The Witch and Wizard

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The Witch and Wizard

🏡 Our urban homestead journey
🌱 Food-scaping edible gardens
🔨 Workshops online and in person

12/11/2025

I've moved my desk to the greenhouse and put the pottery wheel in its place in the office. Now we have a dedicated space for pottery and I've got a new office in the garden. Feeling dreamy, grateful, and blessed to sit in this beautiful space, making wild bouquets for orders overlooking our little seaside homestead. Life is really beautiful, and allowing myself space to slow down and soak it all in 😍💐💖

🌼 Beth

04/11/2025

Living in heaven with my new greenhouse office. Incredibly grateful for such a talented husband. It was his first time building something like this, and he did such an incredible job, basically single-handed! Built from old windows and doors.

He actually finished it a week before our wedding. My friends and I got ready there. Overlooking the fields of flowers that I planted. We left the roof off and draped material to keep the space cool. I dressed the empty space with big bamboo palms, rugs, materials, couches, and a low table, which we sat at to get ready. It was so beautiful.

Now, I feel like the luckiest woman on earth that I get to call this space my office. Sowing seeds, building up nursery stock, growing heat loving veg, creating designs and more. Can't wait to see how it blossoms with time 🌻✨️🍀

03/11/2025

Grounded and enjoying slow-steading. Spring is in full swing, watering the garden & ducks. Trying to bring a slow pace to our lives. We've hustled, lived fast and hard. But we're over it, we'd rather go slow and live simply

28/10/2023

Foxgloves are one of the most magical flowers to grow in the garden. They self-seed beautifully and provide perfect homes for fairies.

Look at this unusual specimen!? Self-seeded in the side of my client's raised beds. I planted foxglove seeds one year and now they are always around. I have grown them for many years but have never seen one like this. It's a big flower facing the sky. Normally, they all hang down and create a tall spire. This one has a large cup on the tip. I immediately thought of it being filled with water and all the fae having a bath under the full moon, sipping herbal drinks, telling stories and enjoying soaking in this rooftop tub.

I'll definitely save seed from this plant to see if I can produce this cup again. It's so unusual and beautiful.
Could anyone please explain to me how this happened? I'm guessing it was caused by a genetic mutation, crossing with another variety with a similar slight mutation, causing the offspring to have this unusual beauty.

The plant is associated with 'white witches' who live in the wild with their fox familiars and use their magic to aid and heal. The foxes of course use the blossoms as gloves to keep dew off their paws. In Norse legend, they also wear them as a foxes-gleow, a "gleow" being a ring of bells that creates a spell of protection against hunters and hounds.

Did you know they are Biennial? This means they will produce lots of luscious leaves in their first year and only produce flowers in their second year, after which they will go to seed and die. Sow seed every year (or let some flowers self-seed every year) to get yearly blooms.

Art:
"Foxglove Fairy" by Cicely Mary Barker
"Foxgloves" by Kelly Louise Judd

25/10/2023

Our seed collection has expanded, and we will be growing many new varieties this year. Look what just arrived in the mail from . A lovely selection of beans, tomatoes, and a variety of peperdew.

The images in the slide are not my own. Sharing them to enjoy the beauty of what's to come.

1. Blueberries cherry tomato
2. Costaluto di Parma tomato
3. Alice Dream tomato
4. Beluahs Old Sundew pepper
5. Purple Teepee bush bean
6. Vaquero bush bean
7. Pink Eye Butter bean
8. Christmas Lima pole bean

Please checkout Peak Week Pods page to see their seed catalog. They have a wonderful selection of interesting and unique veggies in South Africa.

What unique varieties are you looking for or which do you enjoy?

24/10/2023

The Secret Garden has finally been discovered. Last weekend was Garden Day 2023, and it was the first time we opened our space to the public. It was a rush to get things done, spending some nights until 2am to finish projects that we hadn't got to due to our busy schedules.

Of course, the ducklings started hatching the night before! 10 minutes before everyone arrived, the last baby emerged from its egg. We then helped Mama Pearl and her babies into the safety of an enclosure built specially for them.

In the end, we made it, clearing up the last bits, just as people started to arrive (although there's always more to do on a homestead). And what an amazing turnout! Our garden was packed from one end to the other.

It was genuinely heartwarming to see and hear so many people being enthusiastic about our ideas and what we are doing. Thank you to everyone who joined us!

We will definitely continue this Garden Day tradition!

Thanks to temple.collective thestephanie_proctor .tarryn for the extra footage from the day.

23/10/2023

Rose Hydrosol in the making. Can't believe I have only discovered this magic now! It is ridiculously easy to make, no special equipment needed, and hydrosols have so many benefits. Our rose field is bursting with flowers. It is an old-fashioned rose with a beautiful, deep, rich classic rose scent. Pure heaven!

A hydrosol is a way of distilling herbs to make a pure extract of the plant using water. Unlike essential oils, a hydrosol contains more water because it is made from steam. This still contains incredible healing properties but is gentler on the skin. No carries are needed due to the water content, and it absorbs into the skin easier.

You will need:
- A bunch or two of your choice herbs such as roses, lavender, rosemary, chamomile, calendula, etc. Grab a herbal book to look up the qualities of the plant to see how it can support you. You can choose one herb or make a blend. Such as rosemary & tea tree for hair, wormwood & khakibos to spray on dogs to repel ticks, chamomile & lavender for sleep & stess, calendula & rose for cleansing and uplifting the skin.
- Spring/distilled water
- A large pot with a lid
- A heat safe bowl
- Clean, sterilized glass jar (if making a lot)
- Clean, sterilized spritz bottle

Gently wash the leaves/petals in some distilled water.
Put the heat safe bowl inside the pot.
Add the herbs around the bowl and cover them in spring/distilled water.
Put the lid on the pot upside down and turn to a low heat.
As it starts simmering, steam will rise and condense on the pots lid. This will then drip down into the bowl, giving a clear extract.
Depending on how much plant material you have got, it can take about 1 hour. I had about 20 medium-sized roses.
This gave me one 250ml of hyrdosol.
Remove the bowl with the hydrosol and decant into your spritz bottle and glass jar, label, and pop in the fridge. It can last in the fridge for up to a year if using sterilized equipment. Otherwise, in a few months, the smell will start to change, and that is the indicator to make a fresh batch.
Spritz onto your face, body, clothes, linen, etc. I'll be using my rose hydrosol as a facial spray for hydration and pigmentation.

Which herbs will you try?

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Muizenberg

Website

http://www.thewitchandwizard.com/

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