Crack that nut

The desire to be on a farm, in an agricultural setting, had been gnawing at me since Indo. We’d been in rural places, but not on a working farm, or participating in everyday life. That, plus having a collective mission for a day is something we’ve enjoyed and felt drawn to on this trip.

Annie connected with Theri at Red Barn Macadamia Farm a while back and I had actually met Theri at a famer’s market during our first stop in Knysna. We hadn’t confirmed with them because I was holding out for an experience with animals…. so in figuring out our last few weeks in South Africa, we brought both things together, finding a small working guest farm 5 kms away from Red Barn, called Fern Hill. So for 5 days we hung out hats at Fern Hill milking and feeding chickens in the mornings, then heading over to Red Barn to learn everything macadamia, trying our hands at picking and processing these delicious nuts.

These were “back to your roots”, fun-filled days, with a bit of everything. Theri and her partner Jacque at Red Barn were wonderful, sharing their knowledge showing us the end-to-end process of harvesting. The Red Barn operation is something to behold with no doubt of Jacque’s firm grip on the entire thing. He’s a real no nonsense, practical, get-shit-done kind of guy. He takes an organic approach and still gets more yield per hectare from his orchard than others in the area. Theri is the product innovator and marketer, who offered us a “new” macadamia flower tea she was testing out. Their two teen aged girls are homeschooled and are becoming responsible for developing and delivering some of the products. Of course our days didn’t stop there. After a day of helping out, we were invited in the evening for our first proper South African braai. We think we tasted bbq’d wildebeest, springbok, and ostrich that evening… they were hosts with the most.

Fern Hill was was just as enjoyable. We’d return there after a day in the orchard and watch the sheep, spoil the horses with carrots, feed the neighborhood rabbits, or watch the potbelly pigs strut their stuff. They also had a handful of macadamia trees on the farm so we collected a bunch, then Grant spent time to de-husk them and start the drying process.

Things just slowed down – even further – while we were there. Our cottage had a selection of games and puzzles, so we got in our one and only game of pictionary. SO GOOD.

The owners of the farm with in Europe having a vacation, and celebrating a daughters birthday, so we got time with Mia, the farm’s caretaker. She was so welcoming, inviting us to participate in farm chores – even though it likely created work for her. She is also a scuba enthusiast, so it was fun to talk with her about different underwater experiences. The rolling hills and the indigenous forest of this area, just northwest of Knysna, had a comfort about it which made days beautifully long and weeks unfortunately short.