You don't easily forget the place where you first tasted condensed milk from the tin.
I recently rode a fat bike around the Southern Cape town where I'd grown up, and I was pleasantly surprised by how lovely everything still was. The infrastructure is being well maintained. I'm proud of where I come from.
Santie wrote in my matric autograph book: "May all your problems be small ones."
IT'S EASY TO GET TRIPPED UP when you retrace the steps of your youth. "Name, surname, animal, town" may thus be altered to protect some parties from embarrassment, unhappiness or feelings of hurt. Also to protect the man himself, who keeps looking over his shoulder as he rides his bike.
Nostalgia and memory games are like a large jigsaw puzzle full of wheatfields and mountains and blue sky. Many puzzle pieces are similar, or appear the same from a distance.
Those were the days before barcodes and airbags in vehicles.
The village is not much bigger than a postage stamp, yet the locals speak of their city hall. It remains a beautiful building. It's where grand events like wedding receptions were held. Concerts were held in the school hall and bazaars in the church hall.
The neighbouring town had a drive-in, and in between the trailers that preceded the feature film homemade adverts for dried fruit, sheep for slaughter and air compressors would flash across the big screen. Just written on ruled paper and cellotaped to a noticeboard. Everything doesn't always have to be perfect and dolled up. As long as the heart of a message is in the right place. I watched my first movie at the drive-in: e'Lollipop.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Spring 2022-Ausgabe von go! Platteland.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Spring 2022-Ausgabe von go! Platteland.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
The art of small talk
In the city, a glib smile suffices when it comes to interaction with any stranger that crosses her path. Yet a visit to Struisbaai taught Elizabeth Wasserman that small talk is no small matter
From food scraps to compost in a jiffy: We test the iCompost
If turning kitchen waste into compost could be done at the touch of a button, more people would take it up, and much less waste would end up in landfills. That’s what Himkaar Singh, the man behind the innovative iCompost, believes. Platteland was keen to put this innovative appliance to the test
Find wisdom in the forest: It all starts with soil
A tree is an investment in any garden, even though patience is required to pluck the (figurative) fruit. When you plant several trees together to create your own forest, the reward is much greater. They offer shade, they support life… and they improve your soil. We spent time reflecting in our white karee“forest”– and learnt a lot
Ohrigstad's tiny big farmer
Agriculture courses through the veins of the Els family, who have been farming in the Ohrigstad valley in Limpopo since the 1930s. And they are getting younger and younger: Grandfather Jan Els was 36 when he set out, father Dewald 27… and littleWaldo got behind the wheel of massive machines at the age of 6!
The head hen who lays the golden eggs
The Country Chic is a delightful specialty store in the Swartland where small farmer and entrepreneur Suzanne Smit sells the organic free-range chicken eggs and poultry meat she produces – straight from her farm to the shelves of her own store
On mountains and moments
On a trip in the southern Drakensberg, a torrential downpour and a field of prickly thistles got acclaimed photographer Obie Oberholzer thinking about the power of perspective
Ballad of the butter farmer
High up in the Italian Alps, Maria van Zyl learnt to make the tastiest butter in South Africa. Then she started a clever “subscription farming business” delivering dairy products to households in the Cape on a weekly basis, which is how she could afford to buy the first five cows for her micro-dairy. Meet the (bio)dynamic small-scale farmer with big plans
Spring on a stick
Expand your braai repertoire by serving a side dish of flavourful spring-vegetable kebabs cooked to perfection over the coals.
A puzzle of nostalgia
Ride a fat bike through the town where you grew up - an abiding landmark in your life - and behold the picture that reveals itself.
Let's braai!
Celebrate Heritage Day on 24 September with this braai menu, which Platteland put together from Martelize Brink's recently published second cookbook, Oor die Kole.