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The Koude Vlakte Trust and Vision

This is about a fifth of the distance into the property. The house sits on the highest elevation of the land and as you can see there are some restios and other species of fynbos creeping out of the veld but it's mostly Rooikrans. The literal translation is "Red Garland", but there is nothing festive about this plant. Sadly, this is a very invasive plant species, acacia cyclops, from Australia. Also in the acacia genus is Port Jackson, acacia saligna, an equally threatening species of plant life in South Africa. Both are present on the farm, both are in need of removal, but both have a natural resistance to removal methods of 'farming past', i.e. fires and root removal. These plants have a large quantity of seed production, are much taller and larger than most indigenous species, love South Africa's climate and terrain, and have the ability for their seeds to survive and even germinate after fires and cutting. 

So basically, we have our work cut out for us! There are many documented methods of alien-plant clearing in Southern Africa agriculture, but most of these methods are not successful on all fronts. Some are well meaning and cut the alien plants down but forget that their seeds fall along the trail that the cuttings are dragged across, leaving a far worse lasting effect. Some take it a step further and leave the cuttings where they were so the seeds will drop for the field mice to eat, while harvesting the rooikrans for firewood. This is a great plan of action! But why not take it a step further and ask not what you can do to get rid of them but why were they brought here in the first place? Both were brought for the purpose of preserving the natural barriers of sand and dunes along the coastline from the fierce winds we get, and to prevent the natural erosion that occurs annually. What if someone could clear the alien vegetation, revive the natural fynbos, AND address their origination reasons at the same time? To us, this sounds like a more sound solution with long term benefits.  We plan to re-think alien-vegetation clearing and find a way to blend Eco-Engineering with Sustainable Living in South Africa. Simon, being the fantastic engineer that he is, has seen some great potential for wind turbines on this land Koude Vlakte (literally meaning cold flats).  Since the whole reason these alien plants have spread so successfully in this region is the wind, what better place to harness its natural strength than in a flat land? Shawn, being the eco-economist working to expand a green living niche market, sees the potential for creating an example of green living in action while proto-typing green engineering designs. So why not harvest a completely sustainable energy source by creating a wind barrier that contributes to preventing naturally eroding coastlines while also allowing one of the last remaining Bio-Diversities in the world to flourish as it once did? 

Simon and Shawn have approached these questions as puzzles, a challenge to think in a new way and to make an everlasting impact on our generation, our lives, our great nation, and the world. We've made a commitment to each other and to this land to not be merely 'side-line' vegetarians in the 'weekend war' of Environmentalism.  We are rising to the occasion and this is our vision. 

We cannot wait to share this special day with all of you, and for those of you that are unable to attend, you will be there with us in spirit as this cause affects us all. Our wedding will serve as a ground breaking ceremony for this vision, as well as a celebration of our love for each other and this life we share together. 

By investing a lot of time and thought into this project, we will be able to transform this land from 312 hectares (that's about 800 acres for my Western readers) of sheer alien madness to a beautiful, fully indigenous plot of land with flourishing fynbos, organic vegetable gardens, spinning wind turbines, and even a few alpaca and sheep (for their wool of course!), promoting a 100% sustainable lifestyle. 

We decided that this day could be made the most special for us by using it for positive change; so in lieu of any material gifts we have set up a trust account for this farm, the Koude Vlakte Trust. It is overseen by several individuals and its explicit purpose is to enact the conservation vision we have for this land. Should you like to contribute, any amount is welcome, extremely appreciated, and will be looked after with the utmost diligence and care. If it's the case that for the wedding you are really, really, really keen to give a physical gift, we need farming equipment! Bush clearing saws, spades and shovels, wheel barrows, fencing materials, etc. Unfortunately at the Overberg Agricultural Supply Store they wouldn't let me do a gift registry, so if you have any further questions please just ask.

To make a contribution to the Koude Vlakte Trust, please use the following details:

Name of Account: Koude Vlakte Trust

Bank: Ned Bank

Branch: Corporate Saver

Branch Code: 720026

Account Number: 9015976078

Type of Account: Savings

If you are abroad, email me at squaremalevich@gmail.com, and I'll be happy to assist with a plan to help you save on exchange rates and transfer costs.

