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.

The cannabis quandary

go! Platteland

Chitchat

News & diary • Spring has arrived: veld and garden alike are putting on a show, and South Africa slowly emerges from its lockdown hibernation.

Bushmanland beckons

Hooch without the hit

Down tools on Garden Day

The healing power of CBD

Oh, romantic, rundown platteland? • You are romanticising the platteland. This is a complaint we sometimes hear when readers return from a weekend getaway at a “once well-maintained and spotless” town, which is now “shockingly dirty and neglected”. But, as Johan van Zyl heard at this year’s Woordfees in Stellenbosch, decay occurs everywhere in the world – and the “romantic” picture painted in glossy magazines is not so much a problem as it is a solution.

SPRING IS HERE, SO TREAT YOURSELF TO A 35%DISCOUNT

Let’s go to town • There are plenty of reasons to enjoy spring despite having to keep our distance from others – like these lovely new goodies for the home, garden and dining table.

The valley of faith, hope & love • Tesselaarsdal is an Overberg village that doesn’t as much as feature on some GPS apps, and you won’t find it in the latest road atlas. If you do sniff it out – in the mountains between Caledon and Hermanus – you’ll be bowled over by the scenic beauty and the strong sense of community.

Who was Tesselaar?

The price of property • We didn’t spot many “For sale” signs, but property websites list a large variety of options, ranging from R196 000 for a vacant 1 034 m2 property to R4,8 million for a 20,4 ha farm at the top of the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. (It’s time to play the Lotto again. – Eds.)

In a nutshell

Meet the people

Eat, drink, enjoy

The Travelling Willow • Her love of architecture, history, travel and for her mother’s treasured Blue Willow collection inspired Sarah-Jane Jordaan, a young architect and illustrator from De Doorns, to use her pen to take this much-loved tree on a trip around the world.

The story of the Blue Willow pattern

The architect who wanted to draw

Home brew From the Cederberg to your teacup • About 12 000 tonnes of rooibos tea is exported worldwide each year, and it all comes from a small region in the Cederberg. Evan Naudé visited a farm near Clanwilliam to learn about the process, from stalks under the scythe to the teabag in your cup.

The Art of living • Artists Tamar Mason and Mark Attwood moved their studio from Johannesburg to the Lowveld in 2002. Step by step, they set up a sustainable lifestyle, and proved to naysayers that the move was not “financial suicide”.

Fertile soil

Sustainability pays off

Worms at work

Step by step to good health • For centuries, writers, composers, philosophers and ordinary people have harnessed the healing power of walking to nourish body and soul. It’s free medicine available to everyone – all you have to do is start… and continue, every single day. One foot in front of the other.

How fast should I walk?

And how far?

Motivate yourself

What to wear?

The push and pull of platteland life • Countless South Africans trade the grime, crime, traffic and other urban nasties for a platteland idyll where contentment rules and...