Crops

Five crops, grown on our own land.

Bird's Eye chilli, peppermint and thyme are certified organic and in export production. Turmeric and ginger are growing and in buyer trials. Everything is seasonal, so the earlier we know your volumes, the better we can plan.

Bird's Eye Chilli

Capsicum frutescens

Certified organic

A small, very hot chilli that needs heat to do well, which is why it suits Limpopo. We dry it for buyers who extract capsaicin, so drying is set to protect it.

Supplied as: Whole dried chilli, calyx and stem removed
Planting: August to October
Harvest: February to May
Preparation: Destemmed by hand, washed in borehole water and dried for about 18 hours to the buyer's moisture target. Dryers are cleaned with organic soap between batches.
Feeding: Vermicompost and a seaweed foliar feed
Seed: Saved from our own certified harvest

Peppermint

Mentha × piperita

Certified organic

Grown in three-year beds and cut every six to eight weeks in season. Leaf and stem carry different oils, so we dry and bag them separately for buyers who distil them.

Supplied as: Dried leaf and dried stem, as separate lots
Planting: August to September
Harvest: Every 6–8 weeks; beds are rotated after three years
Preparation: Leaf separated from stem by hand, then dried, graded and packed
Feeding: Compost tea and poultry manure pellets

Thyme

Thymus, including lemon thyme

Certified organic

Valued by pharmaceutical and food buyers for its essential oil. Like peppermint, thyme grows in three-year beds and is supplied as separate leaf and stem.

Supplied as: Dried leaf and dried stem, as separate lots
Planting: August
Harvest: January to April; rotated in the fourth year
Preparation: Separated by hand, dried, graded and packed
Feeding: Light compost and wood ash

Turmeric

Curcuma longa

In buyer trials

An eight-to-ten-month rhizome crop, grown at Walkerville and in rotation at Radium. Samples are with prospective buyers. Turmeric is not yet in our certified scope.

Available as: Fresh rhizome samples
Planting: October to November
Harvest: July to August
Feeding: Extra compost and an organic NPK
Next step: Processing into spice and tea once the right equipment is in place

Ginger

Zingiber officinale

In buyer trials

Grown and harvested on our farms while buyers test its quality. Ginger is not yet in our certified scope.

Available as: Fresh rhizome samples
Next step: Processing into spice and tea once the right equipment is in place

Growing calendar

Seasons for our Radium farm. Exact dates move with the weather each year.

Crop	Planting	Harvest	Life of a planting
Bird's Eye Chilli	Aug–Oct	Feb–May	Annual, replanted each year
Peppermint	Aug–Sep	Every 6–8 weeks	3 years, then rotated
Thyme	Aug	Jan–Apr	3 years, rotated in year 4
Turmeric	Oct–Nov	Jul–Aug	8–10 months
Sunn hemp	Between crops	Turned into the soil	8–10 weeks

Also on our organic certificate: moringa, young trees at Radium that are not yet harvested for sale, and sunn hemp, a nitrogen-fixing green manure we grow between crops to rebuild the soil.

What to send us

We mostly supply companies that make botanical extracts and pharmaceutical ingredients, and food businesses. A useful first email covers five things. If you don't know them all yet, send what you have.

The crop and plant part: whole chilli, leaf or stem
Your specification: moisture, grade, any lab testing
Volume, and how often you need it
Destination market and the documents you will need
Packaging and delivery requirements

Email a supply enquiry