Promptly Parsley

Poetry prompts are a great way to get into a poem, by either taking a line that inspires you from someone else, or using their line as the first line in your poem as a jumping off point.  Here’s some prompts from Robert Service’s work:

The sky is like an envelope…

That cow-juice seemed to oppyrate a most amazin' change…

…when a lusty lass I see / I whinny like a stallion…

Parsley is another annual herb that grows well in a container. There are several varieties, curled leaf, flat leaf, etc. The herb not only looks pretty on the plate, but aids with kidney complaints and works great as diuretic for weight-loss. You can also use a large handful of chopped parsley steeped in a cup of boiling water and cooled to room temperature to help with clogged pores. Strain the liquid and apply to face as a compress for 15 minutes daily. For a parsley tea, take 2 cups parsley to one quart boiling water. Let sit until cool, strain, and reheat as needed. This helps settle the stomach and acts as a diuretic for the kidneys.

Now, how to grow the stuff. Parsley thrives in a deep pot, as it has a long taproot and grows to about 12-18 inches high. The seeds germinate slowly so soak them in warm water overnight before you plant them. (There’s a tip I wish I’d had a few weeks ago.) If you sow them directly, thin plants to six inches apart. Parsley likes loam and needs at least five hours of sunlight a day to thrive. It also like nitrogen and can handle full sun or part shade. A soil pH between 6 and 7 is best.

Or, if you’re like me, throw the damn seeds in a peet pot and see what happens. :)

Dad and I are spinning like crazy as we get ready to leave for California tonight. It’s my great-uncle’s 90^th birthday party this weekend and this will be my first real vacation in something like eight years. So the past few days I’ve been running around with my head cut off and worked a double yesterday. So expect intermittent blogs unless my nights are very boring and I’ll try to get some pics of sunny So-Cal. :) Happy Days.

Rough and Tumble Basil

Probably the easiest and most common kitchen herb, basil is versatile, pretty, fairly easy to grow, and comes in a variety of species. It’s especially great cooked up with fresh roma tomatoes over whole wheat pasta. And pepper. Lots of pepper. And parmesan cheese.

Wow making myself hungry.

Okay, other stuff about basil. Most of this is from http://herbgardening.com/growingbasil.htm, just to cite my sources.

Basil, or Ocimum basilicum if you like the fancy Latin, belongs to the mint family and is used both in the kitchen and in medicinal treatments. A quick glance in my home remedy book, Jude’s Herbal, indicates that basil is useful for digestive problems, another reason to sprinkle it on your pasta sauce, and helps treat bee stings. Basil planted around barns and house also helps keep flies away.

Basil has a delicate constitution and doesn’t like cold weather so it’s best grown outside after all threat of frost has passed. I usually start it in the house and put it outside in June, though this year it might be earlier since we’re having a relatively warm spring. If the nights do get chilly, you can always bring your basil inside. If you live in warmer climes, the seed can be seeded directly into the garden. Always check your USDA hardiness zones though, to be sure. It can be grown outside or inside, and likes a south-facing exposure, at least in the Northern Hemisphere.

Basil is an annual, meaning you have to replant it every year; it doesn’t re-grow on its own. Keep the plants thinned to 6-10 inches apart. It’s not a social plant, apparently, and doesn’t like to be crowded. As a Mediterranean herb, it likes a quick-draining, light soil, as opposed to the heavier clays common to more northerly areas. Basil wilts quickly in heat, but revives with a good dose of water. Always pinch off the flowers if you want more leaf production, which is the part of the plant used in sauces, teas, and other brews. Basil grows to between 1-2 feet tall, prefers full sun, does well in most any soil pH, and attracts valuable bees and butterflies to the garden. It is vulnerable to whitefly, thrips, aphids, and fusarium as far as pests go, but you’ll have to deal with that yourself as pests, blights, and insects vary by region.

So there’s a dose of plants. Now for a dose of poetry.

