30 August 2020
Green is popping out everywhere! Being a summer person, nothing makes me happier than seeing the sun already up by the time I drive to work. Sorry northern hemisphere, it's our turn now! Another indicator of spring is the little mama dove who's made a nest in our lemon tree. We play this game of who-gives-who-a-heart attack first. I tend to forget she's quietly incubating an egg or two between the greenery and might get too close while watering the plants beneath. A puff of grey feathers explodes from the green depths of the lemon tree and it's a while before my brain recognises that it was not, in fact, the dangerous creature that my adrenal glands would have me believe. Other times, Arienne has been granted control over a hosepipe and liberally splashes it around the base of the lemon tree, giving mama dove a fair fright too. We're getting better at remembering about each other, though, and it's such a privilege that our garden is a home for a tree that provides us with fruit and shade, and now a home for a little bird family as well.
This week has seen the spinach growth exploding! We can now offer packs of home-grown, pesticide-free beautiful spinach leaves at R10 a pack. We're thrilled to package it in bioplastic clear bags! These plant-based bags are made from corn starch and will biodegrade in a commercial composting facility. So you can get your greens in without single-use plastic nagging at your conscience. We'll only pick leaves to order, so it will be growing up until the hours before it reaches you and can be sauteed, blanched, steamed, or enjoyed raw. Byron now calls Arienne my "caterpillar infestation," because she is constantly nomming raw leaves straight from the garden, ha ha!
I'm sure many Rooted Herbivores clients will be thrilled at the announcement that apple jelly jam is making a comeback!!! We've managed to source organic apples again and will be bringing you this beautiful, smooth, pink oozey goodness shortly! Now available in a larger jar, we'll be selling it at R45 a jar. Remember to return your empty jars to receive R5 (per jar) off your next order. Celia (Mombles, as I know her) will be jamming in the kitchen to build up stock in the coming weeks.
A massive family team effort meant that our small sponsorship for a Pug Rescue South Africa fundraiser was a resounding success. In the week leading up to the event, we were printing and cutting labels (Hannah is much quicker at this than me), baking doggy treats and calculating recipes. On the day, Byron was awake at 3:30am to get Herbie fired up for a warm, fresh, bread delivery. Marijke was on social media duty, encouraging people to attend. After the event, Joshua was nominated to wash the dishes (sorry bud!) and clean up the bakery. Celia had to rustle up a display basket and I was drilling holes in scrap wood early in the morning. All the hard work was totally worthwhile, however, when Byron got to see the Pug Rescue South Africa team in action. This amazing organisation ensures the welfare of this smooshy-faced breed and rescues and rehomes pugs from dire circumstances to give them a new life with loving families. For their bake sale this weekend, we supplied sourdough breads and doggy treats to sell in order to raise funds to pay a hefty veterinarian bill. The warm breads flew out of the baskets, some barely even making it to the table for sale! This has us thinking that we may be visiting a few markets in the future, will keep you all posted!
With summer just around the corner, be sure to order your passion fruit or lemon cordial to have on hand for a refreshing drink on a hot day. Made from organic fruit, you can dilute this to taste, with water, or sparkling water. We can supply you with fresh lemons too, to slice and add a beautiful garnish. These yellow beauties are supplied by my mom's lovely neighbour, Dellene. When we'd used up the fruit off our tree and were about to stop offering lemon products, Dellene happily offered her sunshiny vitamin C supply and we're so blessed to continue supplying our customers with home-grown, pesticide free fresh produce.
Our first little pea pod has appeared on our climbing vines. We've planted these between our spinach plants, with a fence to climb, to make sure that we maximise space, soil nutrients and water, in what is actually a small space considering the amount of produce we are able to offer. Sven (Dad) has planted tomato seed and we're hoping to soon be able to offer salad jars, with all the contents from our little urban farm. I go straight back into childlike wonder when I see a tiny flower turn into a tiny pea pod and I swear it just tastes sweeter having seen it grow. I like to think my enthusiasm is catching, but I'll hold myself back in case Hannah and Joshua start to realise I'm actually a giant garden nerd! Seeing these urban kiddos covered in mud and learning to recognise what plant is what, based on baby leaf shape, and collecting Namaqualand daisy seed is just pure joy for me. I had never realised what a privileged childhood mine was, seeing where my food came from and eating it straight from the source. From all the chaos that has been 2020, the blessing of sharing my outdoors passion with my niece and nephew (whether they like it or not, ha ha!) cannot be denied.
We're ever grateful for every order, post like, share and support from our clients. Your appreciation for our goods gives us the inspiration to keep improving, and offering more high quality products that are produced using earth-friendly practises. We hope to be part of making green mainstream!
Until we chat again,
Claire
Not-so-secret GIANT garden nerd
Tree hugger
Summer human