In past gardens, I’ve planted rows of things–many of each plant. In this year’s garden, I limited myself: one zucchini, two eggplant, three cucumbers, five tomatoes. I didn’t want to get overwhelmed at harvest. As it is, the productivity of these few plants is astounding. And an unexpected benefit, when you only have a few plants, the miraculous nature of each burgeoning vegetable comes into its own. I couldn’t resist making a little yin/yang symbol with these glossy eggplants. Or is it yin/yin or yang/yang?
On another note, Louis Simpson’s obituary ran in the paper yesterday, a poet I’ve never read much, but that Larry knew better than I. This is from Louis, via Larry:
American Poetry
Whatever it is, it must have
A stomach that can digest
Rubber, coal, uranium, moons, poems.
Like the shark, it contains a shoe.
It must swim for miles through the desert
Uttering cries that are almost human.
Louis Simpson
It’s vegetable BLINGbling!
And they tasted great, too, which is ore than you can say for BLING!
Bling is in the eye of the beholder.
Did you always enjoy cooking? I can’t remember, but it is a different kettle of fish when
you are cooking for a growing family or so I imagine.
“Like the shark, it contains a shoe.”
That is my favorite line in Mr. Simpson’s poem (it has teeth)
I think I like the last line best, but I like it. Radically accessible. I found cooking nightly for a family to be a chore. Cooking when I please for Larry and me is a pleasure.