Penhill Post — August 2024 (Winter Edition)

From Our Garden Guru — gardening tips for Winter

By Whaleed Isaacs

Before sowing and planting, let’s do some garden maintenance. Take advantage of sunny days to collect fallen leaves and start your own wormery, whether in containers or compost heaps. Remember to stake young trees and shrubs ahead of Penhill’s famous winter gusts.

Harvest and sowing

If you haven’t sown veggie seeds yet, don’t despair — plant seedlings now for plenty in the winter soup pot. Most nurseries should have winter seedling stock. Plant leafy veggies: cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peas, leeks, onions and spinach (spinach is especially easy to grow).

Who says winter is all doom and gloom? Add colour to your garden with flowering pansies, petunias, dianthus, calendula and aloes (all in flower this month). Remember snails are prevalent in these wet months and will wreak havoc among seedlings — use an organic spray, or make your own with onion skins or fresh onion, chopped and fermented for at least two days, sprayed over the whole plant. Leeks and onions also deter snails.

It’s weed season too — but before pulling everything up, consider that some weeds have real health benefits. Dandelions are loaded with nutritional value, and nettles are surprisingly popular for their health benefits. There are many others, but be careful and be certain a weed is safe before putting anything in your mouth. So, let’s get gardening!

Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer beetle update

Over the past few months Lynda and Ashton have visited several Penhill residents, and this pest has now been found in trees in many Penhill gardens.

Down the Mole Hole — our resident Spotted Eagle Owls

By Lynda Myrdal

A little about our beautiful resident Spotted Eagle Owls, Bubo africanus — the most common Eagle owl species in Southern Africa, whose only predator is the large Verreaux owl. Their diet is highly varied depending on what’s available: in our area, rats, mice, shrews and gerbils to hares, squirrels and birds up to laughing-dove size, plus insects, small amphibians and reptiles. They have long legs and can run exceptionally fast — it’s very funny watching them hunt on the ground.

Myths abound about owls — bad luck, omens of death, messengers of witches, even that an owl will carry off a baby — but they’re also associated with wisdom and learning (the “wise old owl”). Myths and fables are just that: stories. Owls are actually fairly unintelligent, simply one of our very special night raptors.

You may not have seen ours, but you’ve likely heard them at night. Noteworthy features: medium-sized prominent “ear tufts” (not actual ears — the ears sit below them), big bright yellow eyes, grey/brownish feathers with fine dark barring on the upper chest. Their acute hearing lets them pinpoint the tiniest sounds, and their feathers are structured for silent flight so prey never hears them coming. The male is slightly larger than the female and generally paler.

These owls form lifelong pair relationships, roosting close together, preening and nibbling each other’s beaks before breeding, with a courtship “ducking and bowing” dance and soft purring calls. Courtship is tough — copulation only happens near the nest site after the male has brought the female food, like a nice big rat (or a box of chocolates). She won’t mate until he does.

They’re messy nest builders using just twigs and small branches, nesting almost anywhere — rock faces, steep slopes, buildings, tree branches or hollows, or on the ground under bushes — and will readily use an owl box if you put one up. If you find a baby owl on the ground, please leave it alone: it’s either being raised on the ground or has fallen from a tree, and the parents are close by, feeding and protecting it, with strong sharp talons capable of serious damage to anyone who interferes.

Eggs are laid four days apart in warm spring, average brood size two chicks (occasionally three, very rarely four), hatching after 32–34 days over a period of days rather than together. They may live up to 20 years in the wild. Chicks are blind for the first week; by three weeks feathers start pushing through and they can stand and wobble around the nest, taking whole food like small mice their parents drop in. Before this, the father brings food to the nest and the mother tears it apart to feed the chicks. All owls eat prey headfirst.

