If you haven’t visited Chart Farm in Wynberg, WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING?! Kidding, we also hadn’t been before and I don’t know why, it was so lovely there and such a quick drive from home too. We prefer spending our time outdoors as much as possible. It was a cloudy day so we decided against the beach. Ash and I had had a conversation about roses in the week so it seemed like a good idea to take him rose picking – despite the thorns.
Again, as with many of these outings, we thought we’d arrived early enough to secure a seat at the coffee shop on the farm for a quick dose of caffeine and some juice before our picking expedition kicked off. But nope, as per usual the Southern Suburbs brigade had beat us to it – the little coffee shop was full, buzzing. I popped my head around the corner to suss it out for next time – a bridal shower was happening in one of the outside corners. A bridal shower at a rose farm- clever and pretty. Ok, so no cake for breakfast, certainly not the worst thing to happen. Let’s get rose picking instead…
How to pick the roses: collect a pair of secateurs, as well as a bucket from the front kiosk. You’ll have to hand your car keys over for sureity. By this stage you’ll probably start eyeing a few jars of goods that you’ll want to take home- homemade preserves of all varieties, olives and cherries in brandy (YUUUUUUM), oh and homemade fudge too, the old-fashioned South African school tuck shop kind. But back to the bucket and our soon to be picked roses. Rose season takes place until the end of June. Picking your own rose will cost R6.50 per stem, R5 per stem on a Sunday *subject to change* and R7.50 per stem for a ready-picked rose. Do the math and decide how many roses your wallet will be happy with – remember to keep something aside for a jar of preserves.
The rose picking area was still wet and being watered when we arrived, Ash absolutely should have had his Wellies on as opposed to his Birkies but the boy does love to splash in muddy puddles – I knew all of that Peppa Pig training would come in handy one day. Romes had a ball crawling about and getting muddy. Ash had masses of fun helping choose the roses and enjoyed it even more once he realised how to avoid a thorn injury. Our bucket was splashed with colour and we decided to pay up, get our roses wrapped and head out as it was starting to get quite busy. Roses wrapped and paid for, preserves in bag and car keys returned. Oh and if Chart Farm couldn’t get any better, it’s also home to Constantia View Stables, a privately owned horse riding school. They offer lessons and outrides through the Constantia Vineyards.
Will we come back for another round of rose fun? Um, yes, duh, obvs!
Happy Rose Picking x
