» Who We Are

Witvoetskloof, so named because of the deposit of fine white clay that whitens one’s feet in the pass that leads to the farmhouse, is a Protea and fynbos producing farm.
Historically it has had quite a chequered production, ranging from cattle to small fields of tobacco and several hectares of potatoes and pumpkins. Essentially, though, relatively little of the natural fynbos has been disturbed. At present approximately 40/50 of the 980 hectares are under cultivation and only Proteas and Leucadendrons are being grown.

The farm is owned and run by Chris and Elwen van Schouwen, with their son Adrian as the manager. They employ 30 local people for the picking and processing of the flowers, three of whom were born on the farm and love every inch of it.

The pickers are meticulous in their approach to conserving all the growth. If there is ever any danger of overpicking or damaging any one species, we leave that area untouched for two to three years to re-establish. 12 adults and 7 children live on the farm. The other labourers are fetched daily from Stanford 18kms away. The children are transported to a school bus.

Witvoetskloof exports mostly in the form of bouquets, twice a week from Cape Town Airport. The main clients are Dutch, German and Swiss.

Witvoetskloof is known to have the richest diversity of fynbos in the entire area, including the famous Fernkloof Nature Reserve in Hermanus. Some avid Gladiolus collectors visit every now and then to search for a very rare Gladiolus, which only has ever been sighted twice – one of these botanical discoveries having been made on this farm. Unfortunately the botanist at the time refrained from giving the exact location. The fynbos comprises lowland Montane and Limestone species and there are some good pockets of Afro-montane forest. Several perennial springs provide wonderfully pure water.

Game occurring naturally includes baboon, Bushbuck, Rooikat (Caracal), Bat-eared Fox, Genet, Grysbok, Hare, Honey Badger, Klipspringer, Otter, Porcupine, Rhebuck (grey), Steenbok, Dune Mole Rat, Yellow and Grey Mongoose and a variety of snake species.

Birdlife is quite prolific and beside the well-known Protea loving species includes Flufftails, yellow-billed and White-backed ducks, Black Crakes, Dabchicks, Stanleys Bustard, Black Harrier, Gymnogene, Jackal Buzzard, Forest Buzzard and several Cape Eagle Owls.

Our biggest problem is a large Eucalyptus Forest – a smaller one has already been cut down – and an extremely poor access road.

Our dream is to retain the beauty and quality of this farm for all time.