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Dear {name}, there is a new, icy bite in the air. Roaring fires light up the BK Farmhouse in warm, deep-orange hues, throwing slow-moving shadows on the walls, causing cheeks to flush and hands to soften. Outside it is cold and wet and grey. Inside there is cake, coffee and cocooning. It is our Farmhouse at its best - when the house comes alive with the gentle tapping and creaking of wooden floors, reviving precious memories of countless visitors from all over the world through many years ...

In this newsletter, we remind you of the special full-board rates we offer at the Farmhouse, and as well have some great news from the farm and the nature reserve, with a special recipe from Louise.

We hope to be welcoming you at Bartholomeus Klip soon. Love from the BK team xx

FULL BOARD | HERON HOUSE | WILD OLIVE

[ FATHER'S DAY LUNCH ] Weather forecast for Sunday: sunny, 26 degrees. Lunch forecast: light drizzle of Darling Brew and sparkling wine, and scattered showers of roasted almonds. Strong winds filled with fragrances of chargrilled "plankie" steak, cinnamon and brandy ...

Join us for a special Father's Day Sunday Lunch at the Deckhouse on 20 June. Details: https://bit.ly/3yPYZ3j

[ FULL-BOARD SPECIAL ] Come and experience winter at BK for R2,600 per person sharing per night, full board - including a room at the main farmhouse, brunch, high tea and dinner, a guided nature drive, kayak and bicycle rental and free access to the private Elandsberg Nature Reserve.

Bookings & Availability: info@bartholomeusklip.com

[ ALMONDS ] Have you noticed the vast swathes of newly-planted trees as you drive up to BK? They are our latest addition to the farm: almond trees. Fifteen thousand of them, 40ha - to start with. We planted a first batch in 2019, and the second batch in 2020, during lockdown with the help of everyone at BK, including chefs and hospitality staff. A third batch of another eight thousand trees will be added in August 2021. We expect our first official harvest after five years, but have already started handpicking almonds and making them available at our farm pantry : order online here

[ GEOMETRIC TORTOISE ] No less than sixteen hatchlings have been added to our Geometric Tortoise population this year so far. As our tortoise conservationist Jackie says: "Geometric Tortoises are rare - the rarest and most endangered reptiles in Southern Africa, and only found in the lowland Renosterveld parts of the Cape Floral Kingdom."

The Elandsberg Nature Reserve is to a large extent made up of true Renosterveld. Female tortoises, which are kept in protected nesting camps, lay their eggs between August and mid-December, and are closely monitored by Jackie. Once they have laid their eggs, they are transferred back to the bigger camp in the nature reserve, while Jackie keeps an eye on the eggs at the nesting camp.

"From about the end of March, we anxiously and carefully check for hatchlings, and make sure they are well camouflaged and protected. We treat them like real stars, because their survival is so important for the continuation of their species."

Renosterveld ("rhinoceros-field") is believed to refer to the high number of rhinoceroses seen among the bushes by the Afrikaner settlers. We like to believe that is a true story ;-)

[ PLANTING ] Every year, planting starts promptly on the 15th of April, and includes feed crops like triticale, oats, medics, and multi-specied cover crops for our winter grazing sheep and Wagyu herds. Our biggest crops include canola (240ha) and wheat (817ha).

Crop manager Jonathan is excited: "It's a great start to the season! The rains we've had over the last couple of weeks have sped up the germination process, and have transformed the scenery around the farm from end-of-autumn browns to fresh and lush winter greens. Elandsberg Farms has an average annual rainfall of about 650mm. So far, we've had over 100mm of rain."

With all the planting done for this season by early June, we've moved on to the next phase, which includes spraying and fertilising the new crops. With all the hard work done, we can now sit back and watch Mother Nature do her magic ...

[ A FOLD FOR THE COLD ]BK resident chef Louise wants to share this great winter soup recipe with you: "Sweetcorn soup with roasted kernels and brown butter" (serves 10)

Ingredients

1. 8 x fresh sweetcorn cobs, kernels cut off
2. 2 x chopped medium onions
3. 2 tbsp butter
4. Olive oil
5. Salt
6. 250ml cream
7. 150ml milk

Method

Slice the onions and sauté in a medium sized pot with butter and olive oil until soft. Add the sweetcorn kernels (reserve a handful for garnish) and sauté for five minutes, then add the cream and milk as well as the salt. Simmer for 30 minutes until soft. Strain the liquid and place the kernels in a blender. Blend and keeping adding the hot mixture to the kernels in the blender. To make the soup thinner, add more of the liquid as needed. Blend until smooth and pass through a fine sieve. It should have a creamy-smooth texture. Check seasoning.

To get really fancy ;-)

1. Melt 100g of butter in a pan and allow to cook until you get to the nutty brown stage. Remove from heat.
2. Take the handful of sweetcorn kernels you kept at the beginning and roast in the oven until golden brown.
3. To serve ladle a generous spoon of soup into a bowl, sprinkle with the roasted kernels and drizzle over some of the burnt butter.

[ LAMB SEASON ] Every year an average of 2,000 Merino lambs are born at BK, which we keep for wool and meat. To see the lambs frolicking about the BK farmlands is quite a spectacle! Sheep shearing season is from July - August and September - October.

[ WAGYU SOON ] We expect a new offering of top-of-the-range marbled Wagyu beef soon. Keep an eye on our online pantry for updates

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