In our last blog, we spoke about creating a peaceful environment for the pleasure of our guests. Now more than ever we pursue that goal, not only for our guests but also for ourselves, to maintain sanity in these strange and crazy times. The garden now occupies those idle hours, at least ensuring our staff…
Winter gardens can be a challenge, or not? One of the special features at The Crown Guesthouse would probably be the gardens. A lot of time is spent creating a peaceful environment for the pleasure of guests; quite a few people go home aspiring gardeners. Autumn in the Eastern Free State can start as early…
Processing Chilies in chilly weather Come May, come chili cooking time and quite appropriately so. In the Eastern Free Sate, where The Crown Guesthouse is situated, it is quite common for temperatures to drop suddenly. May is also the month the chilies ripen, and when it does, they should be processed before the first frost…
Supporting the rural Farmers Despite the fact that we manage quite a sized vegetable garden and that we have our own Plum tree, there are so many fruits that are now in season, which we do not have in our garden. A summer drive out into the country is quite a lovely experience, especially after…
On Plums For those who don’t know, the book titled The Joy of Cooking by Irma S Rombauer, was once upon a time the best-selling recipe book, until Julia Childs stripped her from her best-selling-author status with Mastering the Art of French Cooking. We have decided to redefine both titles; The Joy of Seasonal Cooking,…
There is definitely joy in cooking, more so, if you harvest some of the ingredients from the garden. And harvesting especially from a winter’s garden is even more rewarding. The words, “Nothing grows in winter” is far from the truth. Granted, some plants need protection, as they are sensitive to frost, but there are plenty…
People talk about low seasons and high seasons; usually low seasons are the winter months in the Eastern Free State. Well, I suppose it depends on what you consider “low”; does it mean less work? Keeping extensive gardens and making food (vegetables), there is no such thing as low season, even in the very cold,…