Energy demands on the male peak during breeding season, supplying all food for the incubating female as well as himself, on top of territory maintenance. By six weeks the chicks can leave the nest and amble around (though they still can’t fly); by eight weeks they can fly and catch their own small prey like insects, with mock hunting and pouncing as their favourite activity, still occasionally nagging parents for food. They don’t hoot until adult, but hiss and snap their beaks like castanets if alarmed from a young age. By ten weeks they’re independent juveniles, and by around four months they leave the parental territory to start life on their own — a risky stage, facing unwelcome encounters with vehicles, barbed wire, fences, thorn bushes, swimming pools and hostile territorial adults. Once they reach 12–14 months, they’re ready to mate, find a lifelong partner and raise their own chicks.

These owls make beautiful, haunting hooting calls, and while Penhill also has Wood and Barn owls around, the Eagle owls are the ones you’ll hear most. The male’s call is two hoots, the first at a higher pitch, heard around dusk as he prepares to hunt; the female calls later at night from midnight onwards, with three hoots, the middle one higher pitched — so you can tell male from female by the call. Occasionally they call in duet, sounding like one continuous call.

In memory of Forest Gump, who lived with us till he was 17 years old and taught me pretty much all I know about this beautiful bird. — Lynda

The Kitchen — Sweetcorn Soup

What could be better for a cold winter’s day than a pot of soup bubbling on the stove? Serve with fresh crusty bread.

Ingredients: 2T butter, 1 onion (finely chopped), 1T flour, 2 medium potatoes (par-boiled 10 minutes, then chopped), 450g tin sweetcorn (creamed sweetcorn works well), 250ml vegetable or chicken stock, 300ml milk, 1t salt, ½t pepper, 250ml cream.

Instructions: Fry the onion in butter until translucent, then stir in the flour. In a separate pot, mix the corn, potatoes, stock and milk, bring to the boil, then stir into the onion and flour mixture. Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Add salt, pepper and cream before serving. A bit of finely chopped parsley on top finishes it off nicely.

Conservation Corner — Penhill CA Rehabilitation projects 2024

By Ashton Mouton

Recreation and Parks has been busy clearing the Conservation Area of fast-growing Port Jacksons following the May wildfire, allowing visibility and safety during rehabilitation activities. These include planting of various plants and geophytes, plus multiple seed collection sessions through summer and autumn with local residents and volunteer groups.

20 species were selected for seed collection, aimed at re-establishing quick-growing species in disturbed areas — sessions that also help community members get involved in restoration and build a sense of pride and ownership over local open spaces. These seeds were broadcast on World Environment Day, 5th June 2024, into various sections of the Conservation Area currently under rehabilitation.

Additional projects have started: reintroduction of missing species with retired Professor Lincoln Raitt — Protea repens (Common Sugar Protea), Watsonia borbonica (Cape bugle-lily) and Ornithogalum thyrsoides (Chinkerinchee); and, with the City of Cape Town Biodiversity Management Branch, Leucadendron linifolium (Cape Cone Bush Protea), Gladiolus maculatus (Brown Afrikaner) and various Oxalis species.

The wildfire created an opportunity for plants not previously identified to become visible and flower, including Crossyne guttata (April’s fool parasol, with a chocolate fragrance), Drimia media (itchy squill) and Haemanthus coccineus (fire brush lily). Volunteers assisted with planting 64 Leucadendron linifolium plants, 20 Crossyne guttata bulbs and various Oxalis bulbs in the burned area — with thanks to Theresa and Astrid, who collected the seeds. A pretty little Aurora house snake even joined the planting session.

A special thank you to everyone who contributed to rehabilitation activities this year — seed collection targets were reached, and 10 rehabilitation plots will be set up this year.

Restaurant Review

By the Lunching Ladies (Pippa, Pauline, Cleo, Astrid and Hester) — this issue’s reviews by Cleo

Stables Restaurant, Vergelegen Wine Estate, Somerset West

4.5 stars. Soft lighting, aircon, plush seating, floor-to-ceiling glass windows with awesome views, elegant equestrian décor and memorabilia. The food: impeccably fresh. Value for money, and yes — go again.

