Apples, pears & preserves

Elgin Apple Orchards

Elgin Valley · 95 km north-west of us

Four generations of apple farming. Fifteen varieties, picked when they're ready.

The Dlamini family have grown apples in the Elgin Valley since the 1940s. They farm fifteen varieties (some you'll recognise, some you won't) and pick each one as it ripens, not when the buyers want it. Their Pink Lady arrives in April; their Granny Smith in March.

Their preserve kitchen, run by Thandi and her daughter Lerato, takes whatever doesn't go to the boxes and turns it into applesauce, apple-and-cinnamon chutney, quince jelly, pear-and-vanilla preserve. We stock the lot. They're what we put out with the cheese boards.