go! Platteland

The slow life is the good life: go! Platteland celebrates the rural lifestyle and the entrepreneurial spirit of people whose hearts are in the platteland – whether they grew up in the countryside or are already based there, are contemplating making the move or simply hankering after the rural life. Platteland offers articles that focus on entrepreneurs, DIY projects, animals, gardening, food, towns and people. It is both practical and inspiring – as much of a visual feast as it is a celebration of great writing.

Sometimes SA simply is the best!

go! Platteland

Chitchat

News & diary • Winter is over, wonderful spring is here, and the calendar is buzzing with things to do. Travel to festivals in the Camdeboo and Hessequa, join a dog walk in aid of charity, or play with abrandnew gadget in the kitchen.

De Rust blooms onceagain!

Beer for Africa

Heavenly sounds in Heidelberg

Freshly ground!

Feed body and soul on Garden Day

Walk together for canine welfare

Dates to diarise*

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Let’s go to town • On our travels, we came across these spring-inspired finds in De Rust, Franschhoek, Gqeberha, Heidelberg, Cape Town, Knysna, Mbombela, Plettenberg Bay, Pretoria, Stilbaai, Vredendal, Wellington and Yzerfontein.

LOXTON Place of silence solace and stories • Amid the dolerite ridges and bossieveld of the Hardemanskaroo, you’re unlikely to find much mercy from the sun, but Loxton’s pine- and pear-tree-lined streets offer a welcome respite. Travellers are often delayed here, and before they know it, they want to put down roots…

Meet the people

Place of our heart • The Karoo, an enigmatic, diverse landscape with endless horizons, is worth sharing – especially with those who may no longer be able to travel to this expansive region. That’s why the Loxton ATKV branch created the Eg Karoo (Authentic Karoo) photography competition, says Annelise Vorster Meyer.

Karoo… Always Great! • The Great Karoo Facebook page shows just how deeply South Africans feel about both the Little and Great Karoo. Started in 2017, this oneman success story grew entirely organically into a page with more than 115 000 followers. Page creator JensFriis shares more.

The boer with many plans • We all know the Afrikaans saying “’n boer maak ’n plan”, but according to the editor of Landbouweekblad, that’s no longer the case in South Africa. Instead, farmers who find themselves in a pinch immediately phone Free State farmer Michris Janse van Rensburg to come up with one of his clever prize-winning ideasontheirbehalf.

The horses return to Paardeplaats! • Gerda and Brian Whitehorn thrived on Paardeplaats for 35 years before this mountain farm in the Long Tom Pass entered a new era: a young family with horse riding in their blood bought the neighbouring land, transformed a barn into a beautiful home, and now rent the Whitehorns’ guesthouse for their horseback safaris. In the Long Tom Pass, your neighbour always lends a helping hand.

The best olive oil… in the world (made right here) • South Africa may be a small player in terms of the quantity of olive oil we produce but we’re a titan at international olive oil competitions. Many of our award winners come from De Rustica in the Little Karoo, where a “family” of workers harvests the olives by hand, striking the perfect balance between old traditions and the latest technology.

Meet the people

Blooming in the Berg • At the foot of the Central Drakensberg, 28 km from Winterton, the energetic Eastons are growing an organic lifestyle for their family, while also playing an active role in politics and conservation. How do two young farmers (who are also parents) take on so much? The answer in a word: passion.

The softer side of the Hardemans Karoo...