Some of you asked for an explanation
of the yellow stripes in the distance
in the picture in the previous post.
Romantically: Fields of Gold
Prosaically: Fields of Rapeseed
Rapeseed, also known as rape, oilseed rape, rapa, rappi, rapaseed, is a bright-yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae, consumed in China and Southern Africa as a vegetable and grown in the UK as a valuable cash crop.
Rapeseed oil is very popular and supposedly a healthy alternative to other fats and oils.
I use it for frying and braising. It has no strong taste of its own
and is therefore suitable for all dishes which demand a light touch.
We needed the rain.
Getting a brilliant rainbow thrown in
was a bonus.
Is your canola GMO? The canola here is 95% or better GMO and promoted as healthy. We have gone to olive oil and when we get set up on our small farm will render lard from grass fed pastured pork raised ourselves. The canola here gets attacked by canola flea beetles that take horrendous chemicals to kill. Are they a problem there?
ReplyDeleteFriko, perhaps it will surprise you to know that this city person did have a notion about what was the source of that brilliantly golden field.
ReplyDeletePlease do not be surprised to learn how much I love the photos you've posted right here. xo
Just beautiful. In years gone by I have seen fields of rape beside fields of Patterson's Curse. The juxtaposition of the gold and the purple was amazing. Sadly my photos are only memories...
ReplyDeleteLove your rainbow too.
Well, duh on me. I knew that was rapeseed but I had no idea it was Fields of Gold (that's the duh! Makes perfect sense!). I love that song and now that I hear it again with that in mind is becomes even more visual! SO very beautiful!
ReplyDeletebeautiful! we passed a large field that was yellow like that when my brother was here and drove into the hill country. not rapeseed, of course, but solid with some common yellow wildflower.
ReplyDeleteWonderful shots. I used this 'Canola' oil for a long time till I learned it is processed with hexane!
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ALOHA from Honolulu,
ComfortSpiral
=^..^=
In Canada we call it canola. It's a huge cash crop here.
ReplyDeleteOh, my heavens! These, and the photos in the previous post, are perfect.
ReplyDeleteI was going to mention canola too, as others have done. I think canola is a preferred word to sell a product called rape seed oil. Those of a green bent and those with a dislike of multinational corporations have fought hard to prevent genetically modified canola coming to Australia. It is very pretty and as EC described, it must look brilliant combined with Pattersons Curse aka Salvation Jane.
ReplyDeleteI've been told some merchants won't stock rapeseed because the customers are turned off by the 'rape' in the name or all things. I wonder if it has another name?
ReplyDeletePlenty of rapeseed fields around here, too. I have read that it is also used for organic fuel ("Biosprit" or "Biodiesel" in German). It certainly looks very beautiufl at that stage, and as yellow is my favourite colour anyway, you can imagine how much I like being out and about this time of year.
ReplyDeleteThis is so similar to our mustard fields in the winters. Don't you just love the waves of yellow?!
ReplyDeleteAnd as always, breathtaking pictures!
Here in South Africa, rapeseed is known as canola and sold as canola oil. My gardener who is from Malawi grows canola in the vegetable patch I gave him to grow crops for his own use. He says they eat a lot of it in Malawi, and that it's very nutritious and tasty. I will have to try it sometime.
ReplyDeleteYour images are mesmerisingly lovely, Friko.
I didn't know that rapeseed is canola. Even better is being reminded of Sting's "Fields of Gold." It's one of my favorites, and I still prefer his version to any of the quite wonderful covers that have been done.
ReplyDeleteIt takes quite a bit to get me to prefer anything over a rainbow, but I do prefer that first photo. It's just lovely.
Beautiful images and now I know what rapeseed is (and yes, know canola, did not know they are one and the same). Wonderful.
ReplyDeleteWe saw many fields of this when we were traveling in Germany and Denmark several years ago. The yellow in the fields is stunning!
ReplyDeleteThat yellow is amazing. It reminds me of the fields of daffodils I saw early this spring, just gorgeous. And that rainbow! Well done, Friko. :-)
ReplyDeleteHello, again! I spotted out the yellow patch in the previous post and thought it must be rape blossoms which I’m familiar with. Rapes on the verge of flowering is used for cooking as you wrote. It is seasonal vegetable; I like it’s slight bitterness. You were so lucky to be able to capture such a beautiful rainbow. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteYoko
When I did my tour around the UK I saw many of these yellow fields ! Together with the different shades of green and straw colored squares it looked like a beautiful patchwork !
