A few days ago, during a fit of low motivation, I asked my Instagram followers to suggest potential topics for Joburg-related blog posts. Thank you again to everyone who submitted suggestions — you made my week! I received more than 30 viable ideas and found it hard to decide which one to pursue first. I finally decided on Random Harvest, and indigenous nursery north of Joburg, because two different people suggested it and spring is a great time to blog about a nursery.

Random Harvest is a Joburg institution and it’s weird that I hadn’t blogged about it until now. Perhaps it’s because traveling there requires some commitment. From central Joburg, the nursery is a 30-minute trek up Beyers Naudé Drive, which is hot, dusty (especially at this time of year), congested at all times, and has a ton of perpetually broken traffic lights. I pulled into Random Harvest’s parking area feeling tired and irritable. But the moment I stepped into the nursery — enveloped by birdsong, buzzing bees, cooling mist from the sprinklers, and the soothing sound of water trickling through the fish ponds — my irritability vanished.

A Morning at Random Harvest
Random Harvest, like many nurseries in South Africa, is actually a lot more than a nursery. It’s a full-on farm, with acres of indigenous trees, flowers, and other plants, as well as a restaurant, shop, and even a guesthouse (although I didn’t see the guest rooms yesterday). I didn’t go there with any specific plans — I just wandered about, taking the occasional photo and breathing as much cool tranquility into my thirsty lungs as possible.







My favorite part of Random Harvest was the grounds outside the main nursery area, which felt sort of private but I didn’t see any signs telling me not to walk there so I went ahead. I found huge beds of clivias, an indigenous flowering plant that blooms prolifically in Joburg at this time of year. (I would say clivias are to South Africa what daffodils are to the northeastern U.S. — a classic symbol of spring.)




Lunch at Random Harvest
I sat down for lunch after my stroll. Random Harvest has a really lovely breakfast and lunch menu: Like literally, the menu itself is dazzling. I noticed they also offer afternoon tea, which I’d love to go back for.

I had a chicken mayo sandwich on seed bread and it was delicious — R80 ($4.50) for a filling sandwich and side salad.

I finished my lunch, bought a new flower pot and some bird-feeders, then reluctantly left Random Harvest and plunged back out onto Beyers Naudé. This outing was perfect — thanks to the two people who recommended it.
Random Harvest is on College Road in Muldersdrift. They have a fantastic newsletter with all kinds of fun stories and announcements about gardening classes, birding walks, etc. I picked up a hard copy at the shop but the newsletter also appears online.
Apparently that plant is the cyphostemma juttae (Namibian grape). I’m not an expert…I tried Google Lens and it seemed to work.
Oh wow I love the sound of that!
Sounds like the perfect inspiration you needed. I love strolling around nurseries, it’s a bit like a good meditation session.
That’s very accurate actually.
You could have safed yourself a lot of stress by visiting my garden where we have a lot of Clivias and other indigenous plants blooming at the moment. This nursery is almost an addiction as we love gardening and birds. The gardeners are more then helpful to show you around and give proper advise and after we where allowed also to visit their planting and seedlings area we even got more addicted.
I can see how it could become very addictive!
Ah, mystery solved!! :-). A good friend in Pretoria has recommended it to me years ago but alas I have not gone there yet. All the more reason to head there soon.
Yes and it might be closer for you!
Random Harvest is a family favourite spot to both visit and stay at in their guest houses, which are reasonably priced and some really lovely. They also have a beautiful small dam area where you can walk to and sit and observe the many birds. They keep some dairy cows on the property, and the milk, cream and butter at the restaurant all comes from these cows. Not something I advocate as a vegan 😉 but very nice I guess for people who are not.
Oh I didn’t know that about the cows! Cool.
Seems like an awesome “hidden” gem! Will pay it a visit soon, thanks for the blog.
It’s definitely a bit hidden and also a gem!