Thank you all for your well wishes and encouragement for this huge undertaking! We hope to have a wedding anniversary party there someday showing you all our progress!

Much Love,

Shawn and Simon

Koude Vlakte Magic

Here is a stitched panoramic photo of the kitchen at the farm, it may look a little different on the wedding day, but you get the idea. 

Paperless Post Wedding Invitations

To be as green friendly as possible, we sent out our 'Save the Dates' simply via email. We just spent a little extra time on the fonts to make them look a little more formal than some random email. This was especially important because mail here in SA is very shaky, and can take weeks to get anywhere in the country, nevermind how long it takes to get things abroad! Plus the amount of paper and petrol that is wasted for something I can just as easily deliver to you quicker and more efficiently for you is actually scary. I'd rather save the carbon footprint for those that are traveling than on wasting paper. 

After the 'Save the Dates' went out, we waited a few weeks to send out our formal invitations. These of course were also paperless, and courtesy of a company Megan Armstrong, esteemed colleague of the Bridal Party, discovered called 'Paperless Post'. It's 

a whole new field of paperless mailings. We wanted something a little more formal for our wedding invitations than what we used for the Save the Dates, so this was a perfect fusion of classy formal invites and something eco-friendly. 

The invitations look like a real paper invitation, you can customize it to your hearts content with ribbon or any gold lining you desire. There are even envelope lining options! I'm keen to support new products that are eco-friendly just for the sheer sake of supporting them to help that niche market grow, and there is not much in terms of paperless invitation systems, this was was a little

 tricky to maneuver due to the fact that I'm using a Third World internet hook up and also their site is still in Beta. But the customer service was good and I was able to get it up and running and it all worked out in the end. I hope to use this product in the future once it's out of Beta and running full speed, ultimately I would recommend it for it's eco-factor and economic factor. 

To see it's awesome full presentation of coming out of the envelope and prompting your recipient to the RSVP frame, please feel free to go check it out at: 

My Paperless Post Wedding Invitation

For more information on that service, this is a great

 article: http://www.coolhunting.com/archives/2009/05/12/

Preparations in full flow...

Things are hectic with the planning with only 56 days to go as TheKnot.com insists on reminding me. Venues are booked, photographer is booked, officiator is booked, music is still a problem, wedding dress is in progress, groom's attire is to be decided, invitations are sent, accommodation is mostly sorted out, cake vendor has been decided, wedding bands to be sorted.... etc etc. Eloping would be way way easier. LOL. Anyway, we're not that gatvol yet.

The Farm (ceremony venue) is also coming along very nicely. Our caretaker Dixon is doing an awesome job with the clean-up. Even though the farm is great there was a lot of work to be done to get it up to wedding venue standards. The previous owner was a big handyman so tools, left-overs and half-finished projects were strewn all over the place. So we've cleaned up a lot of the junk that was lying around, including old tiles, bricks, wood, drums, wire and plastic containers. There was an old beat up trailer, a semi-functional cement mixer and a broken old water tank that we had to remove. There are also some old parts that needed sprucing up with a new coat of paint. Good progress has been made on that, with the old dam and the roof of the house still to be done. Finally, we've tidied up inside the Milkwood grove where the actual ceremony is going to be. Phew, hard work has been done, but there is still plenty to do. And it's only going to get busier. Bye for now, got stuff to plan

Return to the Farm

So we were back at the farm this last weekend to start the preparations and check a few things out. Some progress has been made so far, especially with the clearing of all the vegetation along the road that was obstructing the way. There was lots of other small admin stuff to get done, but I won't bore you with the details. Suffice to say that the place is still looking awesome and it's going to be a perfect venue. The ball is rolling and it's very exciting...

The Farm...

This.... is the farm.

312 hectares of nothing but scrubby alien vegetation that we plan to rehabilitate back to indigenous. More to follow...