It was Pauline’s birthday on the day the group visited, and how special to share the celebration with her. Entrance to Vergelegen: R20 (R10 for pensioners and scholars) — don’t just go for a meal, make time to enjoy the whole estate. Highlights included the Library, dating back to 1920 with some books printed in the eleventh century; the Homestead, full of gorgeous old furniture, handcrafted real wood, tapestries, paintings and vintage floral fabrics, where you find yourself talking in hushed tones imagining the family sagas of that era; and the Gardens, home to Africa’s only camellia garden with around 1,000 specimens (best viewed winter to early spring), 17 unique gardens in all, plus a stroll along the river across a rickety bridge to the Old Yellowwood Tree — planted around 1700, roughly 300 years old.

Lunch at the Stables: two vegetable and one seafood pasta, two pork belly, one salmon, and one bacon-and-avo pizza, each served with fresh herbs picked from the estate gardens. For Pauline’s birthday, a Six Dog Blue Gin and a complimentary dessert, with well-wishes from surrounding tables. Meals ran around R200, the rosé R315.

PostCard Café, Stark-Condé Wine Estate, Jonkershoek

Stark-Condé — PostCard Café — not your regular kind of name for a wine farm or restaurant. Worth googling the estate’s own story: an intriguing family journey literally across the globe, Japan, Cuba and the USA, and how the names and the estate came together.

The restaurant sits next to a lake with striking reflections of the surrounding mountains in the water. The menu: lentil dahl, naan bread, butter chicken, teriyaki beef, turmeric rice, roast beef with spicy glass noodle. There’s wine tasting and a beautifully positioned pagoda over the water with willow trees and massive koi.

The group ordered two omelettes, two burgers, one butter chicken, one bobotie and one smoked trout — meals around R150, shared bottles of rosé at R230. A memorably fun afternoon with an excellent waiter who, by the end, had the table in stitches. Large sections of Crassula multicava grow on the estate — a shady, water-wise plant that looks lush and green year-round, and one Cleo’s now growing at home.

Till next time: Pauline, Hester, Pippa, Astrid, Flori and Cleo

World Environment Day

By Ashton Mouton

Residents of Penhill and other local community groups, with officials from Recreation and Parks, came together to broadcast (sow) locally-sourced Cape Flats Sand Fynbos seeds in an effort to restore degraded areas within the Penhill Conservation Area.

The first session, on 5th June 2024, was limited to a few individuals due to an unpredicted rain forecast, combining seed sowing with planting of reintroduced Protea repens (Sugarbush Protea) in strategic positions to enhance survival and spreading over time. The second session, on 7th June 2024, saw local Penhill residents answer the call for World Environment Day in force — various CFSF seeds scattered in a degraded area with high restoration potential, with one plot cleared and sown for monitoring over the next few years.

The target was reached: 20 rehabilitation plots established within the Penhill Conservation Area, with 20 different CFSF species broadcast into previously degraded areas. A big thank you to all who participated in the seed collection days over the course of 8 months — the effort will be felt for generations to come. More info: makeadifferenceweek.org/events/seeds-of-hope

The Penhill Peacocks

By Cleo

You’ve seen them, heard them, and perhaps they visit your property — Pavo cristatus, the peacock. The peacock is India’s national bird and sacred in both Jainism and Hinduism — the tail-shaped Jain temple in the Mandaragiri Hills is truly beautiful, and peacocks are depicted at many other temples, some carved into the stonework, others as stand-alone statues. The famous “Peacock Dress,” first worn by Lady Mary Curzon at the 1903 Delhi Durbar Ball, had gold and silver Zardozi embroidery with applied green beetle-wing covers, satin, lace and rhinestone, and is still preserved today at Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire. The Peacock Ring designed by Savio Jewellery holds the Guinness World Record for the ring with the most diamonds — 3,827 in all, costing 1.7 million pounds.

