Tag Archives | spekboom

Spekboom Progress Report

By on April 29, 2010 in garden

Unfortunately it has been very dry on this side of the world.  For spekboom to be dying you must know when need a bit more rain. I have planted a number of trees that are surviving but not really growing. Given a bit more time and rain things will get better and more planting will [...]

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Announcing the availability of Spekboom in COMPOTS

By on January 30, 2010 in succulent, sustainability

From the Spekboom Carbon and Poverty Alleviation Project.  Sounds interesting: “John Sachs from Barrydale has set up a factory in our village manufacturing COMPOTS – these are containers made from 100% compost, which is the greenest possible way in which to distribute Spekboom (and other plants for that matter).  The compot containers can be planted [...]

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Spekboom as far as the eye can see

By on November 5, 2009 in garden

My dear husband and I have recently returned from a two-week road trip 1000km from our home town. One of our stops was Gamkaskloof or ‘Die Hel’ a remote area of the Swartberg in the Karoo. We saw some amazing things, but one of the many beautiful things that made my heart beat faster (apart [...]

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Spekboom update

By on July 7, 2009 in succulent, sustainability

A few months back we posted a story about spekboom and its amazing carbon-soaking potential (How cool is spekboom?).  Since then we’ve noticed it sprouting up all over the place. In an ad campaign for Spec-Savers where they promise to plant over 4000 spekboom trees as part of a sub-tropical thicket rehabilation project in Baviaanskloof, [...]

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How cool is spekboom?

By on February 12, 2009 in indigenous, succulent

A recent study in the Eastern Cape has highlighted the fact that the humble spekboom (or ‘elephant’s food’ as it is also known) has an amazing ability to soak up CO2, equivalent to that of  sub-tropical forests. Findings suggest that up to four tons of carbon a year would be captured by each hectare. This [...]

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