Workshops

Plant your own: heritage fruit orchard & veggie garden

The opportunity to plant a new garden fuels the daydreams of all aspiring gardeners. We invite the dreamers to join us during Garden Week for a masterclass on how to plant and successfully grow your very own heritage fruit orchard and vegetable garden.

For this workshop, we travel to Soetmelksvlei, a delightful new experience by Babylonstoren. Following a short ride along the picturesque slopes of Simonsberg, we’ll descend towards the historical Soetmelksvlei farmyard. Here, visitors are offered a glimpse of life before the turn of the 20th century through the immaculately recreated interiors of the Farmhouse and Old Cellar, as well as the garden.

The fruit orchards and veggie gardens are an integral part of the Cape Dutch werf – of equal significance to the animals in the kraal, the watermill, carpentry in the workshop and the mampoer distillery.

To portray farm life in the late 19th century, we selected old heritage fruit varieties that were grown at the Cape around 1897. Some cultivars are still grown and well known to gardeners, such as Fan Retief guavas, Cape rough lemons, Elberta peaches and Adam figs. Other cultivars had been tried at the Cape but never flourished, such as the December pear and Cox’s Orange Pippen apples. Mulberries, loquats and jambos, again, grew so readily that gardeners planted them but never bothered with named varieties for centuries!

Join us as we explore these and other intricacies, with practical tips on how to grow your own food at home, in honour of Garden Week.

Cape cookery: traditional melktert, melkkos & koesisters

Only 10 spaces available.

Milk tart is the unofficial national dessert of South Africa. It features in the traditional style – with a liberal sprinkle of cinnamon – at any self-respecting home industry store and in many South African home bakers’ recipe books. There’s even a dedicated national Milk Tart Day celebrated annually on 27 February. Join us in the heritage kitchen of Soetmelksvlei, a new Babylonstoren excursion, to celebrate and enjoy milk tart in all its delicious glory.

Following a short ride along the picturesque slopes of Simonsberg, we’ll descend towards the historical farmyard of Soetmelksvlei, which represents a time when life was simpler, and craftsmanship was treasured.

Here, master baker Martjie Malan will teach you the art of making traditional milk tart using the simplest of farm ingredients. We’ll also explore a variation on this recipe named melkkos (meaning “milk food”) and learn to bake traditional Cape Malay-inspired koesisters infused with sugar syrup and spice.

After a hands-on morning in the farm air, we’ll enjoy a hearty lunch in the Old Stables Restaurant before heading back to Babylonstoren.

Grow your own seasonal vegetables

Only 15 places available

Babylonstoren prides itself on the seasonal fruit and vegetables that abound in our garden, and we’re happy to share our secrets! Join Babylonstoren’s vegetable team in the veggie garden where they will demonstrate their top growing tips and tell you more about crop rotation, alternative methods for soil preparation, compost, mulches, propagation and planting.

At the start of the growing season in spring, we plant for summer. This is the season for rambling pumpkins, aubergines, tomatoes, baby marrows and basil – to name a few of the favourites. You’ll have the opportunity to get your hands dirty and sow some leafy greens before sitting down to lunch, made with ingredients fresh from our garden.

Steaming coffee from the Lekker Room is served upon arrival.
Lunch at the Greenhouse Restaurant is included.

Create a natural freshwater pond

Only 15 places available

A thriving freshwater pond in your garden creates a habitat for various animals and plants. A well-established pond becomes a functioning ecosystem, including amphibians, freshwater invertebrates, and attracts birds as well as small mammals and reptiles.

In this workshop, master botanist Ernst van Jaarsveld and conservation ecologist and entomologist Arné Stander will share their knowledge on creating such a ecosystem at home – from where to start, what substrates to use, what plants to plant, and what fish you can add to create a wonderful oasis in your garden.

_Steaming coffee from the Lekker Room is served upon arrival.
Lunch in the Greenhouse is included. _

Festive table: Showstopping summer salads

Only 15 places available

Join our gardeners and chef for the morning harvest in our Kitchen Garden (aka the Moestuin), which is planted with a variety of seasonal vegetables and edible flowers. Take your pick from the freshest salad leaves and see where we wash and pack all our produce before they find their way to the restaurant. Join Babel’s head chef, Schalk Vlok, for a hands-on salad-plating demonstration that transforms our garden harvest into a range of fresh, gloriously colourful salads for lunch.

Steaming coffee from the Lekker Room is served upon arrival.
Lunch in the Old Bakery is included.

Master meat: make your own salami & charcuterie

Only 10 spaces available.

