Daggaboer Farm stall on the N10
Daggaboer Farm stall is in the Eastern Cape Province on the N10 national road about 45km south of Craddock and 37km north of Cookhouse.
DAGGABOER FARM STALL
On the N10, between Cradock and Cookhouse
EMAIL: [email protected]
PHONE: 087 807 8165
Everything, except Dagga!
Nominative determinism is the phenomenon where people tend towards professions that match their names, e.g., John Cook who opens a restaurant, or Pete Lock who becomes a Springbok rugby forward. Andrew Jordaan grew up on the family farm Daggaboer, but he and his two brothers farm with everything except marijuana: milk, meat, wool, maize, and alfalfa. And then he also has a farm stall.
Daggaboer Farmstall is in the Eastern Cape Province on the N10 national road about 45km south of Craddock and 37km north of Cookhouse. “It’s a typical farmstall,” says Andrew “Everything is sourced locally: roosterkoek*, clothing, pickles, as well as the sheepskin slippers that we produce.”
The farm stall was run by a third party until February 2020 when Andrew and his wife Rykie got directly involved. “We had to revamp and declutter the place a bit” he laughs “it was time for a change.”
One of the changes that had to come was good coffee. “Travellers on the open road desire good coffee when they stop for a breather,” says Andrew matter-of-factly “we roast the beans on the premises, and we’ve installed a proper professional coffee machine.”
Daggaboer Farm stall differs from other farm stalls insofar as it is a 50% partnership between Andrew and Gerber & Co, a Cape Town-based entity that also manages three other farm stalls. “Together we aim to take Wool further,” says Andrew “We want to produce and market our own jerseys and clothing items. We also want to make the wool washery part of the farm stall’s attractions.”
Andrew has noticed that farmers in the area are increasingly adopting sustainable farming practices. “We’re using less fertilizer and fewer pesticides. On a macro-level, we all need to use less coal.” To this end, they have five solar panel installations on the farm which trades under the name Spekboomberg Farm.
“All of us need to change our mindset and think hard about the future we are creating. It immediately resonated with my thinking when Joubert pitched up here one day and suggested we add a charging station to the farm stall.”
Daggaboer doesn’t offer accommodation, but once Zero Carbon Charge is established things will change. “Currently we have one cottage for hunters, but we plan to create a farm stay option. It will be quite primitive, with donkeys (wood-fired 220-liter drums) for hot water, and so on,” promises Andrew, “ and then we want to restore the old farmhouse and style it as an upmarket country hotel.”
According to Andrew, there are two origin stories for the farm stall’s unusual name. “Apparently the original inhabitants of the area – then called Hottentots – greeted the transport riders as they came over the crest of the pass, saying “Dag Ou Boer!” Literally, Good Day Old Farmer. Over many years this contracted over the years to Daggaboer. “Then there are people who say the Xhosa farmers in the area cultivated dagga (marijuana) as horse feed. Dagga acts as a stimulant, and you may get better performance out of a horse after a dagga feeding.”
Andrew would know, he’s been crowned Easter Cape Farmer of the Year as well as Sheep farmer of the year. On Daggaboer farm they are open to exploring new technology to achieve excellence in farming.
So, if you’re travelling in the general direction of Bedford, Cookhouse, or Craddock and you’re tired and in need of a stimulant, stop at Daggaboer Padstal for a cup of freshly ground, freshly brewed coffee. And if you want something really stimulating, ask Andrew to tell you about the amazing high-tech genetic methods they use to improve the quality of wool, lamb, and mutton.
