Barrydale Online

Nestling comfortably within a few minutes walking distance of the centre of the village is Merton's Olive Farm owned and run by Clive and Eve McDonald. On a recent visit to Merton's I was fortunate enough to catch them in the process of pressing olives for their spicy and aromatic extra virgin, cold pressed olive oil. The process is laborious and requires full attention but the attention to detail is evident in the final product.

Clive and Eve purchased the "farm" which was in fact a bare farm in 1997. They then had the ground prepared for olive trees by machine digging to a depth of 3 metres into the Barrydale shale. Thereafter they personally planted and staked 1,000 olive trees. Olive trees need to be in the ground for five years before they produce fruit. After long anticipation Eve and Clive were thrilled to see their first fruit only to have the disappointment of a totally failed crop due to hail. Undaunted they continued and now, thirteen years later they have a line of popular products which they supply to restaurants, selected supermarkets, the  Barrydale Craft Market and direct from the farm to the public. Products include;  extra virgin olive oil, tapenade, Mediterranean olive spread, olive pesto, olive marmalade, chili olive marmalade and bottled green and black olives as well as dry olives. For anyone enterprising enough to want to process their own olives they also sell unprocessed olives.

Most of the work is done by Eve and Clive with only two helpers in picking season so the farm occupies them full time but they always have time to welcome customers to Merton's Farm. For more information phone 028 5721683 or 074 8900190.

General building repairs including electrical work; Barrydale Secondary School: Barrydale. CLOSING DATE: 2010-07-07 @ 11:00 ...
www.cbn.co.za/tenders/5749.html

http://www.cbn.co.za/tender.php?tender_id=5749

Many advertisements for birding ‘hotspots’ include mention of unrealistic totals of species that have been seen in the area, thus implying that a visitor can really enlarge his or her life list by going there.  As a general rule of thumb, however, some 40% of such totals comprise species that have probably been seen only once or twice in umpteen years, some of these perhaps as over-flyers. Nevertheless, there is always the chance that you could see one, the much sought-after bird that you have always dipped out on, even in Barrydale!  For example, 15 months ago a group of Glossy Ibis flew over the village one late afternoon. This is a rare bird in the Western Cape, let alone in the Little Karoo, and unlikely to land here when most of the water impoundments are bone dry.

The river still has water in it, however, and is a good place to look for the Little Bittern. This is not an everyday bird, but there are three records of it, two from within the village and one in the Tradouw Valley.

Cape leopards have  been seen regularly on the Tradouw Pass near Barrydale.

Quinton Martins from the Cape Leopard Trust www.capeleopard.org.za asks all birders to report any Western Cape leopard sightings to Anita Meyer and Jeanie Hayward, project co-ordinators of the The Cape Leopard Trust Boland Project Tel (082) 337 0964.   This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

(Picture: wildlife-pictures-online.com/)

Jeremy Crowder & Tessa Kidd fell in love with Barrydale (after falling in love with each other) and after a weekend at the Dung Beetle in January, they promised that we “would see them again in March”. When March rolled around we did in fact hear from them, but it was to announce their engagement and their plans to marry here in Barrydale! They decided that the Dung Beetle was the perfect spot for their reception, and asked us to begin making enquiries for the rest of the elements they wanted – like local food produce, music, accommodation and the church.

Mike Clarke of Clarke of the Karoo fame has been honoured with a 7 page spread in the June issue of "South African Country Life" magazine. He is certainly helping to put Barrydale on the culinary map. Below is a link to the magazine, though you would have to buy the paper issue to read all about it (some secret recipes are revealed, including the recipe for "karoo oysters").

www.countrylife.co.za

If the Democratic Alliance Party inauguration meeting in Barrydale on 10th May was an indication of the future of the DA Party in Barrydale we should see some positive changes on the political front in our area.

The meeting, opened by Councillor J. Du T. Loubser, was enthusiastically attended by most of the 120 new members. Dr Pierre Rabie, Shadow Deputy Minister of Economic Development and DA Spokesperson on the Appropriations Committee,  gave the address, saying that he feels positive about the long term future of the country but that in his opinion local government is a dismal failure. He went on to say that the coalition government in Swellendam had issues and that the prime objective of the DA would be to take local authority.

Emma Schoeman was elected Chairman and in her acceptance speech she said "This is a new start and a new page for Barrydale. Your support in the battle to improve conditions for all Barrydalers starts here...

Kati Palic is offering adventure holidays for children from the age of 9. Kati says "My children Anna age 7 and Pero age 9, welcome you to our home in safe and peaceful Barrydale. We offer a fully supervised, fun filled holiday with our family and without your parents. We have a daily list of activities including art, swimming, animals, nature and river walks, drumming and visits to the local hot springs. We offer good home cooked meals and much more!" Our rate for one week is an unbeatable R650.

www.katidale.co.za