What a weekend!

We are sharing some of our favourite things to do in and around the Swartland again, since some of the businesses and restaurants originally suggested have sadly closed down.

Spending a weekend (or any few days) in the region can really relieve you of the stresses of the city. There is no traffic (unless you encounter a herd of sheep crossing a dirt road), the ratio of shining retail window display to real things made by locals are in your favour and the landscapes are wide open and unobstructed.

So, if you are planning to stay in our accommodation (or others in the area) here are a few of the things we like to do within 30mins drive of the farm.

Hiking:

So many options; you can start on the farm and walk into the Paardeberg (ask Semma); drive to the Riebeek Mountain and take the newly reopened route from Pulpit Rock or take a super easy walk up the granite hill outside Malmesbury (see slideshow below).

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Alternatively drive through Wellington and into Bain’s Kloof Pass (gorgeous views of everything the light touches) and stop off to sit next to the river (ask Helena for tips). For all of these we can provide guides on request and at a small fee.

Most of these routes are also mountain bike friendly!

Shopping and eating like a local:

On your way to Bain’s Kloof you will pass our favourite leather shop. Redemption Leather is a local factory / shop where you can buy hand made shoes, bags, belts and so much more. Worth a visit.

For farm fresh food you have plenty of options… as you should in the country side.

In Riebeek you can get great produce at The Biggest Little Market (previously Crisp) opposite Beans about Coffee (yes, another coffee is a great idea!) and something to braai straight from Delico Meat, a farmstyle family butchery.

The Biggest Little Market produce

For cocktails and Asain inspired food try The Alchemist, definitely buy wine at The Wine Kollective (the only wineshop in the world that stocks alllll the Swartland gems) and check out art at the various galleries.

In Malmesbury you should get your coffee at Koffie (and see what the owner baked that morning) and grab some lunch at The Daily. Peaberry Cafe and Cherry Lane are also both nice stops for light meals, coffee and local baked goods.

Wine (and other) tastings:

Most small producers are only open by appointment (like us) so make sure to enquire in advance.  Check out the Swartland Wine and Olive Route’s site or that of Riebeek Valley Tourism for details on cellars that have open doors and active tasting rooms.

After harvest we hope to once again set aside a few dates for tasting days on the farm so try coming out on those weekends! And we have started to put together a sort of “menu of experiences” that friends and neighbours can offer so ask Semma about that when you book and get the most out of a weekend in die platteland.

wineclub2

And if you want to visit some local nurseries, both the Malmesbury Kwekery (on Reservoir street) and the Riebeek Valley Garden Center in Riebeek West come highly recommended.

Enjoy your visit to the Swartland!

Live, love, like…

Occasionally we like to remind followers of (and visitors to) our blog to also follow and like our other online pages. We are much more active on the likes of Instagram and Facebook with going-ons, like

features from afar | Adi’s birthday | Swartland mixed cases & online tastings

adventurous and or – | romantic – farm visits | our weekly farm fresh box

About The Kalmoesfontein Box:

From the rusk recipe that Yoliswa started baking with when we first arrived on the farm and Judy’s long beloved marmalades to Charl’s ice-cream successes and the butter Hanneke started churning during lockdown – we’ve always been baking and making, preserving and preparing things grown on the farm in order to elevate meals served from the kitchen.

So, since it seems boxes are the new baskets and we now make enough products of origin Kalmoesfontein, we’ve put together OUR OWN BOX.

delivered to your door*.

The specific weekly box combo gets sent out on (most**) Tuesdays – let me know on aabadenhorstwine@gmail.com if you want to be on the mailing list.

*Swartland, Cape Town and in between only.

**Subject to availability…

Also, coming soon, daily opportunities to lunch with the team. But, more on that via one or all of our platforms, just now…

We’re open for business (travel)

Hello Level Three – regardless of the confusion surrounding the levels of lockdown amidst the ongoing Covid-19 2020 chaos, one thing we do know is that our accommodation is back in business, for business travel.