Observe our master butcher in his element in this hands-on workshop. Come and make your own salami at Soetmelksvlei, a new Babylonstoren excursion.

Following a short ride along the picturesque slopes of Simonsberg, we’ll descend towards the historical Soetmelksvlei farmyard, which represents a time when life was simpler, and craftsmanship was treasured.

Here, you’ll join master butcher Jaco Koegelenberg and master charcutier Shelvin Jacobs in the Meat Room for a masterclass on butchery. The team will demonstrate how to break down a carcass, after which the pork and large intestine will be used to create the salami. The use of this natural sausage casing is an age-old skill. As it consists mainly of naturally occurring collagen, this is the option we prefer.

Guests will also learn to debone pork into its primary cuts – coppa, pancetta, loin and leg.

Summer decor from the garden

Only 15 places available

We celebrate the new season in true Babylonstoren style by harvesting seasonal vegetables and blossoms to use as farm-style decor. We invite you into our festive venues to explore different plant-based decorative styles for the table and to share as gifts. Each guest will go home with a herb posy or bouquet of their own creation.

Steaming coffee from the Lekker Room is served upon arrival.
Lunch at the Tasting Room is included.

Fragrant garden roses

Only 15 places available

Join us for a garden walk to find your favourites among all the fragrant roses. Admire with us the vigorous heritage roses like Rosa Mme Alfred Carrière, Kiftsgate, Lamarque, Albéric Barbier, Albertine, Souvenir de la Malmaison and Mermaid. These sweet-smelling spectacles cover the six-metre-high towers from the old vegetable garden to the citrus orchard to the stone fruit block. November is the month to enjoy these roses at their absolute best. We’ll stroll through the old garden with climbing roses, as well as the cutting garden, to learn how to grow your own rose display this summer.

Steaming coffee from the Lekker Room is served upon arrival.
Lunch in the Greenhouse is included.

Bake your own: teatime treats with choux pastry & almond cake

Only 10 places available. Join us for a choux pastry and almond flour baking workshop at Soetmelksvlei, a delightful new excursion by Babylonstoren.

Prepare to roll up your sleeves as we embark on our journey at the Babylonstoren ticket office. Following a short ride along the picturesque slopes of Simonsberg, we’ll descend towards the historical farmyard, which represents a time when life was simpler and craftsmanship was treasured.

Under the guidance of master baker Martjie Malan you will try your hand at creating sweet eclairs and savoury choux puffs made with gruyère cheese and biltong dust. Learn how classic farm ingredients such as butter, eggs, honey and almonds can be combined to create an elegant almond cake and macarons.

After a hands-on morning in the farm air, we’ll enjoy a hearty lunch in the Old Stables Restaurant before heading back to Babylonstoren.

Birding at Babylonstoren

Only 15 places available

Bring your binoculars and comfortable shoes and join us for a walk through the garden and other parts of the farm to spot some of our feathered friends. At Babylonstoren, we have more than 70 bird species through the seasons – from the nocturnal barn owl to the gregarious mousebird. As the garden grows, more and more birds are attracted to visit or stay. Come and get to know your local birds and learn how to invite them into your own garden.

Steaming coffee from the Lekker Room is served upon arrival.
Lunch at the Greenhouse Restaurant is included.

Love the taste of culinary herbs

Only 15 places available

Have your tastebuds tantalised and green fingers inspired as we explore the wide range of tastes and textures found in a bunch of green leaves. Herbs express their unique uses in their distinct taste – some bitter, some sweet, some pungent and some peppery.

We’ll kick off the workshop in the garden with guidance from our Healing Garden curator, Gundula Deutschländer. After we’ve gathered some herbs from the garden, we’ll be chopping and pounding the leaves in the kitchen to incorporate these aromas in the meal we’ll be preparing for our lunch. Bring along a hat and an apron for a fun day at Babylonstoren to learn about the what, when and why of cooking with herbs from the garden.

Steaming coffee from the Lekker Room is served upon arrival.
Lunch in the Old Bakery is included.

Cape cooking: traditional bobotie with seasonal chutney

Only 10 spaces available.

Bobotie is considered the national dish of South Africa, having been served at a special dinner by the United Nations Women’s Organisation in 1954. It is one of the most engrained recipes in traditional South African cuisine with cultural influences from all over the world, including Malaysia, France and the Netherlands. Bobotie is celebrated everywhere in South Africa – from high-end restaurants to casual eateries, and around the dinner table in many homes.

