Farm life
Farm life, photographed by the family
Days on the farm, photographed by Alex Nel: the people, the work and the changing veld. Explore by subject, or open a photograph to see it in full.
54 photos
Dated observations
Field notes
Each note records particular days, taken from the capture dates of the photographs. They are not a calendar of what the farm does every season.
July 2026
Preparing the next planting
10 and 11 July 2026. Jan Martin prepared the soil for the next rooibos planting with the land in flower, and on the escarpment edge the small plants were out between the quartz stones.
Jan Martin, preparing the soil for the next rooibos planting. 
Small plants between quartz stones on the edge of the escarpment. February 2026
Rooibos ready for harvest
Evening of 16 February 2026. The rooibos rows had grown in and the bushes were ready to be cut. The same evening the sky built up behind the windmill and lit the fields from the west.
Rows of rooibos bushes, ready for harvest. 
Sunset in the rooibos fields. 
A sunset view of the Cloudskraal clouds. January 2026
Clouds become mist
Early on 9 January 2026 the cloud lay against the top of the mountain and turned to mist over the planted blocks and the dam that irrigates the vineyards and alfalfa. Later the same morning, from above, Cloudskraal and the neighbouring farm Elandsvoetpad.
Early morning light as the clouds become mist at the top of the mountain. 
Cloudskraal's dam, used to irrigate the vineyards and alfalfa fields, at sunrise. 
A bird's-eye view of Cloudskraal and the neighbouring farm, Elandsvoetpad. August 2025
Weavers in the poplar wood
29 August 2025, late afternoon: a weaver working on its nest in the poplar wood, and the Stone Cottage, Kliphuis, in soft light with yellow flowers in front of it.
A weaver at work on its nest in the poplar wood, preparing for the season. 
A weaver, or geelvink, inspecting its nest. 
Cloudskraal's Stone Cottage, or Kliphuis. July 2024
Winter in the vineyard
End of July 2024. Japie walked the dormant vines; the family was photographed together among the winter trees; and two nights later Garsland was lit under a clear sky.
Japie Nel, inspecting the vineyards. 
The Nel family, left to right: Enya, Japie, Frances, Angelique and Alex Nel. 
Garsland at night. August 2023
Flower season, 2023
18 to 27 August 2023. The vineyard rows filled with yellow flowers, the wine was poured in the veld, blue cranes danced on the lands, and the community cooked roosterkoek on the coals. On the 24th the krans was photographed at its sunset viewpoint.
The vineyards in flower season, the rows filled with yellow flowers. 
Nieu Sauvignon Blanc in the wildflowers. 
Wine in flower season: the Nieu Sauvignon Blanc poured in the veld. 
Blue cranes in a mating dance. 
Cooking roosterkoek over the coals in spring, a Nieuwoudtville community gathering. 
The sunset viewpoint on the krans, looking west over the Knersvlakte. May 2021
Cover crops between rooibos rotations
13 May 2021, at dusk. The planter sowed oats and lupins to restore the land between rooibos rotations, photographed close up and from behind as the light went.
Planting the cover crops to restore the land between rooibos rotations. 
The planter preparing the cover crops: oats and lupins. March 2021
Maartblomme
Evening of 29 March 2021. The pink Maartblomme were in flower across the plateau.
Maartblomme in bloom at Nieuwoudtville. 
Maartblomme. 
Maartblomme in close detail. March 2020
Cutting and sweating the rooibos
28 March 2020, on the tea court: freshly hand-cut bundles waiting to be chopped, the rotovator turning the previous night's fermentation to the deep red that is ready for drying, and dried tea off the court. The next morning the cut bushes in the field were wet with dew.
Freshly hand-cut rooibos bundles, ready to be chopped and fermented. 
The rotovator turning over the rooibos after the night's fermentation, turning it a deep red, ready to dry. 
Dried rooibos from the tea court. 
Rooibos after it is cut, with early morning dew.