Robert W. Service was called the people’s poet. So was Walt Whitman, but since he called himself that, we’ll let it slide. Quoting Service’s 1958 obituary, “ ‘The only society I like,’ he once said, ‘is that which is rough and tough - and the tougher the better. That's where you get down to bedrock and meet human people.’ He found that kind of society in the Yukon gold rush, and he immortalized it” http://www.robertwservice.com/. A vagabond poet, Service held a variety of jobs in lots of places, drawing as his interactions with real, working class people and his own experiences as a soldier, cook, reporter, clerk, bank teller, and lots more for his poetry.

I’d like to spend some time with this rough and tumble poet this week, because as we covered in poetry month, there’s a time and place for poetry to be literary, but what’s the use of being literary if no one reads it? Pop fiction gets a bad rep, but guess what? That’s what’s on the beach reads table in the summer and that’s what people buy. Sure, some novels are literary, and they’re beautiful, wonderful works. So are some popular, genre novels. Maybe poets and readers of poetry alike should take note of that.

Herb Gardens and Kilts (Oh you know you want to! :)

I don’t know about you, but I can kill flowers if I stare at them too hard. Some people, however, can get the goofiest shit to grow when and where it shouldn’t. Gardening looks complicated and hard and seems to be all about perfectionism. This is a gardening guide for the rest of us, the lazy, the uninspired, the ah-hell-throw-it-in-the-ground-and-see-what-happens, those of us who can kill grass with a dirty look. It’s not science or probably even right in many cases, but it’s what works for me.

The plants and region will typically be Midwestern, since that’s what I’m familiar with, and I’ll try to remember to note that for those living elsewhere. None of this is backed up by any sort of science or professional association whatsoever, unless noted. Most of it has been learned in the field and I’m still scratching my head over why the hell it worked. So, kick back, smile, and let’s start gardening.

As most of you might guess, I live on a farm so there’s plenty of space for our big vegetable garden. I detest flowers since they do absolutely nothing useful except look pretty and require work, but herbs on our farm are my special baby. I love cooking with fresh herbs and I love using them in home remedies. Instead of having them out in the big garden, however, I keep them in containers on the back porch for easier access. Container gardening is extremely flexible and you can plant in anything, old boots, bowls, wire hanging baskets. I’m boring and prefer the traditional clay pots. The key is making sure the root bulb has enough room in the pot. To get you started, here are some creative ideas for pots http://containergardeningtips.com/containers-for-gardening/ .

Some basic kitchen herbs include: basil, oregano, garlic, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, and sage,. If you want to give it a little flash and flair and home remedy action, also try bee balm, borage, mint, lavender, lemon balm, and penny royal. Over the next few days, I’ll focus on each herb in turn, along with some poetry stuff.

Speaking of poetry, anybody have any fav poets or poetic movements they’d like to mention or see covered? I just discovered poet Robert Service http://www.robertwservice.com/ and here is his ode to kilts.

A Song For Kilts

By: Robert Service

How grand the human race would be

If every man would wear a kilt,

A flirt of Tartan finery,

Instead of trousers, custom built!

Nay, do not think I speak to joke:

(You know I'm not that kind of man),

I am convinced that all men folk.

Should wear the costume of a Clan.

Imagine how it's braw and clean

As in the wind it flutters free;

And so conducive to hygiene

In its sublime simplicity.

No fool fly-buttons to adjust,--

Wi' shanks and maybe buttocks bare;

Oh chiels, just take my word on trust,

A bonny kilt's the only wear.

'Twill save a lot of siller too,

(And here a canny Scotsman speaks),

For one good kilt will wear you through

A half-a-dozen pairs of breeks.

And how it's healthy in the breeze!

And how it swings with saucy tilt!

How lassies love athletic knees

Below the waggle of a kilt!

True, I just wear one in my mind,

Since sent to school by Celtic aunts,

When girls would flip it up behind,

Until I begged for lowland pants.

But now none dare do that to me,

And so I sing with lyric lilt,--

How happier the world would be

If every male would wear a kilt!