We all have these photos … throwback photos!
It’s described as ‘nostalgia-inducing pictures … from a different era of your life”.
Every Thursday we will throw a few photos of ‘way back when’ on our blog. Why on a Thursday? Because it’s just a day away from the weekend … and we love weekends!
You are welcome to join in or just enjoy the photos (#TB Thursday).
Our house in Cape Town (2000 – 2018)
We have so many fond memories of our time in our house where we lived for 18 years in one of the northern suburbs of Cape Town. In today’s post we want to show you a little more of our garden and how we relaxed after work and on weekends.
We are certainly not the world’s best gardeners (and have been on far too many road trips to attend to a garden on a daily basis). But with the ongoing drought from 2015 – 2018, we decided to start a water wise garden. We took out all the grass and planted fynbos and other water wise plants.
The start of our water-wise garden
It was always nice to see fynbos in nature when we walked in and around Cape Town. So it was pure pleasure to see the fynbos flowers blooming in our own garden.
Red Pincushion Protea
Geraldton Wax flowers (left) and Hardy Iceplant (right)
In some of the open spaces we later added lavender and agapanthus. These plants thrived in our garden and it was quite amazing to see them grow without needing to be watered regularly.
Lavender (left) and agapanthus (right) in the early stage just after it was planted
One day after work, Berto came home with two wine barrels. To my disappointment they were empty! He cut them in half and voila, we had beautiful containers for our aloes and other succulents.
Wine barrels with aloes and succulents
After the (relative) success of our fynbos garden, we thought a small patch of veggies would be a nice addition. Berto spent a few weekends in the garage building vegetable boxes. We then went to our local nursery to buy seeds and plants … and crossed our fingers. We also added a few pots in which we grew herbs such as basil, dill, rosemary and parsley.
The vegetable garden and herb pots
Because we had never had a vegetable garden before, our surprise was great when it just started growing and growing – so much so, that we could eat veggies from our own garden every day. Spinach, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce and later tomatoes were plentiful and we had to share with our neighbours and friends.
Healthy vegetables
Cauliflower and cabbage
When we drove home from work, we always planned what vegetables we would eat for dinner. We couldn’t wait to get to our garden to pick the fresh veggies for the evening.
Berto picks spinach for our creamed spinach with feta dish
Home grown lettuce ready for a salad
Soon we realised that we also needed a little colour in the garden. I’ve never been very good at planting flowers, and started with a pot that I filled with a cutting of Amaryllis that my mother gave me. And year after year during October the most beautiful flowers came out. The petunias I planted also bloomed regularly. I suppose this is a true testament to “never say you can’t do something until you’ve tried”!
Lovely Amaryllis
Colourful petunias
After all this hard work keeping the garden tidy, we needed a well-deserved rest. And there was no better place in our house than in the ‘braai’ area and kitchen. When we weren’t on road trips during weekends, we spent lazy days building puzzles and playing darts.
Entertainment
Often, we would unpack a snack plate and make a fire. We would then prepare some of the food on the fire, while the side dishes and salads were made in the kitchen.
Time to relax
Stuffed leg of lamb on the rotisserie
Salads
Side dishes
Of course, the best was enjoying dessert that we made earlier in the day. Hot or cold puddings, tarts or even just a bowl of ice cream. But there were also those special nights when we baked a cake and then enjoyed it by the fire.
Lemon cake with fluffy lemon frosting
While we were choosing photos for this post, Berto asked me if I regretted selling our house and moving to the countryside. And I can honestly say: “No, not at all, the time was right for a change.” But I can also say that the 18 years in this house bring back the most wonderful memories.
Wet and Dusty Roads 
The miracle of growing, Corna! What a success your veggie patch was! All the hard work paid off. No battles with slugs and bugs? Amazing to be able to grow Protea like that and I like those wine barrel planters.
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It’s nice to see something grow that you planted yourself, isn’t it? And then to be able to eat it too! We never had slugs, but a bug or two in the veggie garden. At the fynbos garden there were only butterflies and bees – wonderful! The protea (SA’s national flower) is my absolute favourite – we were very proud of this one in our garden. And the wine barrels worked great for planters (imagine if they were full of wine and we had to empty them to be planters – that would have been the party of the century 😉).
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🤣🩵
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Ek stel nou al weke die “heropbou en ontwikkeling” van ons groentetuin na die winter uit, maar julle het my nou geinspireer Corna.
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Ha, ons het nou onsself inspireer Dries 🙂. ‘n Mens se eie gekweekte groente smaak net beter as die winkels sin!
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Gardens can be so rewarding. You certainly put a lot into yours. It must have been hard to leave!
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Yes, we really loved our garden. I will never forget the first time we were able to eat some of our own grown vegetables 🙂. It’s true, it wasn’t so easy to say goodbye to our home after 18 years … but then, Langebaan is a lovely place to have a home now!
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You had the makings there of a television reality show! What a great way of dealing with a garden that has insufficient water and attention. For “not the world’s best gardeners” you grew some impressive vegetables and there is nothing as good as home-grown. 18 years is a long time. That’s how long I was in Washington State which I loved…until I no longer did. Moving on can be a wrench but when it’s the right move, it all falls into place. What great memories though!
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Haha, thanks Carolyn 🙂. We were very proud of that garden of ours – our veggie bill was much less then than what it is these days! I almost want to say that I have never eaten such tasty fresh spinach ever. And you’re right, you just know when it’s time to move on – we had a great time in that house, but never looked back.
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You and Berto are quite the successful gardeners! All of your veggies and flowers look full, healthy and colorful. It’s always a treat to see your efforts flourish. Well done Corna and Berto!
