Continuation of the theme from last week, Fynbos Friday returns this week, on a special day, being Friday the 13th.

Things often go pear shaped on a Friday the 13th, there have been numerous reasons to celebrate (birthdays, shiraz showcases, life in general). On top of the celebrations its also been a pretty stressful week (foul weather, heavy rain and murderous winds have pretty much eradicated any hopes of a bumper Shiraz harvest). And when this combination of ups and downs comes along, the body usually fights back by getting man flu. There is no better Fynbos magic to combat this scourge than the Sour Fig. If I’m ever feeling a little down health wise, I go and chew on a few of the fresh leaves. It carries a caution..it tastes pretty vile. Unless you have the constitution of an ox or are big into extremely bitter tastes, then find some honey before attempting this home remedy.

This amazing plant has many helpful benefits agriculture wise, it is a very vigorous growing plant, we use it for settling any areas on the farm affected by run off, it holds back the force of the water remarkably well. And on the health side, as you will see from the link, it has many helpful internal uses to boot.

When I was a ranger at Bushmanskloof up in the Cederberg, one of the old farmers told me how he uses it successfully for removing hair from pelts. Also, whenever we had fires up there, if we ever wanted to find tortoises or snakes, we would go hunting for the thick patches of the Suurvy, as you were guaranteed to find some reptilian action happening on the fire resistant leaf mass.

It really is an all round wonder plant. Kind of like the aspirin of the fynbos.

And its so easy to grow from cutting. Like falling off a horse.

To quote Jeremy Clarkson… “And on that bombshell, its time to say goodnight”.