Proper Cape winter heralds good waterblommetjie season

For waterblommetjie lovers, the return of plentiful winter rain and snow to the Western Cape means the return of this beloved edible aquatic plant, endemic to the Boland (images right and below right by Lee Schwagele).

The waterblommetjie (‘little water flower’) harvest was almost non-existent for the past two years, due not only to the drought but also to winters that were too warm and water temperature that wasn’t cold enough to induce flowering, for it is the inflorescences that are eaten.

Commercial waterblommetjie production takes place around Piketberg, Porterville, Riebeeck-Kasteel, Worcester, Wolseley, Wellington and Saron. The tubers are planted in dams during late summer or early winter (one of the earliest producers already started harvesting in April this year). The inflorescences are picked and thoroughly rinsed for consumption, mostly fresh but also canned. Individual farmers produce between 1 and 5 tonnes of waterblommetjies annually. Harvesting of the sweetly-scented flowers and stems last until early springtime, when the tubers are removed for their summer dormancy period.

The provenance of their first waterblommetjies is a closely-guarded secret by farm stalls, all competing to be the first to offer waterblommetjies in winter. 

There is still widescale waterblommetjie harvesting from natural ponds, for use in farm kitchens or sold by the roadside, but retailers require more stringent food security measures. One retailer has been stocking waterblommetjies at its stores countrywide – although their first priority when the first waterblommetjies come in, are their Western Cape stores – for the past twelve years, and it has seen growth particularly among consumers in Gauteng and the Free State. In KwaZulu-Natal, however, with its firmly-established Indian cuisine, waterblommetjies don’t fly off the shelves.

“After two non-existent waterblommetjie years we’re just happy to have waterblommetjies again,” says a vegetable buyer at a major retailer, himself a lover of waterblommetjiebredie (waterblommetjie stew). “It’s going to be a lekker, normal waterblommetjie season.”

He continues: “The waterblommetjie industry is a vibrant industry, the tubers are widely sold and planted in the Boland, a bit like tulip bulbs.”

On the first of September the annual waterblommetjie festival takes place on Rhebokskloof wine estate in Agter-Paarl. At the festival, where the stew will be made like it's done in the winelands, it will find a use in some non-traditional ways, like waterblommetjie ice cream.

For more information:

http://www.waterblommetjiefees.com