The Heat Is On

Dis Somer.

Spring happened. A bit late. But now it is summer. You know that when walking in the grass, little goggatjies bite you on your legs and you just want to scratch yourself stupid. And the geese and guineafowl babies appear. And the blue cranes check out the Bobbejaandam for a breeding spot and the terrapins move between dams. 

The cattle live easy. The goats are jumping and the olives are high.

 A lot has happened since midwinter. Spring happened I know. But a lot more.

Quintus, our farm manager for the last twelve years, decided to move on. That caused a bit more than a little flutter. So much so that we did not go on our yearly pilgrimage to Kruger. No golf. No game drives. No grandchildren. Probably why we were so aware of the geese and guinea fowl.

Our new manager’s name is Anro. He knows about olives and machinery. Our new assistant manager is Adriaan. He knows about grapes. Rosa taught him. Finding and deciding on the right people is nerve wracking. Luckily there is Lereen, our office manager, and mother of a few, to ask the right questions. Point out the flaws. Her contribution and support during these silly times was invaluable. Dankie Lereen and dankie to my wife who was there all the time, to listen to take some punches for me. Dankie Suzi.

I think we have made the right decisions.

Everything is happening at a frenetic pace. There is some catching up to do. With the grapes, but much more with the olives. In the mean time we have to cut and bale the hay for the goats and cattle. Install irrigation for the grapes. Flush and clean the dripper lines. Feed, water and spray food and gogga gif on vines and olives et cetera et cetera.  Hopefully we will we will be able to come up for some air sooner than later.

There’s never a dull moment here – and the vrekplek will have to wait.

Written by Johan Heyns