To Fulfill a Dream

We are passionate about the Karoo, its people, and the energy of the incredible changing landscape that feeds our soul. Unfortunately, our veld suffered biodiversity loss through historic grazing mismanagement coupled with climate change. As a result, the veld digressed from rich lief-filled grasslands to an arid landscape over the past century.

Therefore, when we came, we found unpalatable grasses and bushes interspersed with bare soil patches.

Kristin and Peter

Kristin is an American who grew up in Kenya. She has a PhD in agricultural education and communication and has worked in Kenya, Ethiopia, Switzerland, and South Africa.

Peter grew up in a bilingual German-English family in South Africa and studied for his PhD in poultry nutrition in the USA.

Kristin and Peter met in Europe and moved to South Africa in 2014. Together, Kristin and Peter Plumstead purchased Aasvogelkrans in 2022 with the vison of restoring the land through regenerative grazing.

However, putting our dreams and vision into action requires lots of energy and resources. This is tirelessly executed by Derek and Joy Andersen. They manage the farm together with our team of incredible staff who are rapidly turning our dream into reality.

Regenerating the land

To measure success, we comprehensively assessed the veld. We implement the latest scientific regenerative farming principles to restore the soil and biodiversity. This has been a mammoth undertaking, putting in over 20 new grazing camps and 13 km of underground piping to get water everywhere.

The regenerative approach uses the hooves of our cattle and sheep to break up the soil crust to absorb the rain. It employs their rich organic dung and urine to fertilise the ground, then leaving the area to recover and grow.

Sustainable practices

Over time, this will improve the soil quality and diversity, density, and nutritional value of the natural grasses. Our herd of Tuli cattle and Dohne Merino sheep are supplemented with essential minerals on the veld. They are raised without routine antibiotics, hormones, or growth promoters. They are born and raised on the farm to ensure a stress-free, healthy life and provide you with wholesome, sustainably produced meat.

By staying at Aasvogelkrans Farm, or purchasing our produce, every guest enables us to continue implementing our vision of regenerating the biodiversity of this small piece of the Karoo for all our children and their children to come back to.