Jono the Freeranger and eating from the land in September

We’ve made it to the halfway mark, and I’m about ready to sell my soul for a fat slice of sourdough bread. 

My mom and I decided to spend a month “living off the land”. Meet the Freerangers. The “land”, in this case, is a 2-hectare small holding on the fringe of Hilton, KZN. The property is an interesting mix of aesthetic landscaping and agricultural practicality. Most of it would sit well in the centre spread of Home and Garden magazine—the legacy of my late grandmother (aptly named Florence), who found her happy place lugging around plant debris with dutiful intention. While we still try our best to maintain my gran’s vision, it’s clear that the “farm” is growing. My mother’s aspirations for agroecology will not be contained. The odd meal from the garden has long lost its virtue, and we needed to raise the bar significantly. 

One. Whole. Month. Without. Buying. Food. 

My mother and I are similar in nature, and so I was more than happy to jump onto the proverbial tractor. Full steam ahead. “It’s going to be easy!” We thought. Jaqui, my partner, brims with, um, scepticism. “Well, I’m not &*%$ing doing it”.

We’ve been planning this for a while, so the freezer is pretty well stocked. For protein, we’ve got chicken, rabbit, pork and guinea pig. Jaqui refers to my mom as the “Mother of Goats”. I like to think she is less Khaleesi and more “plaas meisie”. The goats in question are Molly and Bea, and they are the favourite children slash milk providers—milk that my mom magics into feta and a variety of cheeses. This month, she’s also toiled away to make butter, which we’re using as an oil substitute and general flavour enhancer. We both happened to be on the coast (Salt Rock) before we began this journey, so we collected 6 litres of clean seawater to explore salt panning, which miraculously yielded about 1 full jar of finest sea salt. The chickens provide us with a fair amount of eggs each day. Then there’s the veggie garden, which currently has a lot of salad leaves, brassicas, beetroot, peppers, peas and beans, brinjal, celery, spring onions, herbs… and a few other miscellaneous leafy things.

For treats, we’ve got gooseberries, bananas and the occasional strawberry. After the first few days of Freeranging, we bartered milk and eggs for honey. Now, honey off a spoon has become a staple, and the jar is getting emptier by the day. When you consider things broadly, and less emotionally, it’s really not a bad haul… That said, one can never have too many treats. 

A part of the reason we decided to embark on our Freerangers journey in September was to take advantage of our prolific avo trees. Great for midday snacks, we thought. Not as fun without toast, it turns out.

We’ve spent many hours talking about why we wanted to do this. We’ve even recorded a podcast (now that it’s pretty much all recorded, we’re all dragging our feet, and looking at each other hopefully, around who volunteers to edit it). For my mother, her reasons are mostly about interrogating our reliance on commercial food production. The Zuma riots of 2021 highlighted the precarious nature of food security in South Africa, and we figured that this challenge would at least inform our plans for self-sufficiency. And hey, maybe we’ll also encourage and inspire a few more FREERANGERS to join our ranks.

For me, it’s more about the personal challenge. Restriction breeds creativity, and I think that there’s value in a hard reset to evaluate one’s buying habits. I’m also fed up with generating so much plastic waste, and it seems the only course of action is to bolster our resolve in providing for ourselves. I’m also a firm believer in experimentation when it comes to the game of life. 10 years ago, I decided to challenge myself to a week of veganism, and before I knew it, I was an activist working for an international vegan food company. 

What will a month of self-sufficiency bring?

Well, so far, I can categorically admit that week one was a nightmare. I battled through withdrawals of multiple descriptions, mostly carbs, I think. And happiness. As much as food is a necessity for sustenance, I’ve been struck by how much we rely on it for general satisfaction. So, without knowing it, I suppose this month is also a dopamine detox of sorts. Fun. 

My mother, meanwhile, has battled with severe coffee withdrawals—something I’m glad to say that my addict brain has never prioritised too highly. I think we have both been surprised by the adjustment period required, and it’s certainly dented the initial hyperdrive enthusiasm. However, saying that, these lessons and trials bring about good things. Our bodies are adjusting, and at the halfway mark, we’re finally getting into the swing of things. The meals are more than satisfactory, and one gets used to the quiet tug of hunger. 

So what are we eating?

Breakfast is easy—an omelette with avo and feta and a dash of sea salt. This is preceded by the euphemistically named “morning drink”—a devastating combo of mint, a few oranges and later, HONEY! Hallelujah for honey. The first couple of morning drinks were Dickensian in their bleakness.  

Lunch is generally an avo and a few oranges. Occasionally, one of us is energetic or enthusiastic enough to rustle up a salad. I’m not used to eating breakfast and lunch, so these meals are purely a practical protocol to keep the hunger monkeys at bay. Dinner is the main event, and most days I am geared toward “making it nice”. I’ll be honest, my mom isn’t the best cook, so I try to handle this. So far, some highlights include the “plantain pork burger with gooseberry relish” and the “banana waffle stack with fried chicken wings and a rosemary, honey and goat butter sauce”. 

Onwards to the finish line… And that fresh sourdough. 

"A luta continua!"