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Thanks Tricia! We ourselves were quite surprised at how successful our garden turned out! My mother said you should talk to your plants and vegetables, then they will grow well … I’ve done a lot of talking 😄.
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That’s great; your mom is right!
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Ah, I love that you shared your wonderful memories, Corna. Your gardens were just lovely, and I am a bit envious of your green thumbs. I am also impressed with your delicious-looking food, but now I’m hungry. Wonder what I’d have to do to have some of that stuffed lamb, brussels sprouts, and lemon cake!
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Hmm, what do you have to do to taste some of our homemade food … my dear Kellye, you have to come visit us here in South Africa 😊. We loved our garden – needed little attention and yet provided so much enjoyment.
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What an amazing garden and flowers Corna!!!! I could never move in town after being in the country and our house for 31 years, so I understand why you have no regrets. Besides that, you will always have your pictures and memories. It looks like a nice place and such a private backyard too.
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Fortunately, the garden was not that big and we could therefore make it look nice with relatively little effort. The high vibracrete walls may not look all that pretty, but they certainly ensured privacy. It is great to look back on a wonderful time in our Cape Town house and now we are making new memories again.
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Oh I am not sure what happened so apologies if this is the second message you are getting… I tried to post earlier… Well done on growing a waterwise garden with pincushions. I believe that they are quite difficult to grow. And well done on your veggie garden too. It’s always a little sad remembering our past homes.
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Thank you very much Morag, we were quite surprised that the pincushion grew so nicely (a bit “out of proportion”, but it flowered regularly). You’re right, it’s with a bit of nostalgia that one thinks back to a previous home … especially if you had such a good time staying there. (Oh, and I got your first comment, but then replaced it with this one 🙂).
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😆🙋♀️👌
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Kan ek julle twee dank ‘inhuur’ asb? My groentetuin het alweer misluk en nou kyk ek met groot oë na jul pragtige groente-fotos! Die wynvaatjies was voorwaar ñ treffer.
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Hehe Una 😁, dalk was dit ook meer geluk as wysheid jong! Ek moet darem byvoeg dat ons huis op plaasgrond gebou is, wat beteken dat die grond baie vrugbaar was … dit het dalk gehelp. Ons was mal oor daardie wynvaatjies – het gedink om weer ‘n paar vir ons huis in Langebaan te kry.
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Your garden looks beautiful. Good call on going with a water wise garden, especially given how much you like to travel and go on excursions. I love how Berto converted the wine barrels into planters and also made veggie boxes. All that food looks delicious!
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Thank you very much Linda. It’s actually amazing to think how much pleasure we got from the garden with very little effort 😉. The wine barrels and veggie boxes are something that the new owners wanted to keep … we will have to make new ones again! As for the food – you know it’s one of our favourite things to do when we’re at home! Who doesn’t like to eat well?
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Amarylis growing in pots outdoors! Wish we could do that here. Also your veg box troughs are very impressive. You’ve definitely both got green fingers Corna. Have a great weekend. M.
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Those amaryllis has been in the same pot for almost 8 years … and still going strong! Yes, the veggie boxes were a huge success – the new owners wanted them, so we left it there (maybe time to build new ones again 😉). Thank you Marion, hope your weekend is a good one too.
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What a wonderful garden you had Corna. Being able to grow our own veggies is something we’d love to do one day. If we ever make that a reality, I know who I’ll be asking for advice. The wine barrels were a brilliant touch, I have to say. You had some gorgeous flowers too, the Amaryllis particularly caught my eye. With your garden, games area and braii section it’s no wonder the memories are so good of your time at this place. As I have come to expect from you guys all the food looks fantastic, especially the lamb and that avocado salad.
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Thank you very much Leighton. If you looked at the gardens around us, ours was quite simple, but we were very proud of our garden. Maybe we were lucky with the veggie garden because we had good soil (our house was built on a portion of farmland and the soil was apparently very fertile), so maybe that’s the answer to a successful vegetable garden. I’m glad you enjoyed our throwback post of our house. Yeah, you could have guessed there would be food involved, right? Avocado is a favourite in our house – it works in any meal!
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You can’t beat growing your own food and taking it straight from garden to pan or plate. It tastes so different. I don’t do it any more due to travelling but used to love it. Your garden looks great in lots of ways – like the wine barrel plots.
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You’re right, your own grown vegetables just taste different … maybe because you put so much effort into growing them? We are going to look for some of those wine barrels again – they were a great success to use as plant containers.
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What a garden! My husband grew up on home grown veg (he never stops talking about his Mum’s homegrown beetroot) and he can’t really dislikes shop versions. Unfortunately we haven’t gone to the effort of planting our own, but it’s a dream one day.
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I wouldn’t say we were “enthusiastic gardeners”, but there was a sense of satisfaction in going to pick vegetables in our garden for dinner 😉. I totally understand why your husband prefers home-grown vegetables … weird as it sounds, but it definitely tastes different (and tastier) than store-bought!
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Very interesting to read, especially about your veggie gardening. Loved the protea photos and the Geraldton wax flower.
We spent 18 years at our previous house but moved to our current place 12 years ago so we could build. Firstly it is on a hill with a great view of Port Phillip Bay towards Melbourne, secondly so we could plant a veggie garden and fruit trees to be more self sufficient and thirdly so we could plant lots of Aussie native plants with their fabulous flowers. Cheers
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I think a veggie garden is a great asset to one’s home, as are native plants. And to stay on a hill with a nice view … well, that’s the icing on the cake! You sound like a smart gardener Mark!
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