go! Platteland

The slow life is the good life: go! Platteland celebrates the rural lifestyle and the entrepreneurial spirit of people whose hearts are in the platteland – whether they grew up in the countryside or are already based there, are contemplating making the move or simply hankering after the rural life. Platteland offers articles that focus on entrepreneurs, DIY projects, animals, gardening, food, towns and people. It is both practical and inspiring – as much of a visual feast as it is a celebration of great writing.

A teenager in the house!

go! Platteland

Chitchat

News and diary • It’s the season of holidays, festivals and Christmas markets. Pick litchis in KZN, sip coffee with a kick in Marquard, and admire the Overberg’s world-class dried fynbos that’s been captivating five continents for three decades.

The fruit of your labour

Cut and dried: fynbos in your lounge

Small-town coffee with a kick

Help a dog & buy a kennel

Dates to diarise

Let’s go to town • These lovely summery items were made by entrepreneurs in Barrydale, Bloemfontein, Boksburg, Hout Bay, Johannesburg, Montagu, Paarl, Pretoria, Robertson, Salt River, Stanford, Touws River and Wellington.

Kleinmond Small town, big mouth • The old-school holiday and retirement town of Kleinmond lies between the Kogelberg and the sea. Although semigration has made waves in its demographics over the past four years, it remains a close-knit, engaged, working community where all understand that, together, the ocean, mountain and people create a moderate climate and a life rich in stories.

Meet the locals

Our platteland… 10 years later • The platteland is changing, and many towns are falling into disrepair. Yet it remains a joy to travel through our country and relive the memories evoked by faraway places and place names, writes Bun Booyens, the founding editor of our sister publications go! and Weg.

What to do about the decline and decay in our towns • Is it possible to halt or reverse the decay in many of our rural towns and villages? Bun answers Platteland’s questions.

Three outsiders in Makhanda • During a visit to Makhanda, three women are amazed by the decay they see in the streets as well as the notable lack of municipal management. But they also find that, as is often the case, it is the ordinary people – the street artists, residents and altruists – who give life to a town.

A Shoppe of solidarity • Family and friends thought Chantelle and Marcel van Eyssen of Makhanda had gone mad when they gave up their jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic to chase a dream: a cross between a home industry, a coffee shop, a tea garden and a farm stall. Yet three years later their Ten Cross Shoppe is going strong, with a whopping 120 local suppliers who help to keep the shelves stocked.

A little taste of the Great Karoo • At first, the N12’s proximity to her farmhouse stoep bothered a Britstown farmer’s wife, but then it became her saving grace. For the past 31 years, through droughts and pandemics, the Kambro farmstall in the Upper Karoo has taken very good care of the Strauss family.

The unbearable lightness of being • Humans have been harnessing electricity since the late 1800s. Before then, candlelight and oil lamps lit our way at night and during the day, phases of sunlight served as our clocks. These days, however, we can stay up or work till the wee hours of the morning in our brightly lit homes. But at what cost?

A sea change in Koringberg • They say everyone dreams of having a house by the sea. Not Clive Amsel. But this creative man, who examines things, devises plans and invents solutions, did salvage the “bricks” for a weekend home in Koringberg from the sea. It wasn’t without drama, of course…

Let’s go to the garden • Make the...