Rapeseed Fields

If you have ever driven through Germany in the spring, you've probably noticed rolling fields of BRIGHT yellow flowers. These are fields of rapeseed blooming, an important crop for Germany. Drive back through a few weeks later and they've vanished. Why? Because they have set seed and turned brown, ready for harvest.

On a recent drive home we pulled off onto a dirt road and got snap happy.

More about rapeseed because I find this stuff interesting: "Rapeseed is a very common crop in Germany with 1,300,000 hectares planted in 2011. It has been cultivated and used by humans for thousands of years in India and since the Middle Ages in Europe, mostly for lamp oil, soap, and engine lubricant. It was eaten during famine times and during both World War I and World War II, Germany made margarine out of it. Up to 1974, rapeseed oil was used very little in the food industry, the rest was used in machine and chemical industries. Then, through selective breeding programs in German universities, the bitter-tasting, toxic substance, erucic acid, was reduced to a level that was safe for human consumption in winter rapeseed. Today rapeseed is used to make biodiesel, margarine, animal feed, and bioplastics.

A type of edible rapeseed oil is called canola, which was bred in Canada in the 1970s. Canola stands for Canadian oil, but is now used generically to mean edible rapeseed oil. Rapeseed is related to mustard, turnips, and other cabbage plants. It is pollinated by honeybees and the honey is mixed with other types or sold as bakery-grade."

It was a beautiful sunny day! Must be treasured, documented, preserved, and cherished! I have loved seeing these rapeseed fields bloom every spring the past 4 years. I will sorely miss them!

Ich liebe Deutschland!!