ReplyDeleteWe have had yellow fields everywhere here but now they are sadly over. I never saw it grown in South Africa and we lived there for 50 years! have a good weekend Diane
ReplyDeleteFriko, you must live in the most beautiful place on earth. The pictures are breathtaking!
ReplyDelete"What is Canola Oil?
ReplyDeleteBack in the day, an oil called rapeseed oil was often used for industrial purposes.
It was cheap to produce, but people couldn’t eat it because it contained some unfavorable substances:
Erucic acid: a fatty acid that caused heart damage in some rat studies (1).
Glucosinolates: bitter compounds that made the oil taste bad (2).
A bunch of Canadian scientists wanted to turn rapeseed oil into an edible oil, so they used selective breeding techniques to “create” seeds that contained less of these harmful, bitter substances.
This is how canola was born… but “Canola” is a marketing term. It stands for Canadian Oil (some believe it stands for Canada Oil, Low Acid).
Canola is actually not a unique plant. It’s just a name for rapeseeds that have been bred to be low in these undesirable compounds.
Since the year 1995, biotech giant Monsanto has manufactured rapeseeds that are genetically engineered to be resistant to the herbicide RoundUp.
Today, about 90% of the world’s canola crop is genetically modified."
http://authoritynutrition.com/canola-oil-good-or-bad/
In discussion with a neighbor I had looked in to oils a bit more and had found the above. Those yellow fields look pretty and I am well familiar with them from Switzerland. I just discovered and became an instant fan of goat butter.
Lovely photos especially that lucky capture of a rainbow. We have had heavy rain storms that alleviated some of our dire drought conditions of recent years here in the US southwest.
Trying again to leave a comment, this time with my iPad. I think we call the Rape seed oil Canola oil over here, and that's what I use to stir fry. Loved those yellow fields when I viewed them from the train.
ReplyDeleteIt is a beautiful golden yellow. I wonder if rapeseed is what we call canola out here?
ReplyDeleteWe have fields of bright yellow canola for oil.
Hi Friko, this is a test, merely a test. Just checking today to see if the Google god will let me pass. Dianne
ReplyDeleteA lovely vision of your English countryside. I can always add previously unknown info when visiting your blog as well as reading some of the comments. We drive through Alberta Province in Canada frequently passing Fields of Gold. While knowing it was canola, I was not aware it stood for Canadian Oil or that its origin was rapeseed. 71 and still learning-:)
ReplyDeletedeine fotos sind wirklich schön. und sie erinnern mich an meine schöne heimat (ja, in deutschland fühle ich mich zuhause!!). was war es noch, ein neuer computer?! wusstest du, dass olivenöl das gesündeste und am besten verträglichste öl ist? auch soll es die meisten nährwerte haben. ich nehme eigentlich nur olivenöl. man bekommt dieses ja auch in verschiedenen sorten. fruchtig, mild, stark usw.
ReplyDeleteich danke dir sehr für deinen brief, auf den ich mich wirklich gefreut habe und ich versuche auch, in den nächsten tagen darauf zu antworten. lieb grüsst dich renée
Since I always associate it with the the deaths of a great many people in Madrid in 1981 after a band of crooks sold contaminated rapeseed oil ( aceite de Colza in Spanish ) door-to-door in the poorer neighbourhoods , I avoid it .
ReplyDeleteBesides , olive oil tastes nicer .
Amazing that you've featured rapeseed Friko - I've been taking so many photos of the fields I don't know what to do with them all! We used to grow it in Tasmania on the farm too. It really is a beautiful sight on the landscape. Oh! My Scot quite enjoyed being called 'handsome' too! :)
ReplyDeleteThis post is a bonus, too :)
ReplyDeleteI use canola oil on occasion, but the vast majority of time I use olive oil. Pretty golden flowers.
ReplyDeletePostcard pictures you've posted, really. I'm not sure I've ever had rapeseed--I must've, but I can't recollect. Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous photos ... and I love that rainbow ... we might get some of those tomorrow ... better than the Sea Fog we've had recently .. cheers Hilary
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