Babylonstoren

Babylonstoren lies at the foot of the Simonsberg Mountain, between Paarl and Franschhoek in the Western Cape region of South Africa. Today it’s a farm, a farm hotel, a restaurant, greenhouse, bakery, charcuterie, larder, spa, cellar and a learning centre for our people. Babylonstoren is also home to an organic food garden of a great diversity: eight acres of vegetables and aromatic herbs.

The garden comprises 15 clusters spanning vegetable areas, stone and pome fruits, nuts, citrus, berries, bees, herbs, ducks and chickens, a prickly pear maze, and more. Gravity feeds water from a stream by rills into the garden, flowing through ponds planted with edible lotus, nymphaea lilies and waterblommetjies. Every one of the more than 300 varieties of plants in the garden is edible or has medicinal value. They are also grown as organically as possible and in a biologically sustainable manner. The fruit and vegetables from the garden are harvested all year round for use in two farm-to-fork restaurants. Along the edge of the garden, a natural stream flows from the Simonsberg Mountain to the Berg River, creating a space for indigenous wild olives to flourish.