If you’ve ever walked out into your winter garden feeling proud of your beautiful broccoli, cabbage, or kale… only to discover holes everywhere and little green caterpillars having the feast of their lives — welcome to brassica season. Brassicas are some of the most...
The Most Common Cabbage Pests & How to Stop Them You walk into the garden feeling proud of your cabbages… And then suddenly, holes everywhere, slimy trails, curled leaves, tiny green caterpillars hiding deep inside the heads, and aphids having a full family...
Winter in the garden somehow turns all of us into tea people 😅 One minute you’re outside in two jerseys trying to pull weeds between the rain… and the next minute you’re standing in the kitchen clutching a giant mug of something warm while staring dramatically out the window at your cabbages.
And honestly? Some of the best winter teas can come straight from the garden. A few sprigs of mint, thyme, rosemary, or lemon verbena can completely change a cold winter morning. Not only do these herbs smell incredible, but many have traditionally been used to help soothe sore throats, warm the body, calm upset stomachs, and simply make winter feel a little more cozy.
The best part? Most of them are incredibly easy to grow here in South Africa — even in containers. So if you’ve been looking for an excuse to turn your garden into a little winter tea station… this is it
Here are my top 5 herbs to drink through winter, what they are traditionally used for, and some delicious herb combinations that work beautifully together.
Turn every scrap into garden gold—fast, clean, and perfect for winter If you’ve ever stood in your kitchen wondering where all that food waste goes… Bokashi might just change the way you see everything. At VanZylStead, Bokashi is a core part of our closed-loop system....
Small space, big harvests… even in winter
May in the garden is a shift. The air cools, the soil stays wetter for longer, and growth slows down—but if you get your containers right now, winter can be one of the most rewarding seasons to grow. Whether you’re gardening in the rainy Western Cape, the frosty Highveld, or even colder climates elsewhere, containers give you something incredibly valuable this time of year: control. You can move them out of the rain, into the sun, and protect them from cold snaps, creating a small but powerful growing environment right at home.
There’s something about winter gardening that feels slower, calmer… and then rust arrives and reminds you that the garden never really rests. One week your garlic is standing tall, your onions are pushing on, and everything feels steady. The next, you notice those...
April is that sneaky month in the garden. The heat starts fading, the mornings get cooler, the soil stays damp for longer… and suddenly the problems shift. You’re not only dealing with summer pests anymore — now it’s slugs, snails, fungal issues, and those pests that...
