The Cape’s Slow Food Guide
In today’s world, living and eating consciously can be challenging. Hence the global movement to embrace ‘Slow Food’ – good, natural food that is produced fairly and respects the environment.
As Capetonians we are fortunate to have numerous ways to reconnect with the story behind the food we consume. For you, this may embody learning to cultivate your own mushrooms or growing your own vegetable garden, drinking mineral water out of glass, meeting the locals who produce the food you eat or going strawberry picking.
Here’s our guide to local businesses who make living consciously easy and convenient for us.
ANNA BEULAH FARM
Born from a desire to grow pesticide free foods sustainably, Anna Beulah Farm began their vegetable garden in 2013. It is a place for locals to take a walk through the garden, get some sun and harvest their own veggies!
Apart from their gardens, Anna Beulah Farm has an eco-pool and farm animals that need petting. These include sheep, donkeys, alpacas and chickens. At 2pm on Wednesdays and Sundays, children also have the opportunity to meet the farm animals and help with feeding time.
If you choose to get your weekly stock of vegetables from Anna Beulah Farm, know that their team take great pride in the garden. All the vegetables are pesticide free and seasonal. Since the garden is fertilised with natural manure and compost, Anna Beulah is able to provide vegetables at very reasonable prices. More information about their small and large vegetable boxes can be found on their website.
Anna Beulah Farm has a fully stocked Farmery with delicious treats and a funky coffee shop. You may choose to stop by for a coffee, breakfast or lunch after picking your vegetables or while waiting for your vegetable box order. After that, there is an antique shop to explore and their Clay Cafe to bring out your creative side.
Where: Anna Beulah Farm, Cnr Visserhok & Contermanskloof Road, Durbanville
Contact: info@annabeulahfarm.co.za | 082 296 9601
Website: annabeulahfarm.co.za
Facebook: annabeulahfarm
Instagram: annabeulahfarm
AQUA.V
aqua.v is pleased to be the first company in South Africa to provide spring mineral water in returnable glass bottles. It was born out of a desire to offer the freshest natural spring mineral water in eco-friendly packaging and to therefore assist in creating a zero-plastic lifestyle.
Since glass is one of the most inefficient materials to recycle, saving only 30% of the energy it takes to recreate each bottle, aqua.v realised that an alternative solution was needed. As a result, their spring mineral water uses only returnable and reusable glass bottles. In addition to this, their glass bottles are packaged and transported in sustainable packaging – wooden crates.
There are currently seven aqua.v franchises nationwide, bottling from four independent springs. Each is in line with their ethos of minimal impact on the environment, coupled with maximum drinking pleasure. To minimise the carbon footprint, all of their franchise areas bottle the freshest spring mineral water as close to market as possible.
Currently, aqua.v water comes in 750ml and 300ml bottles as well as 550ml, 440ml and 250ml bottles on request. In their quest for a zero-waste lifestyle, aqua.v is utilising the most recyclable material available to us – aluminium. Look out for the addition of aluminium cans to their range later this year.
Know where your water leaves the earth, how it is packaged and how your consumption and enjoyment are impacting your health and our environment.
Where: Various stockists across South Africa including Den Anker, The Stack, Jarryds, Ricks Café, Clarkes Dining, Marias and Jordan Wines.
Contact: office@aquav.co.za | 084 022 0870
Website: aquav.co.za
Facebook: aquavwater
Instagram: aquavwater
URBAN HARVEST
Established in 2006, Urban Harvest is South Africa’s pioneer edible garden service. They have installed and maintained over 350 unique, beautiful and highly productive food gardens at homes, hotels, restaurants, schools and community projects around Cape Town.
Urban Harvest believes that growing your own food allows you to re-establish a healthier balance in life, reawaken traditional values and find a deeper reverence for nature and the earth.
Their services include an initial consultation, where they visit you at your home, your office or community project to provide you with context-specific advice and a tailor-made design, installation and maintenance plan. Having co-designed your garden, they can then install it. If it is necessary, their professional Edumaintenance™ team will then provide you with regular maintenance visits, top quality resources and expert support to ensure the ongoing abundance of your new or existing food garden.
If you would like to connect with your food in a more direct way, Urban Harvest also offers comprehensive vegetable gardening courses which ensure the success of your existing or recently installed vegetable garden.
Your food, eaten within minutes of harvest, will be delicious, chemical-free, packaging-free, locally produced and will have the highest nutritional value!
Where: Gardens throughout Cape Town
Contact: getfresh@urbanharvest.co.za | 072 475 2977
Website: urbanharvest.co.za
Facebook: urbanharvestSA
Instagram: urbanharvest
GOGO’S DELI
Gogo’s Deli gives Capetonians the rare privilege of knowing the story behind their food. They specialise in free-range, grass-fed meat and wild meats, and also supply fresh organic fruit and vegetables. Through prioritising quality products, ethical consumption and personal service, they bring ‘old-fashioned’ values back into food shopping.
All their products are sourced from free-range establishments. Their chickens are bred at Lazena Farm near Gordon’s Bay and their butchers have a deep connection with their lamb and cattle farmers in the Karoo and Namaqualand. Their ethical considerations are evident in the fact that the animals live in a healthy environment and are slaughtered very close to the farms. This limits the understandable stress which the animals experience whilst being transported.
