Slangbossie is a small family business situated on a smallholding bordering the Hottentot Holland Mountain Nature Reserve in Sir Lowry's Pass, Western Cape. The Nature Reserve forms a natural habitat for many indigenous plants and wildlife. Snakes, mainly the Cape Cobra and the Puff adder, are frequently seen and are the inspiration for our name Slangbossie. Snakes play an important role in mainta
ining a balanced ecosystem as they help to control the rodent population. They are attracted to ecosystems where herbivorous species are well established and where the plant life is abundant and healthy. As farmers we can help to protect our plants and wildlife by using natural products and banning chemicals on our land. Our core business is about OLIVES which includes growing olives, processing and selling of table olives, the pressing and selling of olive oil. We do all this in an organically inspired way. We are not organically certified; as for small producers certification is a costly road. We do not use chemicals to control pests, no artificial fertilizers to feed our trees and no chemicals to process our olives. The products we do use are organically certified, non-toxic and do not have a with-holding period. Olives and olive leaves can be processed immediately after picking. Our table olives are cured by placing them in brine with organic salt for 12 months or longer. Our olive oil is cold pressed. The olives are pressed within 24 hours after picking to ensure a high quality and healthy oil. We do not filter the oil as filtering may remove some of the positive flavor and antioxidant components from the oil. Also no water is used to speed up the pressing process. Because of our love for growing things over time we also started growing different types of (ultra hot) chili peppers, other spices and herbs and other garden plants, not to mention the delicious honey produced in our spontaneously populated three bee hives.
