Our First Family Pantries were Livestock and Crops
Circa 1890, long before my own time, two little girls—my grandmother and her sister—could hardly contain their excitement as they eagerly awaited their annual journey to the coast. Hailing from the sweltering town of Kimberley, they would compete to be the first to catch a whiff of the ocean breeze, their anticipation bubbling with each mile. Clad in bonnets and pinafores, they travelled by ox wagon with their parents, embarking on a rustic adventure to the Wilderness, a place untouched by the conveniences of modern life. With no stores at their destination, they had to think ahead, plan for their food needs for the summer and so they took all they needed with them, including a cow for milk and chickens for fresh eggs.
Their other ‘pantry’ of provisions carefully packed: jars of homemade preserved fruit and vegetable salads, and cured meats.
From Ox-wagon to Pantry Stores on the Farm
One of these fresh-faced girls grew up to marry a Karoo farmer and continued the cherished traditions of food preservation on their farm, Zoetvlei, near Graaff-Reinet. Her pantry was a treasure trove of memories for generations—shelves brimming with homemade jams, fruits, freshly roasted mutton, venison pies, and delicate cakes. I am one of those fortunate children who savoured her lovingly prepared farm fare.
Not long ago, I had the honour of preparing a family Christmas meal for my cousins in that very pantry, using herbs and vegetables freshly picked from the farm garden to accompany fresh Karoo lamb (or Mutton, as we know it).
Our First Family Pantries were Livestock and Crops
Today, I have my own farm garden in the Little Karoo, Montagu, where I grow herbs, vegetables and care for fruit trees, and olive trees. It is not the vast, undulating hills and horizons of the halcyon Great Karoo, but a piece of land with soil and soul – a garden – and my gratitude for it is endless. Drawing from the rich bounty of the Keisie and Koo valleys—where sheep graze on the renowned Renosterveld scrub, giving Karoo lamb and mutton its distinct flavour—I now carry on the tradition of preserving and cooking wholesome foods in my own pantry, Nerina Pantry where I hope my grandchildren can learn to ’till the soil’, pick their own fruit and eat it, and learn to love and feed the soil and grow their own food to feed their children with preservative free and unrefined foods.
Notes
Zoetvlei is now practising restoring the Karoo ecology; no longer a working farm, it is called High Karoo Park, a haven for the endangered Blue Cranes, our South African national bird; this restoration is also a family project started by the men in the family, farmers three generations ago.