Join us in the heritage kitchen of Soetmelksvlei, a new Babylonstoren excursion, to celebrate this South African icon. Following a short ride along the picturesque slopes of Simonsberg, we’ll descend towards the historical farmyard, which represents a time when life was simpler, and craftsmanship was treasured.

Here, master baker Martjie Malan will teach you the art of making traditional bobotie alongside its classic companion. Chutney, or blatjang as it’s called in Afrikaans, is a spicy condiment cooked from a variety of Cape fruits.

After a hands-on morning in the farm air, we’ll enjoy a hearty lunch in the Old Stables Restaurant before heading back to Babylonstoren.

Discover the secret life of bees

Only 15 places available

Cape honeybees are honoured workers on Babylonstoren Farm – not only do they produce an abundance of honey for the breakfast table at Babel Restaurant, but they also play a key role in pollinating many of our garden fruits, herbs and vegetables.

We host our workshops during the warmer seasons, when the garden is buzzing with Cape honeybees, hard at work foraging for pollen and nectar. The workshop starts with a guided walk through the garden to explore the bees’ favourite spots, from nectar-filled annual flowers to pollen-rich trees. We’ll then invite you to put on your beekeeping suit and discover our collection of diverse beehives – including the traditional woven skep, the practical Langstroth with moveable frames, and the much-talked-about flow hives. Our beekeeper, Arné Stander, will share the story of the indigenous Cape honeybee and explain the basics of beekeeping.

**Note: **Please bring along your sun hat for the garden walk and closed shoes such as gumboots or wellies or high-ankle hiking boots for the practical session with beekeeping suits.

Steaming coffee from the Lekker Room is served upon arrival.
A refreshing lunch at the Greenhouse Restaurant is included.

Grow your own edible and cut flowers

Only 15 places available

Let the seasons ahead be a flower feast! Join us at the start of summer for expert help to plan your cut flower and edible flower garden with flower specialists and master gardeners Marina and Gundula.

In this hands-on workshop, guests will get to celebrate flowers for their beauty and their functionality. You’ll learn to use blooms as eye-candy as well as delightful snacks as so many flowers can be enjoyed both in a vase and on your plate. The class will give a whole different angle to skipping through the daisies this summer.

_Steaming coffee from the Lekker Room is served upon arrival.
Lunch in the Greenhouse is included. _

Pasta from scratch with mozzarella

Only 15 places available.

Join us on the farm for a morning stroll through the garden to harvest farm-fresh eggs. We’ll use these to make our own pasta dough from scratch and create a variety of flat and filled pastas to enjoy on the day. Farm foodie, Louzel Steyn, will share a few tricks on making and cooking the perfect pasta, as well as how best to pair different pasta styles with different sauces.

Our resident Italian-trained cheesemaker, Alta Eybers, will share her secrets to making the best mozzarella, using milk from Babylonstoren’s own water buffalo herd. We’ll also stir up a quick, rustic sauce with what’s available from the garden to pair with the fresh pasta. Come hungry for this one!

_Steaming coffee from the Lekker Room is served upon arrival.
Lunch in the Old Bakery is included. _

Handcrafts at Soetmelksvlei: plant pressing

Only 10 spaces available.

Remember plucking dainty blooms in the garden as a child, then carefully placing them between sheets of newspaper and piles of the heftiest books you could find? For centuries, botanists have relied on pressed plants for identification and to fill their herbariums with dried specimens as plant libraries. In Victorian times, children combined pressed picks with bright ribbons to create pretty pictures, while sweethearts would slip flowers between the pages of a book to preserve the memory of a special moment.

Flower pressing is back in a big way, and we love the practice for its calming effect and aesthetic appeal. Join us for a hands-on workshop at Soetmelksvlei, a new excursion by Babylonstoren, to try your hand at this age-old craft. Following a short ride along the picturesque slopes of Simonsberg, we’ll descend towards the historical farmyard of Soetmelksvlei, which represents a time when life was simpler, and craftsmanship was treasured.

Here, artist Tina-Marié Malherbe will guide guests through the garden to pick, press and create their own botanical collection.

After a hands-on morning in the farm air, we’ll enjoy a hearty lunch in the Old Stables Restaurant before heading back to Babylonstoren.

Make your own Christmas decor

Only 15 places available

To get into the spirit of the Christmas season, join Constance, our floral artist. Walk with her through the garden and fill your basket with seed heads, flowers, foliage and whatever takes your fancy, before observing a demonstration of a few of her favourite Christmas decoration designs. Constance will guide you while you make your own Christmas wreath to take home.

Steaming coffee and a croissant from our Lekker Room is served upon arrival.

