Homtini Farm

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Organic Blueberry Farm, Rheenendal đŸ«
Regenerative cattle grazing. 🐄
Pick-Your-Own Blueberries daysđŸ«
Home of community projectđŸ‘©đŸŸâ€đŸŒŸ
Https://www.homtinifarm.co.za/ Homtini Guest Farm with its stunning views of the Garden Route's Outeniqua Mountains is a 90Ha working farm nestling in the indigenous forest overlooking the Homtini pass. It lies along the old Seven-Passes Route, looks out

over the famous Millwood Forest Reserve and yet is only 20 minutes from the coast and the bustling resort town of Knysna.

I have been feeling deeply connected to the natural world through being so close to life death cycles on the farm. After...
02/09/2026

I have been feeling deeply connected to the natural world through being so close to life death cycles on the farm. After a winter of heavy losses - four ducks, two chickens, and a precious baby cow - I am reminded of how natural this is as spring comes around and new life abounds!

We’ve learnt that chickens make the best moms (many a painful peck while trying to collect eggs to prove this!), while our duck mom has been rather negligent. But wow, this makes for resilient little ducklings!

The most moving of all will always be our cow births. Tears on mine and Layla Staegemann ‘s cheeks as we watch each cow take its turn to lick baby Sunny, welcoming her onto this Earth!

Kobus and I decided to do the blueberry pruning just the two of us so that we could take the time to check in on and bui...
05/08/2026

Kobus and I decided to do the blueberry pruning just the two of us so that we could take the time to check in on and build a relationship with each bush and to really get to know the art of this kind of pruning.

These bushes are now around 22 years old and I’m grateful to have spent so many mornings and afternoons observing the way they grow.

Although it feels like a proud achievement to have finished with over a thousand bushes in the last few months, I am also feeling a little sad to no longer have these dedicated moments of flow state.

Onward though to a new chapter of blueberry season itself, and the excitement of sharing the little blue fruits of our labour with you!

03/06/2026

Boring problems make for fun solutions!

30/05/2026

Welcome to the farm’s two newest members!

This black and white baby girl shares a birthday with Erin, which feels extra special! We’ve named her baby berry (after Erin’s nickname, Erie berry) and the brown one, baby blue (because he was born today just one day before the blue moon!)

06/05/2026

Homtini’s runner ducks or “The Dooches” as they’ve lovingly been come to be known, are an amazing addition to the integrated growing systems. Because they don’t have webbed feet and round beaks they can happily hunt and forage in between the blueberries without damaging the shallow root systems, and serve as our primary pest management.

They have similar dietary requirements to chickens but require slighly more protein and appreciate some extra Vitamin B3 supplementation (found in Brewers Yeast).

They sleep in a duckhouse on wood shaving bedding. We cover any poos and wet spots with a bucket of shavings every morning and spray with LAB (Lactic Acid Bacteria - cultivated with rice water and milk). This ensures the house stays smell free and helps the decomposition. (Hilariously, the spray bottle we use had a previous life as Erin’s lavender oil bedding spray and now the duck house smells faintly of lavender!)

Every 6 months we clean out the house and mixing the bedding with blueberry chippings and weeds from the fields creates around 2.5 cubes of compost! (More details in a future post!).

Ducks are “waterfowl” and absolutely love water to wash and play in. The existing duck pond was dug below the clay level which causes it to drain. We’ve tried to wrap the base in thick plastic tarp which seems to have worked now with the massive rains, but a if anyone has suggestions for a longer term solution please let us know!

19/04/2026

Autumn update from Homtini farm!

Things are slowing down which gives us time to focus on longer term health of the berries.

This includes a light prune for dead and diseased wood in the inside of the bushes before the bigger dormant prune in June/July. The blankets of well matured wood chip is the real magic; protecting the roots from the cold and feeding the microorganisms in the soil that will become food for the berries come spring.

Stay tuned for some more detailed blueberry care chats closer to winter pruning!

Address

Homtini Guest Farm
Knysna
6576

Telephone

+27443890029

Website

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