Rosemary Hill Farm Market has been around for two years. They're trying something slightly new as of this weekend, with a focus on family and food. They're also moving the market to Friday evenings in order to accommodate this.

Rosemary Hill is just that, a hill on a stretch of gorgeous organic farmland only 10 minutes outside Pretoria, or 45 minutes from Sandton (considering it takes at least that to get across Jo'burg, it isn't far).

The farm has been organic since 1978 and grows African potato, sutherlandia, rosemary, lavender, artemisia, lippia, spearmint, eucalyptus and other plants from which they distill essential oils. They have a herd of Nguni cattle and grow other crops like pecan nuts, as well as vegetables. Next door to them is the Max Stibbe Waldorf School.

2009 itownship wine festivalThe 3rd Annual iTownship Wine Festival is happening from the 3rd to the 5th of December 2010 at the Gugulethu Square Mall. The festival starts with the Winemakers Township Dinner on the Friday night. On Saturday and Sunday the Spur parking on NY1 will be transformed into a wine lover’s paradise, with live music.

For the third year in a row, the iTownship Wine Festival opens its door to both wine connoisseurs and wine curious with the aim of celebrating South African wines, encouraging linkages with an emerging wine market and investing in the economic development of the Gugulethu eKasi. The Wine Festival was founded in 2008, by Mother Africa Uncorked, a not for profit organization set up to unlock emerging markets for the wine industry, and educate them about wine.

view of the cape grace hotelOn the 10th of November 2010 Fairtrade Label South Africa (FLSA) will be hosting ‘A Taste of Fairtrade’ - an exclusive wine tasting and canapé pairing event, aimed at introducing hotels and restaurants in the Western Cape to South African Fairtrade wines. The event will be held at the distinguished Cape Grace Hotel, where sommeliers, wine managers and restaurateurs will be presented with over 20 local Fairtrade wines, ranging from sparkling bubbly, to crisp whites, full-bodied reds and heavenly sweet wines.

strawberries by stimpy on deviantartIn true British tradition we will be celebrating the coming of the summer season with our SUMMER STRAWBERRY FAIR ON SATURDAY 6th NOVEMBER at The Stellenbosch Fresh Goods Market. November is the season for Strawberries in the Cape Winelands, so instead of going picking, come fill up your bags with fresh, early morning picked strawberries from the popular strawberry farms in our area.

Other products include:
Strawberry Cupcakes & BAKES
Summer berry Dancers
Strawberry Soap & Salts
Plenty of champagne and strawberries
Smoked Springbok Strawberry Salad
Homemade Strawberry Jams
Rudi's Strawberry Sausage 
Sugar Cones topped with ice cream and strawberry pesto
Strawberry Kiddies face paint & Balloons, eagles and owls, sand art for the children
The Hearth Fair, Designer goods, Boutique wear, Emerging design & Crafts
Music & Picnic blankets for hire, gardens, oak trees, plenty of space and parking

The launch of our new

I lifted the lid on the cardboard box containing my to take a peek.

The young woman behind the desk at Nourish, the health shop at Dean Street Arcade, joined me, and we silently stood looking at the array of avocado pear, caramelised onion, mushroom, sprouts and what looked like cream, but I had been assured was actually cashew nut cheese.

She pointed to my son and whispered 'Is he going to eat this?'. I shrugged. I couldn't get my four-year old to eat a normal pizza, nevermind this affair. I assured her, my mouth already watering at the prospect of tasting what was infront of me, that I hadn't sampled the fare yet either. 'I'm just helping out' she smiled, 'and I hadn't seen one of them before'...

Bet you thought the day could never come. All this blarney about fish running out is just part of the whole green thing, people are just over-reacting, as usual... right?

Wrong. The prediction is that if we continue fishing as we are now, we will see the end of most seafood by 2048.

Imagine, for a moment, an ocean without fish. Your meals without seafood. Imagine the global consequences. This if the future if we do not stop, think and act.

The End of the Line is a film that reveals the impact of overfishing on our oceans and our global love affair with fish as food.

The major feature doccie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009, is screening overseas at the moment, and is due in South Africa in September at a cinema near you.

Hottie – The world’s most travelled hot dog stand comes with a social and environmental conscience.Become a part of the World’s most travelled Hot Dog Stand and support kids of the Bushmen in South Africa. Dream, inspire and create positive social change to neglected children.

This Hot Dog stand is travelling around the world handing out a bite of Danish culture and hot dogs for free. Countries visited since 2003 include Denmark, Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, England, China, Japan and across the US. Next stop South Africa soccer World Cup 2010.

How does it work? The visitors get a hot dog for free and the

Second Edition Cape Town Green MapWe've been working on a project with the City of Cape Town's Environmental Resource Management Dept and A & C Maps for the last eighteen months and today we're launching the second print edition of the Cape Town Green Map, ahead of World Environment Day tomorrow. The online map was launched a year ago, and Open Green Map, the global green map system we are affiliated with, is also turning one tomorrow.

Cape Town has become the first city in Africa to officially endorse a meat free day a week. This is thanks to an initiative by Compassion in World Farming and was endorsed by the City’s Health Portfolio Committee.

Many South Africans love their meat and the country celebrates International Braai day; not that we need an excuse other than our good weather, many people seem to spend every weekend at a function including a braai.

Yet this massive consumption of meat – which is often beef or lamb, is adversely affecting the health of our general population and contributing to the global food crisis.

Slow Food Mother CityMy experience is that there is a growing disconnect between people and the food they consume (I use the word consume because I think eating has connotations which often don't apply). I have many friends who cannot cook, many more who struggle to determine the difference between healthy and unhealthy options and most people I know don't have a clue where their food comes from, how it got to them or how it was processed (I could use the word made instead of processed, but again it suggests human intervention which is seldom the case).

This trend is concerning to me, and I am not alone. Slow Food is represented in over 130 countries and has more than 100 000 members. The movement started about 20 years ago in Italy.