How fat are baobab trees?

This week I did my annual trip to Skelmwater.  This is a baobab research plot situated near Musina long the N1.  Skelmwater was established in 1930 by the late Professor de Villiers of Stellenbosch University.  The aim was to measure the rate of growth of baobabs in their natural environment.   Despite the small number of baobabs in the plot, the […] Continue Reading

Baobabs & Bicycles

For all you cycling fans out there, if you’re in Louis Trichardt this weekend, do stop by and check out the Kremetart Cycle Tour – so named because the route goes past a significant number of Baobab Trees on the way.   It’s fun for the whole family (there are kiddies races, stage races and mountain bike cross country) and is […] Continue Reading

and the harvesting and processing season begins!

After our community workshop on Monday, my manager Colly started visiting the villages to buy our first fruit for the season.  The fruit are packed into bags then loaded onto our pick-up and trailer.  Each women is paid on delivery, so that she does not have to wait for payment.   The bags of fruit are transported back to our factory in […] Continue Reading

Featured in Forest Ecology and Management Journal

I'm really pleased to announce that my article on my scientific research findings regarding the sustainability of the Baobab Tree population has been recently published in the science journal Forest Ecology and Management.  This journal has a very rigorous selection process and acceptance is based on relevance, whether your article can demonstrate a genuine contribution to scientific knowledge, originality and […] Continue Reading

The Baobab Tree: worth it's weight in gold

How could we not like this beautiful gold hand crafted pendant of a baobab tree?  We also really like the concept of Precious Earth Jewelers who only use recycled previous metals to reduce the impact of mining on the earth's surface. Their  eco-conscious jewelry feature's Precous Earth's trade mark is a single "little green gemstone" of imperial chrome diopside, a conflict-free and […] Continue Reading

New Harvesting Season

This week we had our first collection workshop for the year. It was a beautiful crisp winter morning. When we headed out it was very early and the dew still hung on the baobab leaves. Everybody was in high spirits for the start of the collection season. Baobab fruit have started to ripen and drop off the trees and the women […] Continue Reading

Music and the Baobab

The Baobab tree inspires so much in the world! So why would you be surprised that there's a legendary Senegalese band out there called Orchestra Baobab? Orchestra Baobab was formed in Dakar in 1970 when a group of Senegalese decided to create an intimate club where they could meet with their friends. They fashioned its walls and ceilings to resemble […] Continue Reading