This year I noticed several fields with grain in them, but several had a green plant with round leaves – clearly not the grass look of a grain crop. I knew is was too early for soybeans and continued to wonder what it was. Then all of a sudden this happened.
As soon as it bloomed, I knew it was rapeseed, as we had been in France in early May one year and these magnificent fields of bright yellow were everywhere. One of our favorite pictures is framed and sitting on the hearth showing Bev and I standing in front of a blooming field. If you’re not familiar with it, the hybrid variety developed in Canada is called canola, from which we get canola oil. I think they may call it rape or rapeseed oil in Europe. It’s also used to make biodiesel and the farmers must think it will be more profitable this year than wheat or oats. I grew a little patch of it one year as a cover crop and while pretty, it attracted harlequin bugs to my garden, so I didn’t plant it again.
Whatever the farmer’s motivation, they sure have provided some beautiful scenery for us to enjoy. I wasn't the only one impressed as it got front page coverage in the local paper this morning. I love living out in the country.
Bev keeps 2-3 feeders available for the hummingbirds and usually puts them out the second week in April, but with all we had going on, she hadn't gotten them up yet. Some of the liitle hummers are obviously returners here as they were flying up to the windows and hovering as if to say, "duh, where's the food." So she fixed them up on Wednesday and we'll have a long summer of enjoying their antics - mostly one guy perched atop the feeder and running the others off. Seems like they would burn up more energy doing that than they get from the feeder.
Rhett got back to Korea on time and in good shape. Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.
Larry
Amazing that we live so far apart and have the same crop growing everywhere around here. (just later) Those fields of yellow are DAZZLING, aren't they? We have 5 or 6 different types of hummers due back any time now. The mean little rufous are the ones that guard the feeders like soldiers up here. We have to space the feeders far apart so they don't get it ALL. :)
ReplyDeleteWe grew 80 acres of rapeseed a couple of years ago. It was beautiful. Hummingbirds are a phenomena when it comes to returning to their favorite haunts. Banded hummers have been documented to return to the same bush year after year after thousands of miles of migration. amazing.
ReplyDeleteDang, my guess was wrong. I was thinking it was that switchgrass that Oak Ridge is growing as a fuel alternative.
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