Last week I was lucky enough to be invited down to The Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town for a delicious brunch, the main reason for the visit was to check out the hotel’s worm farm project – an eco initiative using vermiculture to process organic food scraps into fertiliser to feed the hotel gardens, but who could refuse such a mouth-watering spread? The weather was perfect, very unusual for the middle of June in Cape Town as the sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky. Perhaps the weather gods are Bafana Bafana fans…?
The Mount Nelson Hotel, the brainchild of shipping magnate Sir Donald Currie, opened its doors on 6 March 1899. Its colourful history encompasses the Anglo-Boer war, the First and Second World Wars, royal guests, notorious guests and people famous for being famous. In the past few years it’s undergone a few nips and tucks here and there, but its essence remains unchanged. In 1988 the hotel was purchased by Orient-Express Hotels, a company famous for offering some of the world’s most romantic leisure travel experiences, resulting in upgrades and improvements in every area of the hotel.
Our delicious brunch was enjoyed on the patio by the pool and consisted of a smoked salmon omlette, fresh fruit and delectable pastries – the buffet was amazing and I must say it was very hard to choose from all the offerings!
The gardens were looking spectacular and I asked Benita, who handles PR for the hotel, what they used in the garden to which she replied the liquid fertiliser from the worm farms of course! After brunch we strolled over to the worm farm (see pictures below). The worm farm is managed by Luvo FullCycle and I was surprised at how many worms they had but I guess considering the size of the hotel and the amount of food they must produce each day, especially in high season, it´s not really that many. According to chef Rudi Leibenburg, those worms are not actually enough and he´d like some more! The 800,000 worms are stored in black plastic boxes and are grouped by colour and each group, processing between 48kg and 90kg of kitchen waste each day, is fed on a specific day of the week. The worms are fed only raw fruit and veggies and are apparently not huge citrus fans! The earthworms produce 1,200 litres of vermitea a week and 60 litres of vermicompost every 3 weeks.
The ´juice´ the worms produce is then used as fertiliser in the hotel´s grounds and if those gardens are anything to go by, if you want a beautiful, sustainable garden get yourself a worm farm! The Mount Nelson Hotel’s nine acres of garden is lovingly maintained by resident horticulturalist Paul Rice. In summer the garden is a riot of pinks, yellows, whites and violets as roses and other vibrant blooms blossom, perfectly timed to coincide with the hotel’s high season. Come winter, the display is no less impressive, with the garden transforming into a succulent wonderland of leafy greens. Throughout the year, the hotel’s garden is the perfect urban oasis to retreat to.
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