Diana Simons takes us on a green tour of Fynbos Estate, a 300 hectare farm and nature reserve in the Paardeberg mountains, only an hour from Cape Town
By Diana Simons
Fynbos Estate is the pride and joy of myself, my partner Johan, our family and friends and the growing community of people who love the farm.
We have devoted 20 years to developing it into the beautiful place it is today. It is riven into our souls and we feel deeply privileged to be here and to be custodians of this wonderful place. The whole farm is a green area and our major commitment is to a green environment with minimal footprint.
Fynbos has a mountain nature reserve of 270 hectares with varied flora including pristine fynbos species, and also varied fauna. It took us seven years to legalise it to keep our part of the mountain safe from development of all kinds, building and mining in particular.
I love hiking up the mountains – the plants are fantastic and the views spectacular.
Coming down from the farm there are 16 hectares of organically farmed vineyard from which we make natural wine. There are also a number of mostly solar-powered guest cottages situated in fields of wild grasses.
Along the drive up to the farm are 900 five-year-old organically farmed olive trees producing a crop of mixed variety olives. We make natural organic olive products from our olive harvest, as well as organic lemon products from our lemon trees.
We rent out a number of properties, from our country farmhouse to rustic farm cottages, and each house has its own indigenous garden. I established the gardens with the help of mentors and I’ve only learned how to garden since we moved to the farm.
The happy reality is that regardless of where one looks on this farm it is beautiful and natural and tranquil.
We live off-grid in the nature reserve in a small renovated workers cottage . From here the views are spectacular and I often pinch myself to make sure it is all real.
To find out more about us and to see phots of the farm and nature reserve see our website fynbosestate.co.za
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