Dishing up the dirt

Summer time is harvest time!  It’s time to harvest everything you’ve spent valuable time and energy on during the winter season.  Your friendships, your relationships, and definitely your fruit and vegetable garden.  It is time to dig up the dirt and to set the table.  Use fresh, local ingredients from the ground, to create the perfect table setting for a celebration or an intimate wedding.

Summer is the season of fresh and vivid colours and the Northern Cape has so much to offer as decoration for a seasonal table.  Here are a few tips and tricks to help you dish up the dirt:

• Make use of succulents and veld flowers as focus points. Even a few dry blades of grass can give some height and add detail to your table.  Aloes, Jade plant, cactus, Tiger Tooth Aloe or even garden asparagus.  Succulents are the way to go as they don’t need much water and can last in the heat.  Put them in glass vases to give an elegant, though fresh and innovative look.

• Use home grown fruit and vegetables as décor. Everybody is going green and  this is still a major trend for the wedding season to come.  So use fresh figs, grapefruits, lemons, limes, beetroot, berries, cauliflower, grapes, radishes, or whatever you have in your back garden.  Cut some of the fruit in half to give spots of colour and more detail to your festivity.

Use fresh fruit to flavour your water. Kiwi, strawberries, cucumber, mint, oranges etc.   You can also prepare your own homemade cordials as a refreshment.

• Do a greenery runner with edible greenery and flowers. The Peruvian pink peppertree is seen throughout the Northern Cape.  The pink peppercorns are edible and beautiful decoration for your table or even a plate of food.  The well-known Spekboom can be used as greenery as this is edible as well.  You can even use spinach to add that extra green to your table!

• Pull the natural theme through to all your different elements. Use different types of wood, enamel, glass, ivory, or cotton, and try to stay away from anything plastic or aluminium.