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The sandveld - potatoes, brandy & honey Besides magnificent wildflowers and fynbos, and birds, the Sandveld area produces many other great things. It lies in the sparsely populated Atlantic coastal area between the west coast and the Swartland and gets its name from its sandy soil, a vestige of the time when this area was under the sea.The Sandveld stretches from Hopefield in the south to just south of Lutzville in the north,while the West Coast Road and the dirt road dunning northwards from Dwarskersbos are taken as the somewhat arbitrary western boundary of the region. Here the soil and vegetation are similar to that of the west coast, while the southern part is valued for its beautiful wild flowers and spectacular fynbos especially in the area around Hopefield. Large tracts of natural veld support a fair number of small game such as Steenbuck and larger species of antelope that are frequently seen along the road, while the lower Berg River Valley, harbours large numbers of pheasant, guinea fowl and duck. Flowing through the entire Swartland and Sandveld this river has encouraged development, especially agricultural development in the region. The region was slow to develop into a significant agricultural area as a result of the poor sandy soil, low rainfall and dense clumps of indigenous vegetation, consisting mainly of various hardy types of bush and reed. Farms in the area are large and are mainly livestock farmsMost farms are large and keep mainly cattle and sheep. There are a number of successful apiaries in this area producing a variety of different types of honey depending on the wildflowers in bloom at the time. The farmers closest to the Swartland also produce wheat. Although not on the same scale as in the Swartland. It is an important source of income. In addition to wheat, grown by the garmers closest to the Swartland, various types of pasturage and sunflowers are grown. There is a great sense of ecological development in the area with Farmers going to great lengths not to deforest their farms. Fields are generally not very large and show a distinctive pattern. Stretches of scrubland serve as windbreaks between the cultivated fields in between. These are necessary because of the loose texture of the soil which allows the wind to strip away cultivated soil which can damage growing crops. The sandveld is well known for its potatoes and virtually supplies all the requirements for the Western Cape. Closer to the sea dry land lucerne is farmed. Langfontein farm between Aurora and Redelinghuys produces white Lima beans grown that are exported to Buckingham Palace each year. Outside Aurora a brandy distillery on the farm Brakkuil utilises the wine produced from the sweet grapes of the area. Redelinghuys produces watermelons and sweetmelons and in Graafwater the many salt bushes are grazes by goats and far fewer crops are cultivated here because of the harsher conditions. There are some farmers along the Berg River who use an irrigation scheme to irrigate a vegetable gardens, orchards or lucerne fields. In the Langebaan Road area a fertilizer factory opencast mines rock phosphate producing fertilizer particularly suited to agriculture. This opencast mine is also world famous because of the wonderful fossil vertebrates found here dating back to the late Tertiary period.
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