Wednesday, August 6, 2008

The Gardener

No italian garden blog would be complete without paying homage to the bountiful art of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, especially his paintings with double meanings. Rotating the image from left to right you have a bowl of vegetables and the gardener. Maybe a little bizarre at first (I played with the idea of composing my own vegetable man from our modest pickings), but note the primary types of vegetables depicted: onion and root. Common ingredients, which even to this day, are carefully tended in the most artistic of gardens.

Non sarebbe giusto se un blog di giardinaggio mancasse di rendere omaggio all'arte di Giuseppe Arcimboldo, sopratutto i suoi quadri a doppio senso. Girando l'imagine da sinistra a destra, si vede una ciotola di verdure e il giardiniere. Forse un po' bizarro all'inizio (mi e' venuta l'idea di farne uno io stessa), ma guarda i principali generi di verdure: cipolla e ortaggi a radice. Ingredienti abbastanza comuni, che, anche in questi tempi, sono curati con attenzione nei piu' artistici giardini.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Perilla as an insect repellent?

I was reading with great interest this article at Clean Air Gardening to plant feverfew as a natural way to repel insects, when it occurred to me to check what plants I may already have as possible deterrents to the pests that plague my asian greens. I noticed that our green perilla stands proud as a peacock with not a blemish from hungry insects. Why is that? Perilla - imho - has an odd smell. Its scent reminds me of sour...bread starter that has gone from a good sour to being just plain stink. At one point I even declared that it reminded me of my husband's armpits after a long morning of toiling away in the garden. I didn't really mean that of course; it was a rash statement! To this day when I stick my nose in the plant for a deep whiff, my olfactory senses do a short circuit and I am left confused. Perhaps that in itself is the answer. The last thing a bug needs is to be bewildered before a meal.