Operation Wildflower
  • Home
  • Albums
  • Links
    • Botanical Gardens
    • OWF Sites
    • Public Parks, Gardens and Reserves
    • Reference Sites
    • Private Parks, Gardens and Reserves
  • Information
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Articles
    • Plant Records
      • Aloes
      • Bulbs
      • Climbers
      • Cycads
      • Euphorbias
      • Ferns
      • Grasses
      • Herbs
      • Orchids
      • Parasites
      • Shrubs
      • Succulents
      • Trees
    • Sources of Information
    • Disclaimer
    • Subject Index
Home Home » REGIONS » Biedouw Valley » Sheep in the Biedouw
Back to Category Overview
Total images in all categories: 11,538
Total number of hits on all images: 6,617,775

Sheep in the Biedouw

Sheep in the Biedouw
Start View full size
[Please activate JavaScript in order to see the slideshow]
Previous Previous
Image 45 of 50  
Next Next
Image 47 of 50  
  • Osteospermum sinuatum var. sinuatum, the Karoobietou
  • Othonna parviflora branched above ground level
  • Othonna parviflora single-stemmed
  • Pelargonium magenteum flowers
  • Pelargonium magenteum in habitat
  • Prosopis, a bane and a boon
  • Pteronia incana and beetle
  • Pteronia incana flowers and fruit
  • Rhynchopsidium pumilum ring of flowers
  • River vegetation
  • Searsia dissecta, the langsteelkorentebos
  • Searsia undulata being eaten
  • Sheep in the Biedouw
  • Spring flowers in the open spaces
  • Tetragonia hirsuta flowers and fruit
  • Trigonocapnos lichtensteinii known as hekeltjies
  • Water gives life and takes it

Image information

Description

Apart from notable rooibos tea farming and spring flower tourism, the northern Cederberg valleys, including the Biedouw Valley, are home to a variety of other farming activities. Small and mixed product ventures are sheltered below the rocky slopes and cliffs.

The art of the possible in undertakings for financing lifestyles in every era is truncated by environmental features of landscape and resources. Winter rain, hot summers and deep soil in smallish patches point to the options, as do needs and markets. The life-sustaining activities of the residents continually reshape the landscape, also the minds of the people.

Much has changed over the few centuries since the days of San hunting and Khoi animal husbandry. The signs of their contributions are today reduced to rock paintings, place names and plant usage habits. Sheep farming may be one of the oldest components of the human endeavour in the local mix here, as well as finding food and medicines from the indigenous vegetation.

Water sources such as the Doring River and its tributary, the Biedouw River dictate the scale of operations, as do the topography of spectacular rock formations and valleys, characterised by sedimentary rock, sandstone and shale.

Bie is said to have been the Khoi name of the melkbos, Euphorbia mauritanica, known here and in many parts of the country. Douw may have been a Khoi word for a mountain pass, in their days a faint trail, a foot and stock path. These two words were (possibly) combined to name the Biedouw River and Valley to this day. There are other explanations.

Are we living in an era of waxing or waning interest in historical heritage including the old names? Are we maintaining the essence (whatever we decide that to be), of cultural heritage in our time? Or are we allowing such things to disappear gradually from neglect?

If no history is recorded and passed on, the people may eventually only have their names and looking in the mirror as main sources of identifying their meaning in the world.

Time will tell, or not. Time also buries generations, stories and all, whenever they don’t leave legacies. Insignificant generations, even nations leave little, lessening the significance of their children in the world (Dean, 2005).  

Hits
21
Photographer
Thabo Maphisa
Author
Ivan Latti
 
Back to Category Overview
Powered by JoomGallery