Become a blooming good gardener with our free app!

August 17th, 2016

Now gardening knowledge and inspiration is at the tip of every green finger. Gardening with Babylonstoren is a new, free app developed by our team. Whether you’re just getting to grips with your pruning shears, or have the best looking garden on the block, this platform will help you become a better gardener.

Continue reading

Napoleon’s Willow

August 12th, 2016

Babylonstoren has a number of trees with interesting stories, or rather cuttings from famous trees that are linked to people, moments and places that made history. These include Newton’s apple tree, Shakespeare’s mulberry, an olive from Mount Gethsemane and more.

Continue reading

How to prune your lemon tree

July 15th, 2016

In winter, citrus colours our garden with vibrant pops of yellow and orange. Recipes including these deliciously sour fruits spring to mind and fills our kitchen with ...

Continue reading

Psyched for Cycads

February 8th, 2016

If you’ve been to the farm recently and meandered across the wooden bridge that leads to the koppie, you would have noticed that the riverbanks have been cleared to showcase our new cycad collection. We're proud to host almost all of the 41 South African indigenous cycad species.

Continue reading

Rocking the Karoo

January 7th, 2016

Last week we collected beautiful ironstone (dolorite) rocks on a farm in the Karoo, between Sutherland and Fraserburg. Thanks Stewie Theron of Tafelberg! They will form building blocks for our Hantam Garden.

Continue reading

We’re nuts about the Macadamia tree

October 15th, 2015

Any gardener will tell you that his art is a grand teacher of patience. One has no choice but to wait for plants to mature and bear fruit when they're ready. Especially nut trees, they're not to be hurried. We have several of these in the garden: macadamia, almond, hazel, walnut and pistachio.

Continue reading

The Bee’s Knees

October 2nd, 2015

You know that slightly rushed, panicked feeling that characterises most of our lives? It is no excuse. Bees have it too, in fact they live to be only six or seven weeks old. What they achieve in so little time is remarkable. Through their masterful pollination skills and their sexy little dances, they are responsible for over one third of all the food we eat.

Continue reading

Tips from the Pruning Pro

August 14th, 2015

August is the best time of the year to plant. So if you want to add a fruit tree to your garden, now's the time for apples, pears, quince and medlars, also stone-fruit (plums, peaches, nectarines) and berries.

Continue reading

Flu-Fighting Citrus Tea Recipe

May 12th, 2015


During the winter months at Babylonstoren, the lemons, limes, oranges, naartjies, blood oranges and kumquats all ripen in the garden. These punchy Vitamin C-rich ...

Continue reading

We Dig the No-Dig Method

April 2nd, 2015


We are trialling the no-dig method in our garden’s veggie block. It all started with a visit from organic veggie producer, Tia Cusden, who ...

Continue reading