A short road trip to visit friends - probably about 100km away, so I pulled off the road at an available farm gate to snap a shot for the day. The Swartland is fertile area - the bread basket of Cape Town where wheat and vegetables are grown as well as a big viticulture industry with some excellent wines, and olives
@anniesue@narayani Thank you. Yes swart does mean black, but surprisingly in this case it doesn't refer to the soil which is neither black nor volcanic.
Jan van Riebeeck called this softly undulating country between the mountain ranges "Het Zwarte Land" (the Black Land) because of the endemic Renosterbos (Elytropappus rhinocerotis). After the rains, mainly in winter, the Renosterbos takes on a dark appearance when viewed from the distance in large numbers. This is due to the fine leaf-hairs adhering to the leaves when wet. The wide fertile plain is the bread basket of Cape Town with its wheat fields reaching up to the foot of the mountains, interrupted by wine, fruit, and vegetable farms.
Jan van Riebeeck called this softly undulating country between the mountain ranges "Het Zwarte Land" (the Black Land) because of the endemic Renosterbos (Elytropappus rhinocerotis). After the rains, mainly in winter, the Renosterbos takes on a dark appearance when viewed from the distance in large numbers. This is due to the fine leaf-hairs adhering to the leaves when wet. The wide fertile plain is the bread basket of Cape Town with its wheat fields reaching up to the foot of the mountains, interrupted by wine, fruit, and vegetable farms.