Each year when the contents of Babylonstoren’s harvest bins slowly shift from wine grapes to olives, it is a sign that autumn has arrived on the farm. Pomegranates and persimmons are harvested, while broad beans, root veggies and leafy greens are planted.
Sunsets are at their most vibrant this time of year and the cloudless skyline transforms into a real-life impressionist artwork at dusk. It’s a season of growth and renewal, but also a harbinger of slower days and long, restorative walks in the garden.
Introducing the all-new sparkling ice tea, Vonkeltee
It’s the Babylonstoren rooibos and honeybush tea you know and love, crafted and canned as an invigorating new drink. Vonkeltee sparkling ice tea is a cold-brewed, naturally caffeine-free and low-sugar drink. And irresistibly thirst quenching. This latest brew is available in two flavours – rooibos and honeybush.
Cold-steeping intensifies the inherent flavours – the honey-like woody notes of rooibos and the aromatic bouquet of honeybush with its undertone of ripe stone fruits. Thanks to the teas’ natural sweetness they only needed a hint of added sugar, resulting in a delicious low-kilojoule drink.
Enjoy it perfectly chilled. Available on the farm or online at shop.babylonstoren.com with free delivery nationwide.
Oh, olives!
In the cellar, the winemakers’ 2024 wine harvest is now finally fermenting, and the olive harvest has kicked off.
Babylonstoren’s olive trees thrive in sunny, loamy soils on the slopes of the Simonsberg Mountain. Here, olives are harvested to ensure the highest quality, then crushed and tinned on the farm. The farm cultivates 13 olive varieties. Some are good for table olives, others for tapenade. Most, however, are used to craft three extra virgin olive oils: a single-variety Frantoio, a single-variety Coratina as well as a premium blend.
Now is the ideal time to book an olive oil tour and tasting on the farm. The olive oil press is running at full steam, churning out the brightest, freshest olio nuovo – the season’s very first olive oil – to taste and admire. Guests on the olive oil tour will get to taste and blend their own oil to take home. Click HERE to book.
Babylonstoren’s olive oil can be purchased on the farm and in selected shops or can be ordered online at shop.babylonstoren.com, with free delivery nationwide.
Pomegranates: red crowned beauties
What a beautiful scene – deep-red pomegranates ripe for harvesting! These fruits not only bring a burst of colour in the Babylonstoren autumn garden but also serve as popular hedging option.
The idyllic classic Wonderful cultivar offers structure along the laterite pathways and, like its name implies, it’s turning out to be quite wonderful indeed! Pomegranates offer a delightful surprise to those who peel back their leather-like skin, revealing the delicious ruby-red jewels within.
Learn about succulents in the Puff Adder
Look out for Babylonstoren’s quirky succulent collection on display in the Puff Adder walkway, with shapes ranging from compact rosettes to cluster-forming knobs.
The exhibition will be led by succulent expert Ernst van Jaarsveld.
Common names for species include ox tongue, horse teeth, elephant’s foot and tree aloe. Some are thickset dwarf trees, while others cascade in strings of pearls.
Autumn dream
Make the most of the long weekends and longer autumn nights by checking in at the Babylonstoren Farm Hotel, recently honoured with the Luxe Hotel of the Year award for 2024. Embark on an early-morning water buffalo tour or sleep in and enjoy a lazy, grazy lunch at Babel Restaurant.
When the day winds down, draw a long bath and slip into crisp white sheets as you drift into an autumn dream … It’s also one of the best times of the year to enjoy our magnificent mountain drive to the lookout deck where you can marvel at the beautiful sunset whilst sipping a sundowner.
Farm workshops in April
- 3 April 2024 – Sketching in die Babylonstoren’s garden
- 4 April 2024 – Risotto 101: a delicious celebration of Italy’s most famous rice dish
- 5 April 2024 – Everything’s better with butter: make butter and bake buttermilk rusks
- 10 April 2024 and 17 April 2024 – Explore the world of Babylonstoren’s olives
- 11 April 2024 – Taste of Autumn: Quince is Queen
- 12 April 2024 – Leathercraft: an introduction to whipmaking
- 18 April 2024 – All about eggs: from coop to table
- 19 April 2024 – Bake your own: teatime treats with choux pastry and almond flour
- 23 April 2024 – Craft your own homemade soaps
- 24 April 2024 – Capture the season’s scents with fragrant herbs
- 26 April 2024 – Distillation: make your own mampoer!
To book your spot at one of our workshops, click HERE.