Gogo’s Deli is well-known for their biltong and also stock a range of other products including duck, quail, petit poussin, rabbit, various eggs, farm-fresh butter, cheese and chicken liver pate, snoek and salmon pate and fishcakes. Their organic fruit and vegetables are delivered on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Visit their website to view their full product list, place your order and schedule a delivery. Free delivery for orders over R500 in Cape Town, Southern Suburbs, South Peninsula and Atlantic Seaboard.
Where: 6 Cardiff Castle, Cnr Kildare Rd & Main St, Newlands
Contact: gogosdeli@gmail.com | 021 671 0573
Website: gogosdeli.co.za
Facebook: gogosdeli
Instagram: gogosdeli
POSTPONED – THE STELLENBOSCH SLOW MARKET
The Stellenbosch Slow Market, the leading gourmet food market in the Cape Winelands, has recently reopened for the Spring and Summer season! As a member of Slow Food International in South Africa, their mission is to provide a platform for small local businesses to launch and promote their products.
Open every Saturday from 9am to 2pm, The Stellenbosch Slow Market supports locals who specialise in artisanal, high quality and organically certified produce. They support micro-breweries, boutique wine farms, authentic cultural cuisines, farming communities and crafters who wish to grow in an economic climate monopolised by large distribution chains.
At the market, you will find over 100 traders who supply food and products, which have all been grown, raised, harvested or transformed by the traders themselves. These include craft beer, fresh vegetables, coffee, breakfast foods, artisanal breads and pies. You will also be able to purchase wine, flowers and locally designed clothing.
The Stellenbosch Slow Market is a place to take a pause under the oaks with friends and family, enjoy good food and support local businesses. All products and business practice at The Stellenbosch Slow Market are done in true slow food fashion: good, clean and fair.
Where: Oude Libertas Estate on the corner of Adam Tas and Oude Libertas St, Stellenbosch
Contact: accounts@slowmarket.co.za | 081 831 3011
Website: slowmarket.co.za
Facebook: slowmarket
Instagram: slowmarket
MUSHROOM GURU
If you are curious about growing Shiitake mushrooms on a log or growing Oyster mushrooms in a bag, Mushroom Guru is the go-to South African website for mushroom education and cultivation products.
Mushroom Guru offers exotic mushroom cultivation training and produces different species of mushroom spawn for you to be able to grow mushrooms at home. They have also created a mushroom cultivating community called fungkifriends™ to assist and support you in the mushroom industry.
Due to Mushroom Guru currently upgrading their facility, bookings for their on-site Advanced Fungi Culturing Course will commence as from November 2019. This training gives you a comprehensive understanding of mushroom cultivation and 10 different mushroom species of your choice, on petri dish culture. Mushroom Guru currently boasts a culture library of 64 mushroom species. They also offer online courses through their website and the Shiitake log inoculation course is free!
To experience wellbeing and health benefits of fungi without cultivating them yourself, Mushroom Guru has technologically advanced medicinal products on offer in their GanodermaGOLD™ range. Mushroom Guru has developed advanced medicinal fungal products in the form of capsules, tinctures, skin serums, pet and livestock products. They are the sole creators of a Ganoderma lucidum mushroom concentrated extract, called “MG-LZ8”, that has been tested and proven to increase immune function by 43%. Known as Lingzhi in China and Reishi in Japan, this mushroom has been deemed the ‘The Mushroom of Immortality’ and has been used for its powerful medicinal properties for more than 2000 years.
Where: Unit 10 Cross Atlantic Park, Corner of Rumboll and Nortje, Strand
Contact: info@mushroomguru.co.za | 021 854 5126
Website: mushroomguru.co.za
Facebook: shroomguru
Instagram: mushroom_guru
REDBERRY FARM AND THE GEORGE STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL PRESENTED BY OLA
Discover spectacular strawberries, artisan eateries and outdoor activities at the Garden Route’s favourite family destination. Here you can pick your own fresh and juicy strawberries from the picking fields and enjoy a relaxing day in the tranquil setting of the farm, all year round.
On 21 and 22 September Redberry Farm will have the annual George Strawberry Festival presented by Ola. The festival will kick off the September school holidays, with a family-fun weekend of strawberries, good food, live shows, outdoor activities and sport adventures.
During this weekend, you and your family can be a part of the action and enter the Kids and Adult Strawberry Stomping or Strawberry Eat-Off competitions with great prizes up for grabs. Experience the mountain views whilst running through the strawberry fields in the 5km trail fun run/walk or the 9km trail run. Afterwards, you can test your inner compass by navigating the largest permanent Hedge Maze in the Southern Hemisphere.
Children will be in their element with rides, a giant slide, performances by the Lively Lollos as well the chance to enjoy Redberry Farm’s favourite activities, including bumper boats and bubble balls, pony rides and an opportunity to feed the furry bunnies.
Get out of the city and make it a weekend of fresh air, sweet strawberries, expansive farm views and the making of memories.
Where: Redberry Farm, Geelhoutboom Rd (off the R404), Blanco, George
Contact: info@redberryfarm.co.za | 044 870 7123
Website: redberryfarm.co.za
Facebook: redberryfarmgardenroute
Instagram: redberry_farm
Source: What’s On In Cape Town
