Farm workers in Elandsfontein in Citrusdal are harvesting Louis Boss. Photo: Henk Kruger/African News Agency (ANA)

Many different types of tea are grown all over the world: black tea, green tea, white tea, oolong tea, etc. Honeybush and rooibos belong to a group called black tea. These two teas are part of the fynbos vegetation type and are endemic to the Western Cape Province of South Africa.

Although these bushes do not look exciting, they produce delicious and healthy tea. Honeybush and Rooibos are known for their antioxidant properties. They are decaffeinated teas grown in South Africa and are popular all over the world.

Mike and Jill Mouat, owners of Bitou Honeybush, produce honey trees in the coastal town of Plettenberg Bay on the Garden Route in the Western Cape.

"Honeybush is native to the area and is not grown anywhere else," Mouats said.

They explained that honey trees were originally a wild-harvested crop, but due to widespread fires, persistent drought conditions and unsustainable harvesting methods, wild-harvested crops can no longer meet market demand. Honeybush is now grown as a crop to ensure quality and sustainable quantity on the market.

Since 2016, Jacques Burger has been growing rooibos and citrus at the Elandsfontein farm in Citrusdal. According to him, growing Rooibos tea is not that difficult, although it brings challenges.

“Before we decided to buy, we first rented the farm for 12 years,” he said. "Since then we have never looked back."

"It is not difficult to grow Louis Boss," Berg said. "Farmers only need to invest a lot of energy in Louis Boss."

He said that Louis Boss needs a lot of land to cultivate, and it is a labor-intensive crop. But other than that, it is relatively easy to grow and does not require fertilizer.

"We don't fertilize Rooibos," Berg said. "This is great, and its growth is absolutely natural. No need for irrigation; it just rained."

Honeybush also does not need fertilizer, but it does require more water.

"To grow honey trees and get high yields, you need a lot of rainfall, or you have to irrigate, which is costly," Mouats said.

If you want to practice organic planting methods, honey tree planting can be quite labor-intensive. This is because you must manually remove any invasive growth or bugs from the ground to keep the plants healthy.

Whernit Dirks, a Louis Boss farmer in Piketberg, Western Cape, bought his farm in 2013. For a long time, he has been working hard to make crops thrive in the sandy soil of his farm. Then he tried to plant Rooibos in 2018, which is the perfect crop for the soil type.

Dirks explained that due to the deep, sandy soil, Louis Boss worked well in his area.

"You can see that when you take the bush out of the field, the roots of the bush grow very deep," he said. "The tea is well done because the roots can penetrate deep into the soil."

"This is what Louis Boss is looking for," he said. "After planting, the soil is deep, the sand is good, and the rain is plentiful."

As for the climate, rooibos and honey trees are endemic species that rain in the hot and dry summers and winters in the Western Cape. This is the best climate for growing them.

"Rooibos adapts well in the dry, hot summers, and the winter rainfall is between 300-600 mm per year," Berg said. 

"Rooibos was harvested by hand with a sickle," Berg said.

These plants are harvested between January and March each year. New rooibos plants are planted in June and July.

After harvest, the cuttings of the crop are scratched and then fermented in piles. In the process, the tea will change from green to reddish-brown, and exudes a unique sweetness of rooibos. After fermentation, spread the cuttings and dry them. 

Burger explained that in the first year after planting Rooibos, the first harvest will provide you with green Rooibos tea.

The green rooibos is harvested, cut, and then immediately dried without fermentation. This results in green Rooibos tea being lighter in color than traditional Rooibos tea or black tea. In the next few years, the crops will be harvested and ordinary rooibos tea will be produced.

Honeybush is also harvested by hand, but at a different time.

Except for extremely hot December, January and February, Mouats harvests their honey trees all year round.

According to Mouats, honey tree tea is an increasingly popular beverage at home and abroad.

They explained: “Because it contains no caffeine, low tannin content, natural sweetness and extremely high antioxidant content, it is consumed more and more because of its many health benefits.” This makes tea Very suitable for the export market, especially with the rapid growth of the healthy diet market.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the average annual output of honey tree tea in South Africa in 2016 was about 400 tons. Most of them are usually exported to Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Louis Boss is world-renowned and can be exported. However, the local Louis Boss market is very volatile and not always beneficial to farmers.

"What makes it difficult for Louis Boss is that the prices farmers get are fundamentally unstable," Berg said. "This makes financial planning difficult. If the Louis Boss price is lower than the input cost, be prepared for some very bad years," he said.

Dex said that Rooibos is not a particularly high-income crop.

"In the future, I want to use Louis Boss for processing," he said. "This is the way to go."

Burger said that if you want to farm with this crop, you need to be passionate about Louis Boss and have a lot of energy.

He also warned that high winds will blow away newly planted Rooibos crops or destroy their new growth, and you must be prepared to replant everything.

"Strong winds sometimes blow sand towards plants, and the dust will kill them," Berg warned. "This is beyond our control."

Dirks recommends starting your agricultural business with a partner who has experience in the field of Rooibos cultivation and has facilities that can be shared.

"If you can't do it yourself, find yourself a good partner," he said. But he emphasized that for the partnership to work, you and your business partners must trust each other.

"Continue to do good things, my fellow farmers, we will succeed," Dex said.

Also read: Rooibos: This is the harvest season, we have a front row seat

Dona van Eeden is an up-and-coming writer and journalist who started her career as an intern at Food for Mzansi. With a deep love and understanding of environmental systems and sustainable development, her goal is to do her best to make the world a better place. In her free time, you can find her nose in a book, or wander in the mountains and see the world through the camera's viewfinder.

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