Cilla from Fish Hoek

Tell us a little about yourself!

My name is Crecilda van der Merwe, but everyone just calls me Cilla. I started my career as a Nature Conservationist and Environmental Consultant. In 2019 when I was retrenched I shifted my husband and my hobby of beekeeping to a more full time business. In 2020, I started our business, Fish Hoek Farms. The idea was brought about after reading of the rich farming and community history of Fish Hoek (and the disconnect that was caused during COVID). I hoped to inspire people to feel less dependant on conventional shopping and show the value of the valley and its community - creating Living Wholesome Harvests.

Where did you grow up, where do you live now, and anything else you'd like to share.

I grew up in Gauteng, in small towns and for some 4 years on a farm, where my mother always managed to tend to the most productive of food gardens. Even later on in high school when we moved to a small flat in Pretoria and then to the Cape, she always had numerous pots of something growing in a windowsill or on the 13th storey balcony! The other thing my Mom did was cook and preserve, she always celebrated with food and preserved the precious harvests which she had so lovingly tended or which were shared. This too inspired me in so many ways and so this was another aspect I wanted to embrace and nurture when we settled in Fish Hoek in 2012.

How did you start?

I started with the soil! When we first moved into our home, also Fish Hoek Farms, it was pretty much sand, with a few sprinklings of plants that managed to survive the harshness, sea air and wind. I was determined to grow food and a lush garden to hide the barren garden walls, as inspired by my Mom, but I knew we had to start with the soil... so 12 years later, many bales of hay, piles of cut material, 12 years of vegetable scraps and worm castings and bulk buying of plants and seeds and the addition of a flock of now 11 strong chickens - we are sort of there 😅. Ok so in these 12 years - we have hidden the garden wall with a wall of indigenous plants, we have a forest of trees growing on our eastern boundary, we have 60 pots of seasonal vegetables and herbs growing sort of ok and we still have our wormfarm alive and wriggling (I had killed them three times before...) and we have a small thriving urban beehive (downscaled from 6) and 37 species of bee forage plants that support them throughout the year.

What are you most proud of?

Creating a space which over time is becoming a beautiful quilt - each piece very much representing a part of us and the environment and community that surrounds us.

What is the most helpful piece of advice you received when you were just starting out?

Time - make time, give it time and everything has its own time. Understanding that has been the most valuable of all!

What advice would you like to give to others who are younger/earlier on their journey?

We need to look at our own situation and not be disheartened by what others are capable of. I am incapable of growing granadillas - despite my neighbours growing en-masse. I have lemons, laying hens and great wormjuice - so we share and swop and chat. Find what grows well for you, where you are and share the harvest and get to know your neighbours.

Is there anything else you'd like to share? Where do you see growing going in South Africa?

I believe the more we spend time with plants and chickens, the more we learn about ourselves and are able to connect with people.