Back for another week, and today we are going to be talking nitrogen, soil erosion, etc etc.

But firstly, did everyone go out and get an Erica Versicolor this week?

The Otholobium family are shrubs and herbaceous perennials. Belonging to the Sweet Pea family, we at Haut Espoir are fond of the Otholobium for 2 major reasons:

1. Through their nitrogen fixing capabilities, Fabacea species (Otholobium are part of the Fabacea species) are essential for fynbos growing on nitrogen poor soils. Bacteria in the roots of the plants take nitrogen out of the air and turn it into a nitrate supply for the host plant. This in turn means that all the fynbos in the area bloom and that makes us very happy indeed.

2. Soil Erosion is a major problem where we are. Our farm is situated on an extremely steep slope, where the wind likes to blow the roof off the buildings, and where we are in possibly the wettest corner of South Africa. We want to leave this farm in far better condition than what it came to us, so soil erosion is right up there on our list of critical things. Otholobium happens to be an amazing plant when it comes to preventing soil erosion and does the job better than almost any other.

The combination of these two factors means you will find quite a bit of this amazing plant on Haut Espoir.

To boost its appeal, its also such a beauty…