If you’ve landed here after seeing us on TV — welcome. Yes, that was our farm. Nisboere on VIA (DStv channel 147), the series about South Africa’s niche farmers, spent time with us at Bloukop for episode 16 of season 10, and the full episode is now online.
What the episode is about
Nisboere tells the stories of farmers who make a living from something out of the ordinary — and it’s hard to be more out of the ordinary than nastergal. The episode follows Loutjie and Zelda-Mari du Toit at Bloukop Farm near Amersfoort, walking the fields where our nastergal grows and stepping into the farm kitchen where every batch of konfyt is cooked.
It’s the same story we tell on our story page, told through someone else’s camera: a family farm worked for more than 110 years, a fourth generation now farming it, and an indigenous heritage berry — the nastergal — grown in our own fields, hand-harvested at full ripeness, and cooked in small batches the way it has been since Marie de Jager’s first jars in 2004.
That branch in the frame above tells the whole quality story in one picture: green berries stay on the plant, and only the deep purple-black ripe ones are picked — the ripe-vs-unripe rule every nastergal cook lives by.
Why a TV crew came to a jam farm
Because the product genuinely is a niche: nastergal konfyt is one of South Africa’s rarest preserves. The berry has a short late-summer season, the harvest is done by hand, and the batches are small — which is why you won’t find it on a supermarket shelf. Every jar is sold directly from the farm.
That’s the thing Nisboere looks for: farmers who’ve chosen depth over volume. We’re proud the series thought our little berry deserved an episode.
Taste what you saw
If the episode made you curious, the konfyt from the episode is a few clicks away — made in the same kitchen you saw on screen:
- Order nastergal jam direct from the farm — 500g and 175g jars, delivered across South Africa
- Read what nastergal konfyt actually is — and why the colour is that deep purple-black
- Our full story — from ten jars in 2004 to national television
En vir die Afrikaanse kykers: dankie dat julle saam gekuier het. Die konfyt is nog altyd net direk van die plaas af beskikbaar — plaas gerus ‘n bestelling.
Taste the berry behind the story
Whole nastergal berries, hand-harvested and preserved in a deep purple syrup on Bloukop Farm. Order direct and have a jar sent to you.
Order Nastergal Konfyt