Spanning the Globe

A glimpse of alternative cropping in South Africa

I spent Friday night recovering from my illness by lounging in the room at the Bridge Hotel. The start of the evening was very peaceful, but the tiny town of Winterton (especially our hotel’s pub) is apparently a hot spot for night life in this part of South Africa. Around 10 pm the disco beat started and it didn’t let up until the wee hours of morning…

Saturday morning we traveled 5 km to the farm of Dale and Cheri van Aardweg. Dale is a very progressive South African farmer – raising maize, soya, sorghum, kenaf, and mint (for essential oils). He plants all of his crops using no-till techniques, which is very rare in South Africa. We spent part of the morning looking at his fields and discussing the similarities between grain production in South Africa and the USA. Later, we visited the newly-built kenaf processing facility where his kenaf, and that of approximately 30 other farmers, is being processed for use in the fiber industry. Automotive companies are looking at using the kenaf fibers to build light-weight panels for new vehicles. While the facility is up and running, they are still working out some kinks in the system. One of the problems they are facing is freeing the fibers from the core material is a timely manner (through a process called “retting”). We discussed several possible solutions to this problem that will be tested in the upcoming months as this year’s harvest begins. The processing facility is one of two in the entire world. Surprisingly, the other is located in Snow Hill, NC.

Kenaf is a crop that thrives in dry conditions – maybe we should be looking at this as a new crop for Southside, Virginia…

In the afternoon we headed to The Nest Hotel which sits at the foot of the Drakensburg. There we stayed in rondavels and enjoyed afternoon teas, interesting South African cuisine, and more disco music.

1. Hope you are feeling better. Sounds like Disco is not dead there and not exactly what you needed to feel better. Sounds like you all are learning quite a bit. Actually possible overload. Sounds great what you are doing though! Can't wait to get the information on the trip Take care and hi to everyone.
   Posted by  on  03/12  at  11:50 AM
2. We have been following your travels through this blog on our laptop using our newly installed DSL high speed internet. We're enjoying getting a real sense of your work and experiences there in South Africa. Glad you're feeling better.
   Posted by  on  03/12  at  08:41 PM
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