Vergeet-My-Niet

The owners discovered their rural smallholding on a charmed road trip from one end of South Africa to the other. “We’d lived in Malaysia and China for seven years and knew we wanted fresh air, clean water and security. We’d missed the earth of Africa and just wanted to dig in the soil and smell it. We wanted to plant and garden and grow things.”

The result is organic abundance on this lifestyle farm in the Great Karoo. The gorgeous 1860 manor house with its Carel Lotz Prince Albert gable is surrounded by lush gardens, shaded by a veritable forest of trees. Think white stinkwood trees, a coral tree, bushwillow, fever trees, white acacias and karees – culminating in a hammock swinging below the massive pecan trees in the picnic area beyond the vineyards and olive grove.

In 2014 the owners renovated the original into two charming self-catering guest cottages, each ideal for a romantic escape. “We’re smack-bang in the centre of town, one street down from the historic properties on the main road,” say the owners. “Walk out of the gate and turn right, you’re at the Swartberg Hotel; turn left, you’re at the church.” So if you’re in the mood for an early-morning coffee or want to pick up some local produce from The Lazy Lizard, just hang a left out the gate and amble up a block. No wonder Vergeet-My-Niet is so popular that the current owners haven’t ever got around to advertising the second guest cottage – word-of-mouth has kept it booked back-to-back since the day it opened.

But back to the growing and planting and harvesting that first attracted the owners! An abundance of water makes this a verdant oasis – a weekly two-hour full-stream leiwater allocation fills Vergeet-My-Niet’s dams, and a strong borehole is also used for irrigation. The irrigation dam feeds into an earth dam that serves as the most picturesque pond. Stocked with bass and tilapia, it attracts so much birdlife, including herons and storks.

The vineyard is planted with an antique hanepoot/muscat cultivar from Paarl and the harvest is sold to a local winery. Forty almond trees, lemon and grapefruit trees, pomegranates, apricots, plums, peaches and avocado trees – all organically farmed – make for natural abundance. The olive grove is 300 trees strong – two-thirds planted to Frantoio for oil and one-third to mission olives for bottling or pressing. “We get between 600 and 1 000 litres of olive oil and about 200 litres of table olives annually, which we sell wholesale to health shops and chefs,” the owners explain. “We’re never idle, but it’s always fun – and very rewarding!”

It’s by no means all work and no play, though! “We have wonderful restaurants, festivals throughout the year – film, jazz and agricultural,” say the owners. “There’s a new classical music salon and the fabulous Art Deco Showroom theatre has all the latest sound equipment and puts on fabulous shows.” What’s not to love?

Property Specifications:

• Erf size: 15 763 m²
• Manor house: 380 m²
• 2 bedrooms (en-suite)
• 2 bathrooms
• 2 lounges
• Dining room
• Kitchen
• 2 wood-combustion fireplaces
• Air conditioning
• Thatch gazebo with open fireplace

2 self-catering guest cottages (each 150 m²)

• 1 bedroom (en-suite)
• 1 bathroom
• Kitchen
• Dining area
• Terrace
• Air conditioning
• Leiwater (weekly two-hour full-stream allocation)
• Produce (organically farmed): 300 olive trees (200 Frantoio / 100 Mission) / 40 almond trees, avocado, lemon, grapefruit, pomegranate, apricot, plum, peach
• Gym
• Swimming pool
• 2 garages
• Workshop
• Produce room
• Staff bathroom
• Outbuilding
• Borehole
• 2 dams