From horse paddock to food garden
· 2 min read
Over the last 18 months, an old horse paddock at Spier Wine Farm has been transformed into a thriving food garden. The roughly one-hectare garden’s bounty includes fruits, herbs, salad greens and vegetables — all cultivated using eco-friendly and regenerative techniques.
After months of toiling behind the scenes, Megan McCarthy and her team are excited to welcome visitors into this tranquil space. The Spier Food Garden is now open daily to visitors from 09:00 to sunset.
Meander through it at your own pace, exploring its seasonal bounty, and meet the paddle of 15 Indian Runner ducks who roam freely through the garden doing pest control. Curious about growing your own food at home? The friendly gardeners are always willing to share their insights.
Self-Harvest Saturdays at Spier
The garden’s delicious and nutrient-rich produce is used in Spier’s restaurants and can be purchased online and from the Spier Farm Café. Want to get in on the action? You are now also able to harvest your own — directly from the garden! For just R150, take home a box crammed full of seasonal goodness to nourish you in the week ahead.
Self-Harvest Saturdays run from 09:00 to 11:00 every Saturday morning. Advanced booking is essential and can be made on www.spier.co.za.
About Spier
One of South Africa’s oldest wine farms and a well-known Western Cape landmark, Stellenbosch wine farm. Spier hosts the Light Art exhibition as one of their Growing for Good initiatives, which empower communities to create positive social and environmental change.
A long-standing supporter of the arts, Spier understands that creative works entertain, inform and educate. They often hold up a mirror to society, offering us a chance to reflect. This is why Spier contributes to several annual public arts initiatives and exhibit a significant contemporary arts collection on the farm.
More from
People, community and tourism
The Portrait of a South African Winemaker
In James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Stephen Dedalus resolves to express himself "as freely as I can and as wholly as I can". Joyce's hero refuses to be just one thing. That same many-sided energy is increasingly being asked of the modern South African winemaker, who has to adopt different faces for different places.
Who will drink South African wine tomorrow?
Tomorrow’s wine drinker is already here, standing at the braai with a can in one hand and a phone in the other. South African wine still has time to join the occasion, although it may need to loosen its collar first.
Ice in the Chenin and other South African wine crimes
There is ice in the Chenin Blanc, Cap Classique in an ordinary wine glass and a bowl of curry waiting beside a bottle of something pink. By old wine standards, the afternoon is a small crime scene.