Canola is early in my part of Alberta. Usually you see it bloom in late July. It has been in bloom a little over a week. It is not a great crop, it is patchy and thin in places. This spring we had rain when we needed sun and vice versa. It is still good to see fields of yellow.
Rapeseed. Call it what is.
ReplyDeleteAt one time. I have not heard it called that in about twenty years or more. I deal with a lot of farmers and in this area everyone calls it Canola.
DeleteIt is Canola up here:
DeleteIn the 1970s canola was created through traditional plant cross-breeding by removing two things found in the rapeseed plant: glucosinolates and erucic acid. Erucic acid was removed because it was believed to be inedible or toxic in high doses. The newly developed plant was renamed “canola,” a combination of “Canadian” and “oil” (or ola) to make this difference apparent.
By definition, if a seed is labeled “canola” it has to have less than 30 micromoles of glucosinolates and less than 2% of erucic acid.
Thank you anon I was not aware of why the name had changed to Canola.
DeleteYes, I drove down to Calgary yesterday and noticed some canola fields in bloom in the distance.
ReplyDeleteSeems at the plant life is all out of whack this year. Locally everything has been way behind because we had such a cool spring.
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