Finding the Balance

This weekend I was treated to a fantastic outing to the Robertson's Wine Valley. Hubby and I with some great friends spent the day at Farmer RedBeard. What is Farmer RedBeard I hear you say? Well to explain this I need to tell you more about this traditional farm steeped in history. The farm has been in the Van Zyl family since the 1700's, they traveled across the bushveld from Cape Town with the hope of a better future. Their ox wagon tracks are still marked into the rock of the Langeberg mountain as witness to the tale of the hardship they endured to get there.

We arrived at just after 10am, greeted by Farmer RedBeard, his wife, Jack Jack the Jack Russel and Oggies the farm dog cross. We sat at a purpose built open fire with a choice of home made rooibos tea or traditional farm coffee brewed on the fire. We moved to the farm house where Mrs Red Beard spoilt  us with home made breads, cheese and fig jam. (The jams and honey are sold at the farm and online) Then it was time for the tour...

The farm is huge, with over 30 hectares of it farmed. There is vineyards of the finest grapes, some of the vines are over 100 years old; orchids brimming with  peaches, apricots, figs and dotted about the farm are several occupied bee hives. There are two dams both teaming with birds and wildlife.  We went on a tractor ride, which I can highly recommend, Farmer Red Beard and Mrs Farmer RedBeard entertained us with tales of past harvests and historic family events that have taken place on the farm. We started at the main house passing "DieOuHuis" which offers farm style accommodation to visitors and sleeps up to 8. Passing through the vineyards we began our assent up the mountain passing a "secret" camp site, complete with an old bus which will be used as unique overnight accommodation.  (this is not ready for guest yet but keep an eye on the website for details) 

The views were incredible and at no stage did we feel rushed or pressured. Both Farmer RedBeard and his wife speak of the balance the Farm gives to their lives and after an hour of the tour it finally dawned on me what they were talking about. Nothing on the farm is commercial, the balance between nature and Farmer is perfect. 

Farmer Redbeard is in the last days of completing his masters degree in Viticulture and explains in laymen's terms the importance of persevering the ecosystem for future RedBeard Generations.

  

All too soon our tour was over and we made our way back to the main farmhouse. Pappa Redbeard and his wife joined us and we were treated to some amazing Fig Liqueur and oh so smooth home made brandy (met ys ja!) 

We regretted not having booked an overnight stay as by now we were completely relaxed and loving the stories Pappa Red Beard was sharing with us.

There is no doubt we will be back, but this time for a weekend, we would like to try our hands at the "hands on farming" experience that the farm offers, and if we are very brave we may even try the Bee-keeping and honey making experience. Personally I want  to soak up more of the good old fashioned hospitality and genuine respect the family has for the land. As for my balance, there was a marked improvement in my stress levels for the rest of the weekend. Wow can you imagine the difference  a whole weekend would make!

See you soon Farmer RedBeard x