Fields of Gold

OK, forgive me if today’s post is a bit detailed, but there’s so much to tell that I feel almost frustrated because I can’t fit it all in!

Dawn seeps slowly across the sky ...

This morning I wake up at 530am in my Nieuwoudtville guesthouse bedroom named Satynblom. It is pitch-black and freezing cold. Apparently the overnight temperature had plummeted to 1.7C last night and we discover our car has ice on it. I wind down my car window and there, balancing beautifully on the window rubbers, stands a thin sheet of delicate ice.  I’m fascinated and reach out a tentative finger to touch this wonder. It crumples in surprise at my boldness and disappears.

Today we are driving from Nieuwoudtville to meet the Heiveld Co-op farmers at their tea court. I’m still a bit confused by this name (are we are going to sit in the open veld and sip tea with our pinkies pointing out.)  “Why is it called this,” I ask co-op member Alida Strauss in my horrendous Afrikaans as we bounce together in the back seat of the bakkie, bundled up tightly against the cold. She explains that most locals here refer to the centre as ‘die teë baan’ and I guess a direct translation of this is tea court. 

In this emptiness, there are roads called Oorlogskloofpad, to places called Moedverloor and Misverstand.

Walking through beautiful windswept Bokkeveld fynbos, there's a particular bush called 'slangbos' which if you crush, releases the most fragrant natural oils. Alida grins and tells me that locals use it to put in their shoes if they're starting to get too smelly! 

50 dusty kms later, I see that the tea court is a single, starkly white building set amidst the most beautiful plateau of fynbos, Protea, rooibos with splashes of purple, provided by a local bush called ‘skilpad bessie’.


The tea court is actually a production centre where the co-op members from the surrounding farms bring their harvested rooibos to be processed, ready for sale. The tea court houses the co-op’s processing equipment, large open slabs of concrete (die bane) on which the rooibos is sundried, a warehouse for the bagged rooibos ready for sale …and their spanking new blue Landini tractor.

The wind is so cold that it cuts through right through me and makes my fingers so stiff and clumsy I can’t even hold my pen. It even makes my nose run most un-glamorously and I’m mortified because this doesn’t happen in the movies. Tim and Mark start doing their magic with cameras and videos, they can see their shots and get everyone moving to make things happen.  One of our first scenes is of Hermanus backing the tractor out of its neat little shed. I smile seeing this great man, standing over 6’4” handling their tractor so carefully, like a father with a newborn child. The tractor, despite being over a year old, looks almost brand new. I have seldom seen a piece of working farm equipment in such good nick. It is the co-op’s pride and joy.

Hermanus Fortuin with Gerrie Koopman, drive the Heiveld Co-op tractor through the fynbos.



Hermanus Fortuin, Rooibos Boer of Nieuwoudville, Heiveld Co-operative.

What was life like before the co-op existed I ask Hermanus? “Ek en my hele gesin het baie gesukkel,” says Hermanus about those years, “die meeste van my kinders het kaalvoet grootgeword.” Before joining the co-op Hermanus worked as a farm worker and when possible did his own small-scale farming on leased land. The rooibos tea he produced was good, but he and many other small farmers like him, had no access to markets and so most of his crop was sold to larger commercial farmers in the area at a greatly reduced price, approx R5/kg. With the advent of the co-operative in 2001, the smaller farmers were able to maximise their resources and sourced export markets wanting organic tea. These days, the co-op members receive in the region of R18/kg for their harvested tea and have a combined production of approximately 100 tonnes a year . They employ three permanent employees and additional seasonal workers during the busy harvest season (Dec – April). "Now I can provide for my family," says Hermanus.

Yesterday, I had asked Hermanus how the purchase of the tractor had actually assisted the co-op. His exact words to me were, ‘dit was van kardinale belang.’ At the time I must admit that I wondered if he was being a tad courteous to us, knowing that Old Mutual funding had purchased the tractor. However walking with him around the tea court today as he patiently explained to me the rooibos production process, (I’m learning new Afrikaans words such as oes, kerf, kneus en sweët), I began to understand that he had not exaggerated. The co-op needs power to drive their chopping (kerf) machine. Their tractor is connected to a fly-wheel pulley via a PTO connection system which does this. Prior to the Landini, the co-op's rooibos production had depended solely upon the loaning (borrowing, begging) the use of a tractor from neighbouring farmers. Given that everyone in the area was pressured by harvesting and processing at the same time, a tractor wasn’t always available. This meant that the co-op’s production was delayed by dependence on others, thus their harvested rooibos crop sat unprocessed and became susceptible to mould with the advent of the winter rains, and eventually was sold too late in the season at a compromised price.


So it felt good to know that our funding had assisted the co-op improve their efficiency to another level of production capacity, allowing more members to join and benefit financially.

Barry Koopman, official tea-maker for Heiveld Co-operative, standing amongst sacks of processed rooibos tea.

I can sense the farmers' deep pride in their work, “we must look after this land for our children,” says tea-maker Barry Koopman. He’s on the other side of 50 and his face is crinkled and lined, with bright lively eyes. He’s responsible for the production of each co-op member’s harvest. His oupa taught him everything that he knows about making rooibos tea. "Sometimes when we're chopping the fynbos," he says, "you can smell that it's started to sweat already, it's as if it's so ready it almost wants to become tea." He used to work in Cape Town for a construction company, but came back here to Nieuwoudville about thirteen years ago. He loves living here and working the land. He wouldn’t go back to city living for anything, he says. Reaching his hands deep in the rich, red rooibos, he sniffs it, pours it through his fingers and boasts proudly, “Ek wil die ou sien wat hom beter kan maak,” he say speaking of his Heiveld rooibos tea, “dit is die Suid Bokkeveld se goud.”

Suid Bokkeveld se goud.

We head back on the dirt road to Nieuwoudtville, tired but my soul feels clean and windswept. We've got to head back to Cape Town, back to another life...

Shadow play driving south to Cape Town (Mark says check for the aeroplane!) 

For those of you who would appreciate some wild rooibos fresh from the Suid Bokkeveld, (a little piece of heaven!), I have seven boxes of organic Heiveld rooibos in various flavours - the pure Wild Rooibos, Rooibos & Lemon Grass, Rooibos & Cinnamon and Rooibos & Ginger. Hmmm, healthy clean wholesome tea - post a comment and let us know if you would like some, it was given as a gift to us by Hermanus, Barry and the other co-op members, a gesture of their open-hearted hospitality.  

Fynbos bush commonly known as 'skilpad bessie'. It bears fruit in September during the early spring rains and provides a feast for the local birds.

Local builder, Gerrhard Opperman (52) leans against Nieuwoudtville wall art, a pink Zepyhr! He used to work as a policeman in this area, "What crimes are the most common," I ask him conversationally? "Moord," he replies, "then theft, then stock loss." I'm shocked at first but again reminded that rural beauty is easy to romanticise, the reality for people living in an area with a depressed economy is often one of poverty, unemployment, hunger, malnutrition and crime.