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.

Complain… in the right way!

go! Platteland

Chitchat

News & diary • Spring has sprung and the longer days promise enough excitement to entice all homebodies to head outdoors. Plan your summer flowers, get your hands into the soil, teach your dog a new trick, or experience the wonders of harvest time on a cherry farm.

Cherry picking in the Free State

Something for the pantry

New tricks for old (and young) dogs

Stanford blooms again!

Amaryllis for all

Soup and sip at Spier

Dates to diarise

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Let’s go to town • Our search for original, handmade items that capture the essence of spring took us to Alexandria, Cape Town, Gqeberha, Hogsback, Hopefield, Johannesburg, Knysna, Piketberg, Plettenberg Bay, Stellenbosch, St Francis Bay and Vredendal.

Quivers full of love in Kenhardt • Faith and hope are often what sustain those who live in the arid, remote areas of our country. But it’s love that makes them stay. Love for the veld, the animals, the plants, the people. And Kenhardt is brimming with all of the above.

Meet the people

In a nutshell

What does property cost?

Eat, drink, be merry!

A perfect lookout • Macadamia and game farms, food gardens, horses… The blissful peace of the Uitkyk area, a stone’s throw from Mpumalanga’s capital, Mbombela, is why many former city slickers have carved out a new life for themselves here.

Meet the people

Eat, drink, be merry!

Refuge of silence • When writer Zelda Nel Bezuidenhout and her husband, Izak, stumbled upon Skuilkrans Private Nature Reserve just outside McGregor, they knew they’d found it: the off-grid, eco-conscious, pet-friendly, writing and getaway retreat they’d long imagined.

Visit or buy at Skuilkrans

A last refuge at the Gamsberg • A network of historical paths had to intersect before award-winning Afrikaans author and poet Piet van Rooyen and his wife, Annalie, put down roots at the Gamsberg in Namibia five years ago.

RIETBRON Wellspring of life • There’s never been an abundance of people and businesses in Rietbron. But what you will find in abundance, aside from water, in this little town located in Die Vlak in the Great Karoo is blissful tranquillity. Just walk its dusty streets and you’ll feel it…

Saffron The sunshine spice • The Moutonshoek Valley northwest of Piketberg is where Bennie and Anél Engelbrecht grow the most expensive spice in the world: saffron. Now they’re inviting anyone with access to as little as a quarter hectare of ground to join them in establishing a viable industry in South Africa.

What does saffron smell and taste like?

So you want to farm with saffron?

Get creative with saffron

Keep your eyes on the light • A specialist vet and a child of Soweto started working together in Steynsburg to make the world a better place. Their principles are simple: Love your neighbours and their animals, and help where you can. This will lighten everyone’s load.

Finding freedom in farming • As a child, former Paralympic athlete Sibusiso Mogale sowed seeds in his grandmother’s vegetable garden. The magic of planting and watching crops grow was...