More on Chart Rose Farm

Wonderful florally place- even in Winter!

And, how wonderful are floral headbands?

(First and second images mine and Lucy Beningfield's respectively.)

Jess, for a Garden of Eden 21st.

Some of my favorite fairies. Lucy, left, go-to inspiration for flower-headbands. Always.

Alexa Chung, hippy happy.

Wintery winner, by D&G.

the ever-wonderful original Frida.

Kidstenbosch

You have to take kids to kirstenbosch one day. It has got to be one of the most underrated experiences you could have. You'll see all the tiny wonders with new eyes, squish pond mud between your toes and smell the fragrance garden with tickly nostrils.

Borrow someone else's kids for the day and pack a picnic: do them and yourself a favour.

Chart Rose Farm

Roses are R2 a stem on Sundays.

This lovely bunch cost me thirty rand.

Cute tea garden, take your granny call her from it.

you will hear lots about this

...if you are going to read this blog.

Check out a project I started with some friends a while ago:

www.sunsanddaughters.com

 

And prepare yourself to hear much more about it.

jar

I placed a jar in Tennessee, 
And round it was, upon a hill. 
It made the slovenly wilderness 
Surround that hill.

The wilderness rose up to it, 
And sprawled around, no longer wild. 
The jar was round upon the ground 
And tall and of a port in air.

Try the Penguin Poems app, to learn some poetry off by heart- like the chunk above from the poem Anecdote of the Jar by Wallace Stevens.

Gardens of Babylon

If you somehow have not been to Babylonstoren yet, you are missing out. 

It is the closest to the Garden of Eden that the Western Cape has produced. Lovingly tended for only four years, the fruit trees are dripping with apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, plums and citrus. The vegetables almost trip you up, they're so big and plentiful. The trees have stories and the best way to hear them is to go on the Garden Tour, which takes place daily at ten. If you can, be sure to go with Gundula, the faerie-horticulturalist of the garden.

Stop in at the restaurant Babel if you're up to spend quite a bit, or head down to the delightful Greenhouse tea garden, add your name to the chalkboard and wait with the other charming folk to place your order for  delicious sarmies or salads- all with fresh homegrown fruit and veggies. I can recommend the biltong and Gorgonzola on Ciabatta- wonderfully, the abundance of the gardens overflows into the hearts of the women stuffing your sandwiches.

Be sure to pop into the shop on your way out for some fresh bread (with whole leeks, pears or garlic cloves baked into their crusty goodness), cheeses or meats from the small charcuterie.

www.babylonstoren.com 

on the cusp

A fitting note on the theme of upcycyling and fresh starts.

Next time you're in JHB, check out the Maboneng Precinct- it's supposed to be the Binnelander's Woodstock. If you're not heading into the Vaal triangle anytime soon, have a look here.

If you're interested, Jonathan Liebmann is basically the driving force behind a lot of the change that got things rolling in Maboneng. Rumour has it, he's set his sights on Maputo in Mozambique next. Yes please.

Welcome back to 'city eat love'.