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.

Meat or mushrooms?

go! Platteland

Chitchat

Of black cats and new ventures • The cold is no reason to stay indoors all winter; there are lots of fun things to do.

Cheese and tea, anyone?

The best medicine!

Turn over a new leaf • Many of us find winter gardening quite a challenge – so much so that we prefer to forget about it altogether and choose to hibernate, instead, under a blanket. Horticulturist Tanya Visser shares advice on how to liven up a drab garden this season.

Furry fashion

Top honours for local Sauvignon

Jan, Jan, (Klein)Jan

NEWS ABOUT MARKETS AND BAZAARS

Dates to diarise*

Sign up for a course

Time to read • There is an abundant harvest of new cookbooks and nature titles on the shelves to keep you engaged and inspired in your cocoon this season.

STAY AT HOME AND TRAVEL ALONG WITH US FOR A YEAR

Let’s go to town • These cosy buys for cold days areall made by small local businesses.

A splash of England at the Klip • At the turn of the previous century, a delightful fragment of rural England rooted itself among the willows on the banks of the Klip River, south of Johannesburg. Welcome to Henley on Klip, where you can expect a few pleasant surprises.

Bass Lake

Meet the locals

In a nutshell

Meet the locals

The price of property

Eat, drink, enjoy

Where you hear the earth’s heartbeat • In the folds of the Nuweveld Mountains, about 70 km southwest of Beaufort West, Douwe and Liezl Vlok have realised their dream: to live simply and to tread the earth as lightly as they can. Let’s go for a walk in their footsteps.

Hiking at Heuningland

What is Prader-Willi syndrome?

Meet the makers • Once a year the artists of Prince Albert in the Karoo open their studios to the public. It’s a rare opportunity to discover what inspires a diverse range of talented individuals and to explore their creative spaces.

What can you do for the Karoo? • When you’ve had enough of life in the city, what do you do? Some people pack their bags and move to the platteland, where a completely different – but also at times challenging – lifestyle awaits. Artist Cobus van Bosch and journalist Madeleine Barnard can attest to that.

Cobus’s knives

Weathering the drought with biscuits and preserves • Hartjieskraal’s best-selling bakes and preserves look and taste just like Granny’s did because, like hers, they’re made by hand in small quantities. During the week, Amarcia Marais handles the baking and orders from their house in Laingsburg, while her husband, Ernst, a sheep and onion seed farmer, makes preserves on their farm between Matjiesfontein and Sutherland.

Lessons for making preserves • Ernst and his team follow a few basic principles to ensure quality:

Lessons for business success • We asked Ernst and Amarcia to share the most important lessons that they have learnt over the years for running a business.

And… the best sellers

Garlic galore The pungent smell of success • Three months after lockdown was implemented last year, dealing a nasty blow to her business, Santie Marais from Laingsburg took her chances and bought a successful small enterprise that elevates Karoo...