The Ohrigstad valley is green and thriving after the good late-summer rains in February. Yet it is an area where the climate and rainfall vary dramatically, depending on how high up or low down you live: when 280mm fell in the upper reaches of the valley, the Elses further down had 80mm.
The Els family farm, Haakhoek, is 4km outside the town. “The name Haakhoek comes from the name of this plain. It is known for its many umbrella thorn trees [haak-en-steekbome], which cling to your clothes. The peak behind the farm is Tafelkop, and that deep notch is Olienhoutkloof,” explains Dewald Els.
Three generations of Elses currently live on the farm, of which Waldo (8) and Marko (6) are the youngest. Their parents are Dewald and Melissa, and then there are Dewald’s parents, Oupa Jan and Ouma Lenie.
Jan starts at the beginning: “My father and grandfather farmed here too. Every now and then they’d have to flee the drought, then they’d go find work elsewhere. My father worked as a blaster in the mines. If it had rained enough for a change and there was water in the river, he’d come back and farm again.”
Today the family farms with seed maize, seed beans, cabbage, butternuts, sweet potatoes and Bonsmaras. a diverse group of farmers here have been trying everything over the years, from wheat and tobacco to citrus and piquanté peppers.
“All the strange things came in because the tobacco folded in the 1970s. Tobacco was the main product and many of the farmers went bankrupt. After that, every guy tried something different.
This story is from the Winter 2023 edition of go! Platteland.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Winter 2023 edition of go! Platteland.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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.
