I had a bit of a reminder a few days ago when I walked into our goat kraal. I noticed the grass in there was lush and all the compacted clay from last season is absent. Folks have been telling us about how bad the goats would be for the place, not to mention that…
Hello friends of Simple-Earth. It feels good to reach out and write another post again after several weeks of having my hands full. We have been working on the sale of our small, fertile little homestead in the Tulbagh area. At the same time we’ve been grafting through the purchase of our 80ha piece of…
Realising that land stewardship is culture and relationships, makes the difference between carving out a future that works, or leaving behind ruins. The plan to find an amazing piece of land and evolve from it, our own tradition and paradise the way we wanted it, has been in the making for many years. It would…
When I worked as a software engineer, we always had a way of drilling some things into juniors, newbies and even upper management. One of those things was to always surround yourself with people that are better than you; with management: always hire people that are better than you. This ensures that you will not…
I think it is about time to revisit this topic casually. There is a lot of misunderstanding and, frankly, weirdness, when we have visitors outside of the off-grid/simplicity/subsistence community. Opinions and interpretations are like beards. Not everyone’s got it, but those who do won’t admit that theirs frequently has some pastry crumbs in it. So…
As 2021 is already in its 3rd week, I realised an update is due. We are busy selling, or attempting to do so at this stage, so things are in limbo. An adventure and tremendous challenges lies ahead in the Karoo. I will have the same heat and wind to deal with in terms of…
It elates us to state that we are on our way back to the Karoo, the succulent Karoo. It’s a place of beauty, serenity and natural beauty, but it comes with the hardships of severe heat, cold, winds and droughts. Moving to the drylands will not be trivial, but with the guidance of good friends…
There is a tale worth sharing by almost everyone, if that tale defines a purpose in life, inspires a soul to unshackle itself and resolves the lifelong problem of figuring out where we all belong. This, which you are reading here, will be my rendition of one, a true one too. Ironically, it starts with…