The Rural Voice, 2005-01, Page 35of natural bark, though plants can be
trained on a trellis, stake or even
pruned into a bush form. The plant
has thick, leathery, dark green leaves,
three to four inches long, richly
glossy. In summer, older plants
display clusters of small, waxy white
flowers, with pink centres, Sweetly
scented and long lasting they develop
on "spurs"; do not cut them after the
blossoms have faded, since the new
crop will appear on them the
following summer.
To be successful with wax plants
you have to let them rest during the
cool winter months. Water just
enough to keep them from shriveling
and keep them cool. In early spring
increase the warmth to 70 degrees F.
to stimulate new growth and
flowering. Use a humusy soil, as you
would for begonias although they
will do fine in ordinary soil. There
are some lovely varieties with Tight
green leaves edged with white and
where the new leaves have areas of
pink on them. A miniature version
from India with similar oval, pointed
leaves only an inch long can be easily
found in most plant centres.
1 have a small list of great new
leafy house plants 1 would like to find
but I have to work on the one doing
the vacuuming before I bring another
plant home.0
AgriTech
The bellowing of a province
Janice
Becker is a
computer
entlnusiast
and
journalist
living near
Walton, ON.
We are all accustomed to seeing
burnished cornstalks in autumn.
fields, browning soybeans and grains
turning amber from green. However,
there has been a yellowing of
Southwestern Ontario over the past
several years.
It began with a field or two of
yellow blooms, and to the
unacquainted, it brought questions
about just what was growing there.
But, Ontarians have now become
accustomed to seeing larger expanses
of those blooms. Canola has arrived.
As a farm girl growing up in the
southwestern region of Middlesex
County (just a few years ago), canola
was unheard of, at least to me. After
moving to Huron County in the early
1990s, I began to notice its
appearance.
Very popular on the Prairies,
canola (Canadian oil) was produced
in the 1970s after Canadian plant
breeders worked to increase its
nutritional value, says the Canola
Information Service at
www.canolainfo.org.
Though not the same, canola was
derived from rapeseed. Traditional
plant breeding methods were used to
eliminate or reduce the unwanted
components in rapeseed while
improving upon the sought-after
nutrients. The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration recognized it in 1985
as safe for human consumption and
the name canola was registered three
years later.
The seed is crushed for canola oil
and the rest is ground for livestock
feed. The site offers numerous
recipes that use canola oil for stirfrys
and marinades, salad dressings and
low-fat choices. Several other
interesting uses are also listed.
The Canola Connection, found at
www.canola-council.org, details the
38th annual convention to be held in
Halifax, Nova Scotia from July 17 to
19. The focus will be expanding the
industry and breaking down
barriers.
Information on the
canola/rapeseed technical
meeting, planned for late
June in Winnipeg, can
also be found on this
site.
From the Canola
Council of Canada link
on the left of the
homepage, review
information on the industry,
press releases, crop facts and myths
and memberships. Though most of
the executive and board members are
from the west, there are connections
in Oakville and Georgetown
From here, 1 found a link to the
Ontario Canola Growers Association.
Board members are located across
mid -western Ontario from Alliston
and Arthur to Lucknow and
Palmerston with the current president
living near Meaford.
You can also link into the OMAF
site to read a report on the benefits of
canola as a winter crop. A section 1
found interesting was the discussion
groups, where readers e-mail
comments on topics such as
biotechnology. nutrition or the
industry in general. There have been
responses from around the world.
A few other sites to check out
include Alberta Agriculture. Food
and Rural Development - Canola.
www.agric.gov.ab.ca/navigation/crop
s/canola, Canola Guide,
www.agcanada.com/cn/cn.htm (if
you can make the connection) and
Canola Market Information.
www.statcom-online.com/canolahome.
In spite of industry research and
governmental approval, some
organizations still voice
concerns over the safety of
canola. The Canola
Information Service
offers links to some of
those reports and I
imagined a search of the
web would surely elicit
other sources. By simply
entering canola in my Google
search engine. I came up with
167,000 canola-related sites. If you
look beyond the first few pages
where those industry sites tend to be.
and skip to page 12. you will see
articles with a decidedly different
perspective.
As always. form your own opinion
with knowledge from a variety of
sources.
Contact me at
jlbecker@wightman.ca or through
The Rural Voice office.0
JANUARY 2005 31