Beyond the rolling-winelands-hills of the Stellenbosch region, lies the sleepy hamlet of Kylemore. Ask any Capetonian about it, and they will tell you that they have never heard of it. That's how unknown the place is. But, it exists. I was born in Kylemore and lived there for 23 years. The picture above is a view of the Dwars River Valley, with Kylemore nestled almost in the middle of of the slopes where the two mountain ranges meet.
My family (2 brothers, 3 sisters, mom, dad, cat, dog...) still lives out there. Every other week, Becs and I drive for about an hour to visit them. Growing up in Kylemore was one of the best things that happened to me. I am happy that I was born there. Happy because it was such a safe place to grow up in, surrounded by majestic mountains and where I knew almost everyone in the town. When we speak about Kylemore we often compare it to Franklin (Virginia, USA), where Becs grew up. It has the same small-town community feel to it.
During the last Christmas holidays I spent a lot of time with my family. When I was a kid, my mom, Mary-Ann, "forced" us to work in the garden - cleaning weeds, mowing lawns, etc. Although I hated it, it sowed the seeds for a later career in landscaping - albeit a short career. It was my life for a few years after school. I had a love-hate relationship with gardens, which nowadays is a love relationship only. Being back home in Kylemore over the holidays, I saw a patch in my mom's garden that needed some "lovin" and I sprung into action weeding it, composting it, and eventually planting vegetable seed and seedlings, and herbs on the patch. We've wanted to grow our own veggies and herbs for a while now, and finally its happening!
When we visited last weekend, it was so great to see the growth and some of my mom's well established butternut and green peppers in action. When I'm not there, my nephew Clarence takes care of the garden patch. Below are some pictures of what to expect and what to harvest soon! A recent book we read - called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - was very inspiring in promoting growing your own food, and or buying only what's in season, and preferably grown as close to home as possible. Living in the City it's very hard to grow your own food, if you live in an apartment complex. So, having a patch in my parents' garden in Kylemore, is wonderful!
Until harvest time, take care!
Peace and love!
Becs & Ali
My mom's butternut...she has about 8 butternut on one plant!
The rosemary...
And the bean plants...
No comments:
Post a Comment