#LeeuLocallyGrown
A concept that was birthed at the inception of Leeu Collection when the building started on Leeu Estates in late 2014/early 2015 has come to fruition.
Mr. Singh, who has a keen eye for landscaping envisioned pieces of land on Leeu Estates that would be dedicated to cultivating vegetables, fruits and edible flowers to supply the restaurants within Leeu Collection with fresh ingredients.
To start, there was the “Picking Garden” (previously known as the Herb and Vegetable Garden), blocks of herbs and edible flowers in the Bokkie Garden, rows of Pomegranate (between Indaba – the meeting the place and Pomegranate Cottage – Spa Suite) and strategically placed Olive Groves around the Estates.
With increased consciousness to explore more ways in which to decrease the Collection’s carbon footprint and keep up with the demand from the expansion of our offering, in August 2019, the Leeu edible garden initiative (better known as #LeeuLocallyGrown) was started under the guidance of Christine Stevens of Christine Stevens Designs. Christine has been building edible gardens for over twenty years and she is using her knowledge to create a personalized health initiative to enhance a healthier more sustainable lifestyle. She has also written three books, Harvest, Harvest Diaries and Harvest Kitchen and contributes regularly to Landscape Magazine and Life in Balance Magazine.
Under #LeeuLocallyGrown a series of vegetable, herb and fruit gardens have been planted in separate growing areas all around the polytunnel next to the west dam on Leeu Estates. The polytunnel measures36m x 10 m, in front of the tunnel we have 22 raised beds measuring 3m x 1m, behind there is a courtyard of 19 growing bins that measure 1m x 1m, on the side are 5 growing bins that act as back up, we also trial new crops here as it is protected from the wind and a small metal shed, that is used to germinate seeds and also as a drying out area for saving seeds.
This farm-to-table movement has been welcomed by all the restaurants, La Petite Colombe and The Dining Room (Leeu Estates), The Conservatory (Leeu House), Protégé and Epice (Le Quartier Français), the hotels and Leeu Spa by Healing Earth. All the produce on the property is grown following natural farming principles, no pesticides or herbicides are used to ensure the finest tastiest vegetables and herbs are available for the chefs.
