Ficksated

Tapping in data for the last household at the second site, I looked at the time: 1923h, seven minutes before the kitchen closed. I rushed up the little spiral staircase to the restaurant, and requested a ravioli in burnt butter and sage. The gentleman behind the counter looked a little surprised as he took my order, “How do you know what’s on the menu?” I told him I’d been there for lunch, and after exchanging quick introductions, Gavin, one of the owners of the restaurant, invited me to his garden the following day. Café Chocolat is a quaint restaurant situated in Ficksburg (South Africa) that serves local ethically sourced food. It gets most of its supplies from Ficksburg farms and gardens. I was lucky to get a close look at two of these gardens: Gavin’s and Sandra’s.

Baby spinach in Gavin's garden

Gavin grows a lot of food in his home garden, which is designed around the principles of permaculture. For the uninitiated, permaculture is a philosophy, a way of life based on optimising resource use in harmony with the surroundings; in food production, this could mean growing a variety of species adapted to and interacting favourably with the local ecosystem, with minimal external input. For example, Gavin uses raised beds with compost and mulch topped with trellises under tarp tunnels. Raised beds allow for better soil drainage and health, compost cycles nutrients within the production system, and mulching uses slow-decaying matter to contain and control moisture naturally. Trellises support plants to grow and fruit over a wider and more accessible area, and the tarp provides shade from extreme weather conditions such as the cloudburst the previous day.

Raised beds, trellises, and the tunnel. Some herbs also hang from the ceiling.

So Gavin grows apples, figs, grapes, lemons, limes, peaches, and plums; beans, peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, tomatoes; fennel, garlic chives, lettuce, parsley, sage, spinach, spring onions; and chickens. He’s been growing food in his garden for five years now. In addition to his own kitchen, the fruits, vegetables, herbs, and chickens contribute to the Café Chocolat kitchen. He sells his excess lettuce – about 15 bags a week – to a franchise food outlet for a small sum. The chickens lay 15-20 eggs a day, which he also sells excess of. Chicken waste enriches the compost with nitrogen, and some of this is sold when people request it.

Chickens lay eggs and their droppings enrich the compost

Fruit trees accompanied by flowering plants attract bees into the tunnels for pollination. A little pond harbours frogs to control snails. Potatoes plants are grown in sacks so when the potatoes are ready, one can simply rip the bag open (as opposed to digging). What one might call farming hacks. “You have two mothers: your own, and the earth. If you don’t look after them, then there’s trouble” says Gavin. He is a firm believer in recycling and upcycling, and this is reflected in the restaurant’s waste segregation practices. Waste organic matter (including food) is composted, and waste recyclables are collected until a pickup can be requested. Indeed it is a great feeling to know that your food is local, free of heavy duty fertilizer and pesticide, and is easy on the environment. I was thrilled that my pesto was made with basil fresh off the stem.

L: Savoury pancake with local asparagus, spinach, and tomato; R: Spaghetti in fresh basil pesto

Sandra owns the premises out of which Café Chocolat operates. She also owns the Green Acorn bed and breakfast and Die Blikplek, a scrap metal workshop, on her premises. Her garden features profusions of leafy vegetables and herbs on raised beds surrounded by fruit trees. Besides the oaks that shed their acorns with loud (often bouncing) pops, the bed and breakfast and workshop are also dotted with fruit trees which were laden with ripe fruit during my stay. The workshop has two rows of tin sheds decked with upcycled scrap metal ranging from trinkets to furniture.

Pumpkin and cabbage in Sandra's garden

The Green Acorn, Café Chocolat, and Die Blikplek are quite an experience, but Ficksburg also has great views of the mountains in Lesotho rising over the grasslands, and a cherry festival in November. In my survey of Ficksburg, most households had a peach tree, and some had gorgeous little food forests in their yards.