As per our previous post we can receive Essential Service workers and now also people travelling to our area for business.

The Winemaker’s Cottage; The Stables or The Silo, we’ve got space, views, fresh air and much more waiting for you. Click here to view more details about our accommodation options.

We’re taking extra care with cleaning routines and allowing 24hrs between guests. Read all about it in the Covid-19 update post or feel free to chat to Semma if you have any questions.

semma@aabadenhorst.com

We look forward to seeing you!

spring

A few words from a man of many words. Adi gives some feedback on our spring day brunch / “Secateurs launch”

“Was a moerse lekker kuier on Saturday, I think we had more fun than the guests!
There was enough wine and food to go around. Some people left their cars in Malmesbury with broken gear boxes and still made it to the farm in time and then pitched in to make delicious salads to go with the late afternoon chicken and rabbit pies!

Harry helped plant tomatoes and beans – he will be back in 90 days to collect the harvest – much like he did with the Secateurs (Harry spent a few days on the farm harvesting in February and then came to drink as much as he could of the new release on Saturday!)
Roland from wine cellar even bought a bottle of wine in case ours was not up to scratch! Thanks for the Drouhin Roland!
Melissas staff brought lovely flowers and we now have a very cool collection of Melissas hand-me-down cafe chairs in and around the old house.

In general it was a fantastic bunch of people gathered together on a beautiful Swartland day.”

So there you have it, thanks for all the support and look forward to seeing you all at the next one!

Some photos with love and thanks to Maree Louw, I am sure she snapped pictures while husband Callie braaiied the chickens?

 

See more photos on Maree’s naturallight photography Facebook album.

working weekends

On Saturday our financial manager Gerrie got out of his office chair, put on some shorts and left the aircon behind to come help harvest on Kalmoesfontein. He brought his cute kids to lend another two pairs of hands (we are all for child labour here in the Swartland).

Gerrie with Alexander and Lenae.
Cheer up buddy, one day you can also drink wine! 

The “karookop shiraz” was everywhere.

Jasper sustained some minor injuries, but nothing worth writing home blogging about.

Treasurrrrre hunt

Adi, forever the pirate at heart / parrot lover, recently saved these beautiful parrots from the ‘vibacrete’ jungle of Malmesbury.

We welcomed them to Kalmoesfontein where they can whistle and tweet (no, they don’t run our twitter account) with the extended bird family of Kalmoesfontein as well as the local Paardeberg birds. 



In the spirit of good old piracy, we give you a (treasure hunt?) challenge:
The first person to identify the 3 rare species pictured here will win a mixed case of our wine! Just in time for the festive season!
Just comment below, on our Facebook page or tweet us the answers… 

Cottage life…

We told you a while ago that you can now come stay in the cottage on Kalmoesfontein by booking through Perfect Hideaways. This weekend we had our first guests; Lisa Fullstone and her family spent the weekend on the farm and sent us some lovely pictures.

In her e-mail, subjected “Kalmoesfontein – a boy, a dog, a farm” Lisa wrote:

“We had a lovely weekend, we really enjoyed the farm and the dogs! Our 5 year old Sam fell in love with the dogs and spent hours playing with them, he also got to meet Badenhorst 5 year old Samuel and they played really nicely together. 
 
We loved the farm, the dogs, the garden, Fortuin, the birdlife and mostly the peace and quiet.. and the VIEW!!! did I mention the view! and the Swartland heat, and the wines…”

Sound good? Then book your weekend and come enjoy it for yourself…

Plaas living

You can now come stay in the cottage on Kalmoesfontein! The cottage, that sleeps four people (one double room and another room with two single beds) has two en-suite bathrooms, a lovely open plan kitchen / living room with a massive fireplace and views of the Swartland from the Paardeberg.

There are also hiking trails, horses, cellars, veggie gardens and more to explore!

Kalmoesfontein is located in the Paardeberg and within bike riding distance from Paarl, Wellington and Riebeek Kasteel.

Read more, see pictures and booking details by clicking here~