Strange Growths Of A Secret Garden
Aug. 20th, 2019 11:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphiloWe have longstanding permission to go wandering around our neighbours' garden- which was created for the socially aspirant son of a Victorian railway millionaire. Yesterday I took my daughter and great nephew on a tour. Alice said she felt like she should have shown her NT membership card at the gate.
There's a walled garden. Last time I looked round it was all neat and orderly but it's been neglected over the summer so now looks like a place where statues might come alive or time slips happen. There was a chap digging in there- mitigating the ghostliness and beginning the process of setting it up to look smart for the new year. We filched a few raspberries. My great nephew retained a couple to give to his younger brother and sister.
I was drawn to these great monarchical, spiky things...
...and had a conversation with myself that went a bit like this.
"They look like artichokes, but they can't be...
Why not?
Because artichokes grow close to the ground- like cabbages- or so I've always assumed...
That's because you've only seen them in shops- being marketed as a food-stuff.
So are they artichokes?
Why don't you look it up?"
So I did. And they are artichokes- and artichokes turn out to be a kind of thistle.
There's a walled garden. Last time I looked round it was all neat and orderly but it's been neglected over the summer so now looks like a place where statues might come alive or time slips happen. There was a chap digging in there- mitigating the ghostliness and beginning the process of setting it up to look smart for the new year. We filched a few raspberries. My great nephew retained a couple to give to his younger brother and sister.
I was drawn to these great monarchical, spiky things...
...and had a conversation with myself that went a bit like this.
"They look like artichokes, but they can't be...
Why not?
Because artichokes grow close to the ground- like cabbages- or so I've always assumed...
That's because you've only seen them in shops- being marketed as a food-stuff.
So are they artichokes?
Why don't you look it up?"
So I did. And they are artichokes- and artichokes turn out to be a kind of thistle.
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Date: 2019-08-20 11:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-08-20 11:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-08-20 12:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-08-20 12:05 pm (UTC)They're quite astonishingly beautiful.
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Date: 2019-08-20 01:00 pm (UTC)That said, the Roman Jewish deep fried artichoke is a thing I could eat all day! :o)
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Date: 2019-08-21 08:42 am (UTC)But maybe a bit hard on the digestive system.
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Date: 2019-08-21 11:27 am (UTC)The Jews found ways to make it something to grace the finest banquet! :o)
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Date: 2019-08-21 11:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-08-21 01:18 pm (UTC)