Quinces, which have been grown at the Cape for over 350 years, are back in season again. They were planted and mentioned in his diary by Jan van Riebeek’ s gardeners in the Company Gardens in Cape Town shortly after the settlement at the Cape by the Dutch to create a fuelling station for their ships sailing to Batavia. Quinces were popular right up to the turn of the 20th Century but with the urbanization of rural peoples they have become less and less known. However there is hardly a farm which does not have its quince and pomegranate or cape gooseberry hedges - all of which have been at the Cape since the