Unlock the diversity of indigenous succulents

Only 20 places available

Drought-tolerant, hardy and amazingly diverse in shape, colour and type, succulents have taken the gardening world by storm. Learn to cultivate, propagate and design a succulent garden under the keen and knowledgeable guidance of Ernst van Jaarsveld, our resident botanist. After walking through our cycad garden to look at various succulent ground covers and species, Ernst will share his top succulent tips during an illustrated talk in the garden lecture room. During the afternoon, you’ll get hands-on and learn how to grow your own collection of succulents from seeds and cuttings.

Steaming coffee from the Lekker Room is served upon arrival.
Lunch at the Greenhouse Restaurant is included.

Everything’s better with butter: make butter & bake buttermilk rusks

Only 10 places available.

Join us for a buttermaking and buttermilk rusk baking workshop at Soetmelksvlei, a delightful new excursion by Babylonstoren.

Prepare to roll up your sleeves as we embark on our journey at the Babylonstoren ticket office. Following a short ride along the picturesque slopes of Simonsberg, we’ll descend towards the historical farmyard, which represents a time when life was simpler, and craftsmanship was treasured.

Here, you will experience the age-old tradition of churning fresh farm milk into butter. See how we separate the cream and follow the simple steps to make your own butter. Under the guidance of master baker Martjie Malan you will bake buttermilk rusks, using fresh buttermilk – a by-product of the buttermaking process.

After a hands-on morning in the farm air, we’ll enjoy a hearty lunch in the Old Stables Restaurant before heading back to Babylonstoren.

Lavender & essential oils

Only 15 places available

Harness the abundance of Babylonstoren’s fragrant and flowering lavender fields in summer. Pack your hat and a pair of sturdy shoes as you’ll be exploring beyond the garden to harvest aromatics and other indigenous herbs for their fragrances. From there, guests will be taken to the Scented Room to see the steam-distilling process that captures the natural essence of the plant. Guided by Babylonstoren’s in-house compounder, Gavin Hendriks, you’ll be able to create your own body product to take home, using a selection of our essential oils.

Steaming coffee from the Lekker Room is served upon arrival.
Lunch in the Tasting Room is included.

Grow your own veggies (workshop for kids aged 4–7)

Only 20 places available

Note: This workshop is for children between four and seven years old. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Maximum two children per adult. Adults need to book a space for themselves and cover the applicable fee.

Orange carrots, bright red beets and cute radishes! Did you know you can grow your own rainbow of colours? Bring your folks along for a dig in Babylonstoren’s sprawling gardens where we’ll learn to grow our very own veggies with Brent Reid from Babylonstoren’s garden team. It is a morning filled with picking, nibbling and planting. Discover frilly leaves and dig out strong root vegetables. Sow seeds, make cuttings and start potting your own plants. By the end of this day, you’ll have greener fingers than the Grinch who stole Christmas! You’ll also get some vegetable seedlings to take along and grow at home.

Juice and light snack are included.

Grow your own veggies (workshop for kids aged 8–12)

Only 20 places available

Note: This workshop is for children between eight and twelve old. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Maximum two children per adult. Adults need to book a space for themselves and cover the applicable fee.

Orange carrots, bright red beets and cute radishes! Did you know you can grow your own rainbow of colours? Bring your folks along for a dig in Babylonstoren’s sprawling gardens where we’ll learn to grow our very own veggies with Brent Reid from Babylonstoren’s garden team. It is a morning filled with picking, nibbling and planting. Discover frilly leaves and dig out strong root vegetables. Sow seeds, make cuttings and start potting your own plants. By the end of this day, you’ll have greener fingers than the Grinch who stole Christmas! You’ll also get some vegetable seedlings to take along and grow at home.

Juice and light snack are included.

Bake your own: savoury breads for a festive table

Only 10 places available. Join us for a savoury breadmaking workshop at Soetmelksvlei, a delightful new excursion by Babylonstoren.

Prepare to roll up your sleeves as we embark on our journey at the Babylonstoren ticket office. Following a short ride along the picturesque slopes of Simonsberg, we’ll descend towards the historical farmyard, which represents a time when life was simpler, and craftsmanship was treasured. Here, master baker Martjie Malan will guide you to bake breadsthat will gather friends and family around the table. Learn how to mix, knead and prove dough, before adding herbs and cutting and twisting it into beautiful, pull-apart loaves.

After a hands-on morning in the farm air, we’ll enjoy a hearty lunch in the Old Stables Restaurant before heading back to Babylonstoren.