il Contadino

The Diack Family Farm, Brightside is based in the foothill of the ancient Magaliesberg​ Mountain Range. Blessed with rich, fertile soil the farm produces virtually all in-season vegetables used by il Contadino. Only organic(no poisons/inorganic fertilizers) methods are used to grow our vegetables. We are working towards using our seed, leaving a small portion of each crop to go to seed. The farm also Provides free-range chickens, ducks, eggs, acorn-fed pigs, wild boar, grass-fed Suffolk Lamb, and Dexter beef. The plates of delicious food in the restaurant are decorated with beautiful flowers harvested in the garden. The farm is a perfect circle in as much as all the manure from the animals is used in the garden and the composted cuttings. The egg shells and edible waste from the restaurant are put back into the soil and fed to the pigs. Even empty milk bottles adorn the soft fruit trees filled with natural bug lures to safeguard our fruit. The farm kitchens produce chutneys, jellies, some cheeses, and charcuterie products. Brightside is a magical, happy place with all manner of livestock foraging all over the place, staff working with a song on their lips, and of course the remarkable gardens.