Lotus Permaculture Homestead

Lotus Permaculture Homestead Sharing new OFFGRID beginnings working mostly with what we have available, would love to inspire too!

Swales: We dug our first swale in June 2021 just after the house was rebuilt, this was originally placed on the lowest s...
21/06/2026

Swales: We dug our first swale in June 2021 just after the house was rebuilt, this was originally placed on the lowest section of the land where rain water exits. Swales help to slow the flow & store rainwater, it's a self watering system perfect to grow trees. An Aframe is used to find the contours, ours is 5yrs old the stone weight must be replaced & recalibrated I can share youtube links if anyone is interested. Swales will work even if you have a slight slope, we also use the Aframe to make no dig contour beds.

I had a collection of trees & plants but no idea how big they grow or where to place them, lots learnt since then. I enjoy propagating & swopping, there is always something to transplant. It's amazing to see how spaces are naturally filled with the seasons, a variety of perennial medicinal herbs helps with pest control & pollinators.

Some pics from before the Swales are included.

Rosemary & Cheese scones: Made these for the first time today, will start writing all recipes in my journal from Ukwanda...
18/06/2026

Rosemary & Cheese scones: Made these for the first time today, will start writing all recipes in my journal from UkwandaGro my current system of collecting handwritten sheets is not working. All the planning is in my head it's time to get it out & more organised. The recipe is with the pic.

An update of the first swale & keyhole bed at the entrance we started from scratch in 2021 some before pics included: I ...
17/06/2026

An update of the first swale & keyhole bed at the entrance we started from scratch in 2021 some before pics included: I had no idea how fast & big everything grows in the ground, I had a 15sqm stoep(porch) garden before & plants grow slower in containers.

Loved having Cindy Lee Knowles with her team from Cape Town, Carmen Viljoen from UkwandaGro in Gordon's bay & Jasmina from Knoflokskraal here on Youth Day yesterday. They all do amazing work & appreciate what we do here, together we can help the youth.

First time visitors remind us how far we have come to be self sufficient, now we can share with others. Thanks to Cindy for the pics, lots of me. We need community, I can only do what I do with the help of others & teamwork.

16/06/2026

When you're passionate about gardening it shows, thanks to the guys who always show up to help even on a Public holiday. This bed along the 1st swale got some love, we harvested 50kg of Pomegranates here last season. The keyhole beds on the right with medicinal herbs needed heavy pruning

We collected a bakkie(utility) load of horse manure from our usual supplier in the next town, she loves our Comfrey prod...
12/06/2026

We collected a bakkie(utility) load of horse manure from our usual supplier in the next town, she loves our Comfrey products in exchange. The beds will get a light topping especially those along the swales, it's been nearly 4mths since we collected any.

It was a good day at the market last Saturday, I loved sharing a table with my grandson Guy(16yo), he sold homemade bakes to raise funds for the Scouts. He knows the Comfrey products as he uses the soap & salve(soccer injuries) so it was easy for him to chat to customers, we both had good sales. The market is a perfect place to finally meet new Lotus Homestead FB friends, they come to support🙏The Beeswax candles & Comfrey soap was the most popular, variety sells.

I had 3 requests last week from women wanting to come volunteer, one from the North West she said she found us on Google when searching for self sufficiency projects🤔 Lack of accommodation is the problem, we're working on it. Pics of the garden, the market & a 90% harvest meal.

07/06/2026

Woodchipping pathways & fixing beds one at a time...

It's a beautiful sunny day, getting ready for the Mowbray Market tomorrow. Special requests fresh Bay Leaves, Golden Vir...
05/06/2026

It's a beautiful sunny day, getting ready for the Mowbray Market tomorrow. Special requests fresh Bay Leaves, Golden Virginia to***co seeds, 15x Yarrow cuttings & Comfrey 6packs available for the 1st time.

Collected 2 bakkie loads(22 bags) of woodchips a blessing from Kathy Ashwell also lots of Lemons from her tree in Somerset West yesterday, gave her a bag of Biochar she needed plus Comfrey.

The new grow group will meet on the 16/6 for our next session making natural pesticides, fertilizers & propagating 🐞🐝🐛

Love the Autumn colours, even the harvest meals are shades of Red. We're enjoying the last of the Tomatoes & Brinjals, a...
02/06/2026

Love the Autumn colours, even the harvest meals are shades of Red. We're enjoying the last of the Tomatoes & Brinjals, also Potatoes including 2 types of Sweet Potatoes the Red skin & Orange. The food pics are what we have for lunch usually, sharing with whoever is here for the day. Rocky's wife joined him on Saturday, she loved the food & wanted to come for the experience. Sharing knowledge & skills is encouraged, also being valued. Ethina had the opportunity to bake a Sweet Potato bread from scratch & made Plum jam for the first time yesterday, the recipe is with the pics.

We cleared the front garden & removed the first Elderberry planted, we have been maintaining it incorrectly for years it needs heavy pruning. I noticed the drop in flowers last season, most growing too high only the birds could reach. The hugelkultur bed is the happiest. Some pics of what's growing at the entrance, with one taken 4yrs ago.

I love making Beeswax candles, I sold the last 3 hand dipped sets at the Mowbray Market this month. The rainy weather ye...
20/05/2026

I love making Beeswax candles, I sold the last 3 hand dipped sets at the Mowbray Market this month. The rainy weather yesterday motivated me to stock up, variety sells & regular customers love to see what's new. Making Tumeric soap today, formulating recipes gets easier with the soap calculator, the main ingredient must come from the garden. I also add Beeswax to salves & soap, rendering it is rewarding. I started making candles 3yrs ago it was needed as we live offgrid, it's toxin free & purifies the air. Comfrey products followed & that's when I joined the monthly market.

We sheet mulch our pathways, this helps with soaking the rain & w**d control. First we add cardboard then a layer of woodchips/bark, gathering these resources takes time. Some pics included also a no knead bread recipe.

Sectors in Permaculture is everything out of your control coming onto your land like Wind, Fire, Sun, Water, Wildlife, S...
17/05/2026

Sectors in Permaculture is everything out of your control coming onto your land like Wind, Fire, Sun, Water, Wildlife, Storms, criminal activities also stock theft etc must all be considered when planning & designing. There was no water & electricity in Grabouw for days, water tanks are not a priority for most people here when we have enough rainfall throughout the year someone needs to do something.

We had to clear the back perimeter of an old Pine tree windbreak first before fencing 6yrs ago, I contacted a local company & they moved away many truck loads. I was given some wood to build the cabin in exchange. We had a wild fire 2yrs ago the stumps & roots all burnt imagine if the trees were still there. Tree management is important especially close to buildings & structures, we need to replace with indigenous varieties. I'm going to contact the authorities to remove the huge Bluegum trees about 40-50m away this was our biggest threat in the storm when lots of branches snapped & landed all over our gardens. They are the tallest trees usually in the background of some pics.

It's a beautiful sunny day compared to 1wk ago when the stormy weather started. We are at 100% back to "normal" after Chosa Aka Chombe Wixy came to fix the leaks & clear all the fallen wood also along the perimeter fence on the outside🙏Ready for the 2nd gardening workshop next Thursday, loved meeting the growers who attended last Saturday.

Some pics taken around the house & from the back stoep(porch), thanks to our local old school builder Reagan there are no structural problems.

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Lotus Homestead
Grabouw
7160

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