AGRITOURISM DESTINATION – JASMYN

What is Agritourism? Any agriculturally based operation that brings visitors to a farm.

When you enter Hartbeespoort from the R511, the very first thing you notice after you start descending Saartjies Nek, is the large windmill on your left. The unexpected beauty of the mountains, the water and the windmill excites most South Africans and Tourist’s. Residents of Hartbeespoort testify the relief and gratitude they feel when they return home after a day in the city.

The windmill was built by the owners of Jasmyn. John grew up in Boksburg with an Afrikaans Father and Mother with a Greek background and Eef immigrated to South Africa from Landsmeer in Holland. Explaining the name of the Equestrian estate “Landsmeer” opposite Jasmyn.

Windmills originated from Mediterranean countries and not just from Holland. The Dutch only utilized windmills,  to pump water out the Dykes in Holland. The Windmill, at Jasmyn, is a symbol representing both John’s Mediterranean and Eef’s European Origin. The Jasmyn windmill is a well-established landmark in Hartbeespoort and needs no introduction or advertisement.

Every windmill has a story, right? This one is a story built from love, a story of growth, hard work and a family that knows how to stand up, stick together and reinvent themselves.

The Erasmus’s met in high school and subsequently married in March 1960. After school John started his career at Checkers. At that time, the Checkers Group of stores was under the management of the great doyen of retail, Raymond Ackerman. Eef traded her position at a local nursery for a career at Barclays Bank.

After a few years they took all their savings to purchase a small café on a corner in Vanderbijlpark. The Café was called “The Squeeze Inn Cafe”. The name was most apt, as it was a tiny café tightly squeezed in-between other shops. They ran this little shop for a few years.

The years of hard work and dedication paid off when this dynamic couple purchased the first SPAR franchise in Vanderbijlpark which included a deli/butchery and vegetable section. They called it a “food liner” Spar.

This period also marked the birth of their three sons Des, Derick and Raymond.

Investment in a Mall in Vanderbijlpark was not as fruitful as anticipated and the couple sadly lost everything. 

With lessons learned and still striving for self-sufficiency, they embraced a new challenge, that of farming. They found a small farm roughly 35 km outside of Rustenburg. The farm had a few fruit trees and a small farm stall, ‘Jasmyn’. It was in need of much work and all-encompassing creativity and care.

 A building the size of a garage on the N4 Rustenburg was converted to sell fruit and vegetables. They sold cakes, sweets, bread etc on behalf of farmers wives in the area. Their popularity grew, as a result of excellent customer service and fresh produce. Further expansion was necessary to accommodate the growing trade amongst travellers and inhabitants alike.     

In 1995 the family renovated the small Jasmyn farmstall and added a small butchery, bakery and coffee shop. They also added a small bookshop. John had a passion for books. He loved the Afrikaans language and indulged in reading many Afrikaans books”

Derick, Eef and John worked the farm stall.  Des ran the vegetable farm. Raymond ran the dairy with 30 Jersey cows producing, fresh milk, cream, butter, feta and cheddar cheese.

All produce produced on the farm was sold in the little farm stall and they expanded by delivering vegetables to the Klerksdorp, Johannesburg and Pretoria Markets.  Produce they did not farm themselves, was purchased daily from the Pretoria Market.  The Farm was the family’s pride and joy and indeed their life, holidays were scarce, if any at all. 

In 2000 the mines in Marikana forced them to sell the property and they relocated Jasmyn from Rustenburg to Hartbeespoort.

The Meerhof farm was purchased from the Oeshevski family who ran this farm as a research farm.   

The farm belonged to the Oeshevski’s for approximately 50 years before the Erasmus family purchased the farm. The farm is rich in history and logged into Hartbeespoort area’s Historical sites, is the old “Ossewa” road between Rustenburg and Pretoria as well as the main train line between Magaliesberg and Pretoria. It boasts with an old dam wall and a beautiful pizza oven that was built by the Italian prisoners of war.

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The new Meerhof farm is a generic development.  The family (this includes the new generation) all play a role in some way or another. Their recommendations are usually driven by the needs of the public.

They work tirelessly in embracing new challenges and their shared vision to leave a legacy that will be reminiscent of how strong this family’s bond is.

Although the entire family still resides on the farm, Des and Derick are directly involved with Jasmyn Farm and shop, while Raymond focusses more on his own farm near Middelburg.

The family says:

They were always interested in Agritourism and farming.  It came naturally to them. 

“We decide as family, all together, if we see the need to make changes and develop. We plan far ahead.  We wait, feel, look, travel and then sit with an architect and engineers. After many months of planning, we decide and start changes. It’s not something that just happens.   The public and customers play a very important role in how and when we make changes. We develop for the future.”

What do you think contributed to the longevity of your Business?

Our– Dad (John) use to say: “A homemaker will climb through a wired fence to get a good product at a good price”.  So, the longevity of our business is “Good products at good prices” 

They agree that they want the same legacy their parents left them with, to be the legacy they leave their children. “Be humble, have Integrity, be honest and respect others.” “Be disciplined and work hard but know that you can make mistakes.” “If you want someone or something to change, first change yourself.”“If you fail at something, stand up and start again.” “Always finish what you started.” “Family is everything.….”

What advice can you give future farmers that want to make their mark in Agritourism?

Des: “If you want healthy farming, you need to always work with nature, not against nature… 

“Concentrate on sustainable farming.  Make use of what the Good Lord has given us, to produce healthy, chemical free fruit and vegetables.” 

Derick: “Learn from other farmers or mentors. Study the latest technology in farming.

What we learned from this tight-knit family is that family who work hard together, stay together. Jasmyn is the ultimate example of Agritourism in South Africa and would remain a beacon of hope to many young and established South African Farmers for years to come.