So next time a peacock is sitting on a treasured plant plucking foliage, racking up your ground cover, pooping in your pool or yelling at each other — just chill, they’re truly revered across the globe.

Back to Penhill: there are two boys (peacock) and three girls (peahen), one of whom has three chicks — not yet sure whether the chicks are boys or girls, and they’re kind of teenagers now. The ‘boys’ only reach full plumage by age three. Safe to say this lot qualifies for an “ostentation,” which is what a group of peacocks is called — they’ll be around a while, with a lifespan of up to 15 years. The peahen has a touch of metallic green on the lower neck but is mostly brown, to hide from predators while incubating her 4–8 eggs.

They follow a routine, so you might find them visiting at more or less the same time each day — the afternoon slot seems to be moving earlier as winter solstice approaches. Peacocks are omnivores: left to their own foraging they’ll eat fruit, berries, grains, small reptiles and insects (sadly not snails, or at least not as part of their usual diet). They do fly, though not far and not very gracefully — “launch” would be a better word for it. One last fact: peacocks shed their tail feathers annually after mating season, so you may be gifted a gorgeous feather if you’ve been feeding them.

Paws for Thought

By Cina Costa

We’ve approached winter. We humans bundle up in blankets inside the house and have scarves, coats and fireplaces — what about our fur babies? Have you considered keeping them indoors? Fleece jackets or heated pads can help keep them warm too. How do you know if they’re feeling cold? Watch their body language — curling up in a ball, whining and shivering are all signs.

Please keep your fur kids warm this winter. If they live outside, make sure they have warm kennels with blankets, and check the kennels don’t leak.

Pet Treats — Liver Bread recipe for dogs

By Esther Thomas

Ingredients: 500g chicken liver, a splash of milk, 1 egg, 1 cup nutty wheat flour or cake flour, 1 cup oats, 1T Bovril.

Method: Place livers in a food processor and mix until smooth, then add the rest of the ingredients. Bake at 180°C for 30–40 minutes, pricking with a fork to check when done. Cut into cubes and keep in the fridge.

Rogues’ Gallery — with Dan the Destroyer

Dan, fur-child of Ruth Truebody, challenges all Penhill pets to better his mischief if they can — true to his name this issue, having decided a plant in the garden “had to go” (he reckons he didn’t know Ruth wanted it there; it looked a wee bit dead, but had probably just lost its leaves for winter). Ruth will not be seeking his advice for landscape gardening.

Also this issue: Ozwald (“Ozzie”) the fox terrier gave Linda and Otto quite a fright when he went missing and they drove frantically around Penhill looking for him — only to find he’d been sitting patiently the whole time in a box intended for planting flowers, having managed to get in but not figure out how to jump back out. Teresa’s dog Debbie, meanwhile, is Penhill’s dream gardener’s dog and a skilled mole-catcher who likes to present her mom with “gifts” — though Teresa may prefer Debbie stop depositing them on the Persian carpet. And the Millwards’ Mechanics, Oreo and Smudge, are seen here demonstrating their lack of enthusiasm for the workplace, having decided to take a winter sabbatical, as advised by their union.

Penhill Diary

Nature walks and seed collecting — keep eyes open on Penhill WhatsApp groups, as notices are posted from time to time.

Snake handlers’ details in case you haven’t made a note before: Rudolf Visagie 082 613 3464 · Andries Cilliers 084 569 1510 · Murat Parker 076 495 3636. These are our three nearest snake handlers — should none be available and it’s urgent, a notice will be posted onto their network of qualified handlers and someone will contact you asap.

We would love to hear from you. What would you like to see in the newsletter moving forward? Let us know of any Penhill news (hatches, matches and dispatches included). Information and photographs for our History Hub will be gratefully received as well. All articles with positive messages for the Penhill community are welcome.