points but for their ventures to flourish they would have to reach out to others for advice.
"Flower farming is a notoriously closed and secretive industry," says Jo van Zyl of Lily-Rose in the Eastern Cape. Established flower farmers aren't always keen to share their knowledge, possibly for the fear of competition.
Through hours of research and scrolling on Instagram, Jo found a kindred spirit: Nzwi Dyirakumunda from Akanaka Blooms in Gauteng.
"We were chatting on Instagram about how difficult it was to grow cut flowers and to tap into the South African market. Nzwi introduced me to the clan on a WhatsApp group called You Grow Girl. I have never felt more bonded to a random group of women in my life!"
The biggest factor linking the women in the collective is that they all wanted to grow dahlias, and the most cost-effective way for them to grow the colour varieties they wanted was to import the tubers from the Netherlands.
Not only do they club together to do so, but they also buy seeds together and share knowledge and advice in the group.
Denne historien er fra Spring 2022-utgaven av go! Platteland.
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Denne historien er fra Spring 2022-utgaven av go! Platteland.
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
There are few secrets in Verlorenvallei
All platteland towns have that one famous (or infamous) character who knows everyone's business. Meet Livia Hoogenboezem, the keeper of every piece of gossip in Verlorenvallei...
Make magic with winter's abundance
This winter menu is our invitation to look beyond the bewildered herb garden, move out of your comfort zone and bake a loaf of bread, appreciate the beauty of a head of cabbage, and invite the rain gods to the table to feast with you on venison pie, pudding and cake.
It takes a family
Christian Fry and his fiancé, Pippa de Lange, arrived at Dombeya with just a day to spare before the Covid-19 hard lockdown commenced in 2020. Their purpose was to save the Fry family farm from being sold. They've settled into life in their Elands River Valley haven now but continue to dream big and work hard.
For the love of birds...
They may be called birdwatchers but they are in fact using their ears. As Johan van Zyl discovered on his maiden outing as an \"avian tourist\" with BirdLife South Africa to find the 450 bird species that live in the Garden Route and Little Karoo.
To the babbling brooks of Sabie
Roughly every five years, Jaco and Jens Reverchon get itchy feet. They hopped around Cape Town, moved up north to the Greater Kruger and then, recently, put down roots next to the Sabie River where they live a peaceful life with their animals.
Creativity & community in Dinokeng
The driving force behind the successful Makers Village in Irene has now implemented the same concept in Cullinan, creating an incubator and exhibition space for entrepreneurs and artists. Platteland dropped in at this budding creative hub to find out what it's all about and came away impressed.
Willie Strauss Never an idle moment
A variety concert... that is how to approach your life and career when you want to survive as an artist living in the platteland. So says singer, lyricist and radio food expert Willie Strauss, who entices visitors to Die Sinkstoor in Cullinan with traditional offal and his mother's Bushmanland boerekos.
To die for
How do you avoid the tourist avalanche if you live in an Afromontane forest where holidaymakers descend in December? You drive to lonely outposts in the mountains of the Cape, says photographer Obie Oberholzer, and you make pictures rather than take them.
1 Fiat 500 2ha 4 boys...19000 miles!
When the go-cart that an engineer father had built for his four sons couldn't handle the tufty terrain on their 2-hectare plot in Montana, Pretoria, they hunted down a Fiat 500 in a salvage yard. They only wanted its suspension system, but Mom intervened, the car was saved, and those little daredevils clocked up an impressive 19000 miles - all without leaving the plot.
SUTHERLAND Cold town, warm hearts
Life in Sutherland in the Northern Cape isn't always easy, but even those who leave tend to return. Come with us to find out why.
